As the NRL prepares to host its first grand final without Penrith since 2019, a former captain and one of the cult heroes of rugby league has declared he can’t see his old club winning anything in the foreseeable future.
Best known as a NRL radio commentator and media personality nowadays, Darryl Brohman played 91 games for the ‘chocolate soldiers’ during his playing career in the late 1970s and 1980s, including two seasons as captain, and still has plenty of love for his old club.
But putting his head before his heart on the Six Tackles with Gus podcast, the 69-year-old explained he doesn’t share the optimism of those who say the Panthers will bounce back hard in 2026 following this year’s preliminary final loss to Brisbane.
“It will hurt them losing that game, I think their reign is over, I don’t think they’ll be winning anything in the next three years,” Brohman declared.
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“When you’ve won four (premierships) in a row, the disappointment of losing last week and missing out on the fifth will hurt them more than they think at the moment,” he warned.
Brohman also pointed to concerns around recruitment, and the inevitable erosion of depth given the continued player drain on Ivan Cleary’s squad that will lose Mavrik Geyer to the Tigers, Brad Schneider to the Dolphins and potentially Dane Laurie to the Raiders in 2026.
“Other sides are gaining with players, whereas they (Penrith) have been losing players over the last four years and might lose a couple more this year,” Brohman said.
“What they’ve done is absolutely incredible, but I just think they might run out of juice.”