The stars seem to be aligning for the Penrith Panthers to reach a sixth consecutive NRL grand final and chase an incredible fifth straight premiership.
No team in the NRL era has ever claimed the title from outside the top four, but seventh-placed Penrith cleared their first challenge with a 24-8 win over the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland.
The Panthers now face the Canterbury Bulldogs in a semi-final on Sunday, where the four-time defending champions are strong favourites, especially with Canterbury dealing with a significant injury crisis.
Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton has been ruled out of the finals with a syndesmosis injury, while Viliame Kikau, Marcelo Montoya, and Toby Sexton are also under injury clouds.
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If Penrith advance, they’ll meet the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium in a preliminary final.
Brisbane are also under pressure, missing Patrick Carrigan (suspension), Billy Walters (ruptured ACL), and Brendan Piakura (fractured cheekbone), while star prop Payne Haas is racing the clock to recover from an ankle injury.
Historically, only Brisbane (fifth in 1993) and the Bulldogs (sixth in 1995) have won the premiership from outside the top four, Penrith could potentially join that elite group.
Cooper Cronk makes a bold prediction about the two teams he has ruled out from being in the grand final and the two teams that he thinks will be playing on the big day.
Speaking to news.com.au, Fox League’s Cooper Cronk said, “things are opening up for Penrith to play in their sixth straight grand final.”
“They’ll play the Dogs beaten up,” Cronk said.
“Stephen Crichton has done a tremendous job. I don’t think they can do much with Stephen Crighton in the grandstands.”
“They’ll probably play the Broncos without Carrigan, Payne Haas injured, Reece Walsh should have missed, Adam Reynolds tentative on a hamstring.
“Let’s not step too far ahead but things are opening up for Penrith.
“I think the way that this is all unfolding, it could be a repeat of last year’s grand final (between Penrith and Melbourne).”
Still, Cronk isn’t writing off Melbourne. He continues to back the Storm as premiership favourites:
“It’s been Melbourne all year, it’s still Melbourne,” the six-time grand final winner said.
“They were the favourites for this competition the whole way through in my mind.
“There was a small question mark with their form going into the finals.
“All they really had to do was beat the Bulldogs, get a week off, and they’ve done that. I think they’re still the favourites to win.”