For the first time in years, the Panthers have not lost any big names at the end of a season and can build for the 2026 campaign with a sense of stability.
While fringe first-graders Asu Kepaoa, Soni Luke, Brad Schneider, Luke Sommerton, Daine Laurie and Trent Toelau headline the list of departures, the best 17 won't change all that much heading into the new campaign.
It's a positive for Ivan Cleary given the way his side started the 2025 campaign following the departure of five-eighth Jarome Luai to the Wests Tigers and elite prop James Fisher-Harris to the New Zealand Warriors.
The Panthers might be relatively stable heading into 2026, but Ivan Cleary still has questions to answer.
Here are the key ones.
Who is under pressure to perform?
Not so much a direct selection question to finish, but one that could well play its way out through 2026 for Penrith.
The simple fact of life is, for a team that wound up in the preliminary finals, there were big names who never quite got going.
It can't be understated just how good a number of players were in lifting the side from the bottom, but by the same token, there is a list of players who need more in 2026.
That is led by Dylan Edwards, who could well lose his Origin jersey if he doesn't fire. Jaxen Edgar isn't about to take his spot in first-grade, but the youngster has all the talent in the world, and from a cost point of view, Edwards' contract is up at the end of 2028.
More immediately, Lindsay Smith is off-contract at the end of this year, while the likes of Liam Martin, Isaiah Papali'i, Brian To'o and Isaah Yeo had mixed seasons, but are all off-contract at the end of 2027.
Are we about to head into another transformative period for the men from the foot of the mountains?
