Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo slap down Parramatta greats over claim about Panthers' four-peat
The Penrith co-captains clearly don't agree with Eels legends Ray Price and Peter Wynn.
Panthers co-captains Isaah Yeo and Nathan Cleary have both stomped on claims from Ray Price and Peter Wynn that the Parramatta Eels' team of the 1980s is better than the current Penrith juggernaut. The Panthers won their fourth-straight premiership on Sunday night, taking them past the great Eels team that won three in a row from 1981 to 1983.
That Parramatta team made it four premierships in the decade with more glory in 1986, and Price reckons they'd beat the current Panthers team. "Not a hope. They haven’t gone past us. I don’t think this Penrith side would beat my Parramatta side," the legendary lock said at a Kangaroos reunion at the SCG this week.
“While Penrith has done exceptionally well, that Parramatta side had every position covered and we had every tactic covered. We had plenty of players that could tackle. That (1980s Eels team) was our best side. Parramatta was a stronger side back then than this Penrith team.”
Wynn echoed that sentiment, saying: “I’m not taking anything away from Penrith but I don’t think they’re a better side than us. We had brilliant players like Mick Cronin, Eric Grothe, Peter Sterling, Steve Ella, Brett Kenny and Ray Price – he was a machine. I have one blue eye and one gold eye but, man-on-man, I think Parramatta has the edge. There was a lot of creativity in our team, a lot of second-phase play.
“We had more players who could offload the ball. And we had a great backline. Paul Taylor at fullback, Neil Hunt was an awesome player, David Liddiard, none of them let anyone down. The rules are a lot different now to when we were playing but it was a tough comp in our day and we proved we had a great side.
“One-on-one, it would be great to play them but unfortunately that’s not going to happen. As far as quality goes, Penrith are a great side. I take my hat off to them - five straight grand finals. They had won three straight and have now fronted up for their fourth in a row, but we had the greatest side of our era.”
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Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo slap down Parramatta legends
Many believe it's a waste of time comparing teams of different generations considering how much the game has changed. But Yeo and Cleary both clearly don't agree with Price and Wynn.
Cleary re-posted a quote from Price on his Instagram story with an inquisitive emoji, showing he didn't agree. And Yeo was asked about it at the Panthers' presentation night on Tuesday. The heroic captain simply replied: "To that I'd like to say, four is more than three."
Great Insta post by Nathan Cleary: pic.twitter.com/EU6BaEqwPj
— John Davidson (@johnnyddavidson) October 8, 2024
You realistically can’t compare 40 odd years apart with the way they currently play these days. Probably most of the comp could beat parra from that time. Those players would need to train up like the current players. But that parra team were great . So let’s leave it at that
— Michael Bianchi .. Panthers 1991-2003,21,22,23,24 (@Penropennies) October 8, 2024
In fairness to both parties , rugby league is probably the one sport where eras shouldn’t be compared.
Watch any games from Pricey’s era and it’s almost like watching two different sports.— Aristidis Sialepis (@Sialepis69) October 9, 2024
The Panthers become the first team since the great St George Dragons of the 1950s and 60s to win at least four-straight premierships. The Dragons famously won 11 in a row, but there's simply no comparison between teams who played 60 years apart. Maybe the Eels legends should also take that view considering it's been 40 years since their golden era of dominance.
