This rocky start begs the question, can they still turn a four-year Premiership run into five?

“Not with the amount of spine they’ve lost and the amount of injuries that are coming through for the year,” said Corey from Workin’ Gear, who has a bet with his colleague that the Tigers will outdo Penrith this year.

“I just don’t think the Panthers have it in them.”

From the other side of the store, it’s safe to assume Rhett’s ears were burning as we talked about the possibility of another Panther premiership.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but they can still do it,” Rhett stated, disagreeing with his Tigers supporting friend.

“If they can do this one, that’ll make this Premiership the best yet because of how bad the season started, and I’ve got faith they can.”

Up the road at Family Dreamz Tattoo, everyone was on the same page, with Nick saying getting the fifth title will be hard, but the Panthers are capable.

“I’ve got plenty of faith in them, they can do it, they’ve just got to gel together a bit better,” Nick said.

“All the younger guys coming through have got to learn from Nathan [Cleary] and Nathan’s got to steer them a bit.

“We’ve all got our faith in Ivan!”

Rowan agreed and is optimistic about another Panthers Grand Final, but he’s also realistic.

“There’s stiff competition, I think. The other teams have stepped up their game too,” he added.

However, we hear our favourite team has a secret that may just lead them to victory.

At Mega Games Penrith, Ellen told us she’s sold some chess boards to a few recognisable faces in recent times.

“I’ve heard that it helps with forward strategy, so it definitely helps them with strategic thinking,” Ellen said, after saying she has faith in the team securing another premiership.

“Given their track record, I don’t see how it can’t happen again.”

Next to have a say was Salem, who doesn’t usually follow the NRL, but has made an exception for Penrith.

“I’m hoping for a five-run, it’d be absolutely fantastic,” Salem exclaimed.

“Growing up, we followed State of Origin and that was all we did and now moving down here and being around this area, I really do hope that we can do this!”

As if all this Panther talk wasn’t energising enough, I decided to grab a coffee from Screaming Beans before my return to the office, where I bumped into another optimistic Panthers supporter.

“They’re capable of it,” Simon said about the five-peat.

“It’s going to be difficult, but you never know.”