Ivan Cleary and Craig Bellamy's incredible NRL feat highlighted as exodus since 2020 grand final laid bare
The Storm and Penrith sides look vastly different to the two teams that last battled it out for the NRL premiership in 2020.
The Panthers and Storm will go toe-to-toe on Sunday as Penrith attempt to win their fourth straight NRL grand final and in doing so avenge their 2020 defeat at the hands of Melbourne. While the Storm will try to put an end to Penrith's NRL dominance as they return to the big show.
But the two sides who face each other this weekend barely resemble the teams that ran out in 2020. Eight players remain from the Penrith team that faced Craig Bellamy's men that day, while only four players who won that year for the Storm will feature on Sunday (Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes and Christian Welch). And Penrith's exodus will continue win or lose on Sunday, with James Fisher-Harris and Jarome Luai - who were part of the 2020 defeat - leaving for the Warriors and Tigers respectively next season.
And addressing the massive squad changes since Penrith's 2020 grand final defeat, Ivan Cleary said the key to his side's prolonged success since has been having a system in place where there is a strong leadership group to nurture those coming into the team. "We've tried to form a system that's not so much about the individual players but how they all connect together," Cleary told reporters last week.
"It is also important that the eight players who have been through this five-year period, they are great leaders and we are lucky enough to have some outstanding leaders in our club, they can pass on the standards to the younger players.
"We are also a development club, we pride ourselves on bringing young players through. Apart from that, it's probably just good luck."
Craig Bellamy hoping to usher in a new dominant Storm era
While Melbourne's 2020 premiership victory marked the end of an era for the Storm. In 2020 an experienced Melbourne side led by Cameron Smith in his 430th and final NRL game got off to a flyer and left Penrith shellshocked and without answers.
The Storm rocketed out to a 22-0 half-time lead before Papenhuyzen put the game beyond doubt with a solo 80-metre try shortly after the break. Penrith came roaring back into the contest to come within six points, but it was all too little too late. It was a fitting end to the career of Smith and brought to a close the end of the 'big three', with Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk all retired.
And despite missing out on the big dance the three seasons since there has been a sense that Melbourne are about to go on another dominant run. The Storm's star-studded spine of Papenhuyzen, Munster, Hughes and Harry Grant will combine for the first time in a grand final on Sunday and will look to replicate the success of the great Melbourne outfits before them.
The 'big three' has been replaced by the 'big four' and with no sign of the group splitting up, there is every chance a win on Sunday could mark the start of a period of Storm dominance. While waiting in the wings is another young talented group of players, Sua Faalogo, Tyran Wishart and Jonah Pezet, who have all shown they can slot into the Storm spine with ease.
Melbourne only have five players from the 2020 triumph still on their books but only four will run out on Sunday due to Nelson Asofa-Solomona's ban. And Bellamy says with success comes an increased exodus of players.
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"We don't really think about that," Craig Bellamy said of the club's mass player turnover. "That is a stat we probably didn't know until today (how many players are left from the 2020 winning team). We haven't had a whole heap of guys play in the grand final before in this present team. That's the way the game works these days.
"The more success you have, the more players you seem to turnover. You just have to try and find that formula of balance. When you do lose good players, trying to get good younger players in or consistent players from other clubs that you think will fit into your system. Picking the right players and people to be in your club is difficult sometimes but I think you always have to back yourself."
