Brian To’o, Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin and Dylan Edwards are pushing to back up for the Panthers when they face Parramatta at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

If that scenario should play out, it will say all there is to say about just where the Panthers are – off the back of four straight premierships and walking a very thin tightrope in 2025, where their season is essentially on the line before the competition has even reached the half-way point.

With significant Origin representation and amidst the premiership dynasty they have created, a couple of Panthers players would likely have been rested in previous years.

Yet the current season’s immediacy in terms of a team placed 17th and not looking anything like the machine that has dominated the NRL in recent times, sees the superstars realise the importance of the clash with a similarly struggling Parramatta and they will most likely play on Sunday in a match Penrith simply must win.

The Eels should also have Mitchell Moses and Zac Lomax on deck after playing their roles in Origin I, and whilst the notion of fatigue is stretched a little considering the three day break between the Blues’ players involvement last Wednesday night, there is no doubt that bodies will be bruised and sore.

It sets up a season ending affair for the loser of the contest. Parramatta started poorly in 2025 under Jason Ryles, yet have won three of their last five to give supporters something of a hope that there is a chance of finals football.

Penrith have lost seven of their past 10, earned a controversial point against the Cowboys in early May and were belted by the Knights last time out. Frankly, the Panthers are so far off the mark when it comes to playing consistent periods of 40 minutes that we all should probably have them dead and buried for 2025.

Yet we don’t, based on the quality of the men involved in Origin that could potentially see them string six or seven wins together and earn a spot in the December action.

That would take an enormous effort on their behalf and with the Eels in reasonable nick heading into the match-up, the contest looms as the death knell for the loser. Where the two points head on Sunday will kill off one season and whilst the Penrith story will be far bigger than the predictable Eels’ failure, both are newsworthy.

Zac Lomax will be key for the Eels against the Panthers. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

In the modern game, teams simply do not undertake stunning turnarounds in the back half of the season and play finals, after being cast adrift on the ladder at the half-way point. And that is precisely where we are at this season.

At the Round 13 mark of 2024, the Cowboys, Bulldogs and Knights were outside the top eight, equal on points with the Roosters on 14 who held eighth spot and then managed to force their ways into the finals. The year prior, it was the Roosters and Knights who qualified after sitting equal eighth and a point further back at the equivalent point of the season.

2022 provides more doom for the losers of Sunday’s fixture, with only a fade out from the Broncos allowing the Raiders to sneak into the eight after sitting just outside it at Round 12.

History may have a few examples from eras past of teams magically finding form late and storming into the finals from the lower rungs of the ladder, but it simply does not occur in the modern and more professional climate.

Nathan Cleary and his fellow Origin representatives will be desperate for a crucial two points this Sunday against Parramatta. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The 2021 season further illustrates the point. The Knights and the Gold Coast did manage to squeeze into the top eight from the fringes at the mid-way point of the season.

A Cowboys collapse aided that and the Dragons’ loss of eight straight to end the season allowed the teams sitting equal eighth after Round 12 to qualify for the finals.

The pattern is consistent and the loser of the clash between Penrith and Parramatta will be placed either last or second last on the table come the end of Round 13.

If you have not already written off the chances of the teams in question, feel free to do so come Sunday night. Is there a path to the finals for both? Possibly, but a loss this weekend sticks a fork in the loser.

Plenty will be hoping it is the Panthers, after such a sustained period of dominance and the hope for something different.

Others will long for a continuation of Parramatta’s misery. Those circumstances might combine to create something of a classic.