I love the Penrith Panthers too much. That’s not altogether unusual. Loving your team too much is what sports fandom is all about – irrational levels of devotion to something that ultimately doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Traditional Guardian readers might understand this passion as the way they feel when, say, they see an interesting bird, or when a new adaptation of play gets a three star review that reads like a four, or perhaps when there’s a new treatise about a minor inconvenience caused by a local council.
Passion comes in all forms. I have written extensively, some would say far too often, about what this passion means to me personally. How it goes beyond simple fandom and is channelled into community pride from a home that is more often the source of ridicule. But what is most unusual about this kind of passion is that it is not supposed to be rewarded. Loving your football team is supposed to be an effort in endurance that teaches us how to suffer heartbreak and come out the other side still capable of hope. We are all used to that experience. We understand how to cope with that. What is new and what is strange is the idea of sustained success.
This is the dream. Perhaps that’s underselling it. Rugby league fans don’t really dream of this kind of sustained success. You dream about things that are more likely – say, winning the lottery, or being pulled out of the crowd to kick the game-winning conversion. You certainly don’t dream about being on the verge of a three-peat. That’s a little too absurd, even for fantasy. The good times cannot last. The universe would not allow it. It would violate a law of thermodynamics.
Traditionally, you would spend an article like this trashing your opponents. I don’t feel the need to do that. This Broncos team is fun and charismatic. They have grown from the doldrums of a disappointing season to be flashy, free, a little cocky and a lot of fun. It’s a familiar tale. In fact, it was the journey Penrith went on from 2019 to 2020. Even our records are startlingly similar (Broncos with the slight edge, going from 13 wins, 11 losses to a grand final the next season, as opposed to Penrith’s 11 wins, 13 losses).
It would be easy to try to win over Guardian readers by making a snide reference to the fact that the Broncos are majority-owned by News Corp, not to mention the even more shocking and morally questionable fact that they’re openly from Queensland. But that’s not really what this is about. I am happy for them. Their fans have endured the dire years and have returned. The league is better when the Broncos are strong.
On the other side, the Penrith Panthers have become the villains of the competition. The main criticism is never on the style of play but rather the style of celebration after the play. They are arrogant, you see. They believe they’re better than everyone else. Almost as if that has been empirically proven over the last few years. I took my nieces to watch Penrith play the first round of the finals and deep in my heart I felt as if I was doing them a disservice. Don’t you understand? It cannot be this good for ever. Yet here they were, jumping and screaming and clapping. They were enjoying the moment.
Last year, I wrote about my dear friend Steph who was by my side, game after game, throughout the bad years and the good. The last game she saw was her beloved team becoming back-to-back premiers. The season has not felt the same without her, cheering on the team in her absolutely one-eyed way. Yet now, for me, every game has become a reminder of her. I think about her every time the team runs out. I feel her spirit in every cheer. We are lucky to be here. We have the opportunity to celebrate our team, our community, and share our love with those around us.
When we run out on Sunday, I am not going to be worried about what might happen. I am not concerned with titles or how this time will be remembered. I will enjoy the flight, not fear the fall. Right now, we are living the dream of every sports fan. It would be a crime not to enjoy it. Also, we are the greatest team of the NRL era and we’re going to win.
• James Colley is a comedian, author and television writer from western Sydney
