The Penrith Panthers' bid for a fifth straight premiership has come to an end, losing 16-14 to the Brisbane Broncos in the preliminary finals.
Coach Ivan Cleary admitted in his post-match press conference that the genesis of that performance was rooted in their shaky start to the 2025 season.
"Our start really put us under pressure and that was not good enough," he said.
MORE: Panthers dealt major blow after Scott Sorensen suffers Category 1 HIA
Despite jumping out to a 14-point lead at the break, the reigning premiers never seemed home against a dangerous Broncos outfit.
"I didn't feel like we were in control of the whole game," Cleary said.
"We were in there swinging all the way to the end, but ultimately we weren't quite good enough."
A major blow came in the opening minutes when edge forward Scott Sorensen, a cornerstone of Penrith's forward pack, was ruled out with a category one head knock.
"It's a huge call, especially when he passed his HIA," Cleary said.
"It's a tough one, it made life a bit harder for sure."
Luke Garner filled the void, but the Panthers' lacked their trademark stability and looked fatigued as the game wore on.
The Broncos capitalised on the disrupted Penrith unit, scoring three tries in the second half, two of those being down that reshuffled left edge.
Despite falling short, Cleary is still optimistic about the future of the Panthers' dynasty.
"I'd like to think that there's more in us. We aren't going to win it this year, but we definitely showed a fair bit to fight back from a poor start," he said.
"We got some real strides from some young guys this year and the core of the team is still going to be there next year."
Star halfback Nathan Cleary remained defiant after the defeat, echoing his father's sentiment that this reign of dominance out of Sydney's west is anything but finished.
"I wouldn't say anything's over yet," he said.
For the first time since 2019, the grand final will not feature the Penrith Panthers. It will instead be a clash between the Broncos and Storm in a repeat of the 2006 final nearly two decades on.