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‘We’d beat them by a few’: How would three-peat Eels fare against modern Panthers?

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Steve Edge is asked how his mob would go.

If the great Parramatta three-peat side he captained had enjoyed all the benefits of sports science that go with being a professional athlete today, how would they fare against the current Penrith outfit?

“They would certainly give them a shake,” Edge said of the champions of 1981-83.

“You only have to look at the back line: Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny, Eric Grothe, Steve Ella, Neil Hunt, Paul Taylor at the back – all great players in their right.

“The forward pack is equally as tough. Even Penrith would be happy to swap a few of the players.”

Sterling, the great Parramatta halfback, offers this.

Peter Sterling, Mick Cronin, Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards.

Peter Sterling, Mick Cronin, Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards.Credit: Illustration: Marija Ercegovac

“I’d fancy our chances,” he said. “If we had everybody healthy, I’d love to take our healthy side against theirs.

“We’d have similar qualities and maybe on the day it might just come down to a bounce of the ball or a bit of luck.

“I would fancy our chances, as I’m sure if you would ask Nathan Cleary, even though he wasn’t born and wouldn’t have seen too much of us, he would fancy his chances as well.”

Their long-time Eels teammate during those halcyon blue and gold days, Peter Wynn, goes a step further.

“We would beat them by a few points,” Wynn said. “I mean that, I’m serious. We would have adapted.

“They are full-time professional footballers now, back in the ’80s – if we were faced with the same conditions – we would achieve [now] what we achieved then.

“We had Sterlo, Kenny, Ella, Cronin, Grothe, Pricey [Ray Price] on the inside. They were pretty lethal players in their day, so to compare them with modern players shows an enormous amount of respect for that team in the ’80s.”

It is, of course, the stuff of fantasy. The game in the 1980s was very different to today, but the enormity of the three-peat is highlighted by the fact it hasn’t been achieved for 40 years.

The numbers highlight how dominant each team was during their respective regular seasons.

The Eels had 10 Origin stars in their 1983 team – Cronin, Grothe, Kenny, Sterling, Price, Wynn, Edge, Stan Jurd and Chris Phelan. The Panthers had only six in 2023 – Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o, Jarome Luai, Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo. However, it should be noted that many of Penrith’s Polynesian stars have also played at Test level.

It is said premierships are won on defence, and both teams were outstanding in this department. Penrith conceded an average of 12.89 points per game over their period, while Parramatta, during an era of lower scores, let in just 10.55 (tries were changed from three to four points in 1982).

Ray Warren, whose commentary career spanned more than five decades, has happy memories calling both sides.

‘Oh, we would beat them by a few points. I mean that, I’m serious. We would have adapted.’

Peter Wynn, on the winner of a fantasy football clash between the three-peat Eels and the current Panthers squad

“[Penrith] won the last match I ever broadcast [the 2021 grand final win against South Sydney] and it was obvious then that they were heading to a wonderful future, that I was looking at something very special,” Warren said.

“But then again, I can’t forget the past, with that ball floating across the back line from Sterling to Kenny to Cronin to Ella and to Grothe. It’s a very difficult comparison for me because that was a special decade when Parramatta and Canterbury ruled the world.

“That Parramatta back line was something extreme.

“And now I look at [Penrith] and they are a treat to watch. I was thrilled and amazed to watch a team win three grand finals back to back. It will come as no surprise to see Penrith join that band of elite sides.

Nathan Cleary celebrates after the Panthers’ win over the Storm on Friday.

Nathan Cleary celebrates after the Panthers’ win over the Storm on Friday.Credit: Getty

“I won’t try to separate them; I’ve got beautiful memories of Parramatta and I have equal memories now of Penrith.”

None of the Panthers players were born when Parramatta ruled the world. However, they are aware of the enormity of the achievement, should they beat the Broncos to claim a third straight title. It’s why the club’s mantra this season is “hunting history”.

“I haven’t watched too much of their success just because I wasn’t even born,” Panthers back-rower Liam Martin said.

“It’s such an honour, they’re absolute legends of the game and [it’s flattering] to be compared to them.

“But we haven’t done it yet, so we need to bring ourselves back to reality. We’ve got another game now.”

Sterling was 23 years old when he steered the Eels to the 1983 grand final win. “Sterlo” won the last of his four premierships three years later. Cleary, 25, may yet surpass him.

“His best football is yet to come,” Sterling said of Cleary.

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“That is a scary proposition when you consider what he has already achieved at 25. As a guy who played in the same number as him, I love to sit back and watch his understanding of the tempo and momentum of the game, how to regulate that.

“He’s always at you.”

Warren, for so long the voice of rugby league, knows special teams when he sees them.

“I was absolutely thrilled to be able to broadcast Parramatta and thought, ‘This won’t happen again for a long time,’ ” Warren said.

“I was right, it’s taken 40 years for a team to even have a shot at it.”

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