The Penrith juggernaut is working so well that a winger who was dumped from last year's finals series is suddenly being floated as a genuine State of Origin bolter.
The Panthers are undefeated through three rounds in 2026, sitting only behind the Warriors on the NRL ladder on for and against.
The team from the foot of the western Sydney mountains has recorded wins over the Broncos (26-0), Sharks (26-6) and Roosters (40-4) and suddenly looks like the dominant premiership team of years past.
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To thrash three genuine premiership rivals, and concede only two tries in doing so, is simply astonishing in today's game of set restarts and reduced interchanges.
The Panthers have rocketed to the top of the premiership market with bookmarkers, with TAB now having them as $3.75 favourites to win a fifth title in six years.
"They have been unbelievable, they have been the standout team of the competition," league legend Billy Slater told Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast.
"Off the back of winning premierships and then failing to get to the grand final last year, I think that's just put a little of fuel in their fire and they are as hungry as ever.
"They look like they are healthy, they look fit, they look well drilled, they understand what their game looks like and their best players are setting the standard for the group. Their younger players are doing a wonderful job and they are growing in confidence.
"But Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards, they look right on top of their game and they look like they have a point to prove at the moment."
The form of Penrith is so strong that previously unheralded winger Tom Jenkins has been thrown up as a NSW Blues bolter.
Jenkins scored 13 tries in 21 games for Penrith last year and was dropped from the team for the finals series, in which the Panthers fell one game shy of a sixth straight grand final.
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He's scored eight tries in three games to start 2026 and Blues legends Mark Geyer and Paul Gallen have thrown him into the mix for a shock Origin debut.
He would have to beat out the likes of Mark Nawaqanitawase, Daniel Tupou, Josh Addo-Carr, Jacob Kiraz, Campbell Graham, and Tom Trbojevic.
Even former Penrith boss Phil Gould poured cold water on the notion when Gallen put it to him on Nine's 100% Footy on Monday night.
"I don't pick Origin teams now, Gal. Please," former Blues coach Gould said.
"Could I trust him? Yes, I can trust him.
"He's always been a good, honest country kid. He trains hard, he tries his heart out. He does everything they want a Panther to do, and he's on the end of an extraordinary backline.
"I mean, train me for two weeks (and) I could score tries in that backline. They are phenomenal. Sometimes you've just got to fall on the ball."
Gould pointed out Jenkins is simply a product of a champion club system.
Penrith, like Melbourne has for years, is now lifting players above their natural ability.
"It's a great story, and a great lesson for players being in the right place at the right time," Gould said.
"Tom Jenkins came from the country to be with the Panthers a few years ago and couldn't crack it… took the opportunity to go to Newcastle, played with a struggling team, and then felt like giving it away.
"A lot of players can come into that side – a bit like the Melbourne Storm – come from other clubs and get into that system.
"They've got half a dozen best players in the world in their given position. Half a dozen. And another little core group under that who are all starting to play representative footy."
The star-studded Panthers backline is humming in attack and Jenkins is well and truly capitalising on the glut of opportunity out wide.
But their defence has been equally, if not more, impressive to start season 2026.
They've leaked only 10 points in three games and kept reigning premiers Brisbane scoreless in round one.
Like other top teams – again, such as the Storm – the Panthers have figured out how to exploit the NRL's controversial six-again laws.
The rules were altered this year to allow referees to call six-agains, rather than blow penalties, between each 20-metre line. Last year they could only award six-agains once a team carried the ball beyond its 40m line.
It has resulted in a massive upsurge in set restarts and while some teams have struggled to adapt, the Panthers have found a way to use it to their advantage.
Bulldogs legend Willie Mason explained how Penrith is happy to give away a six-again early in a set in order to get the defensive line set.
"These f—ers are that good defensively that if they don't win the first tackle, they give the (set restart) away," Mason told his Levels podcast.
"Because (once the six-again is called) you can lay on that person for like five seconds and really give it away, and they get their defensive line set and do not miss that next tackle, they win every single tackle from then.
"I figured it out, they are doing it on purpose. They don't care (about give away a set restart) because they back themselves… they are animals, they've got everything, they back themselves more than any other team. There is Panthers and then the rest when it comes to defence.
"Then [Nathan] Cleary comes along, who is playing with house money, he's not getting attacked by anyone… because your middles are f—ed. No one could touch him but it's because of the fatigue factor."
The Penrith system has been marvelled at for several years now.
Ivan Cleary coached the team to four consecutive premierships before the team fell away slightly in 2025.
But the early signs this season point to a Panthers resurgence, and anyone who signed the death warrant on their dynasty last year may yet be left with egg on their faces come October.
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