Greg Alexander responds to furore over 'disrespectful' Panthers display
Not that long ago, winning grand final teams were allowed to party in private and pretty much blank the outside world.
They could carry on like clowns and no one knew or cared.
'PATHETIC': Penrith teammates accused of snubbing Dylan Edwards
'STRANGE': Parramatta under fire after grand final move backfires
I can still vividly remember one well-known rugby league figure slumped in a gutter with his back up against an Australia Post box, intoxicated but happy as he waited for his wife to come pick him up two days after the final whistle.
No mobile phones back then to capture the moment and throw on the outrage fire. Simpler times.
These days winning teams are paraded before fans less than 24 hours after lifting the trophy, operating on zero sleep and a thousand bevvies before a microphone is thrust in front of their face.
We then expect them to turn master orator and deliver an eloquent address to the masses, humbly accepting their success while gracefully acknowledging the vanquished and offering support to those living in oppressed regimes.
It never rises above a few slurred words, spoken in the ancient dialect of Gibberish, which makes your average 21st birthday speech look like a dissertation to the United Nations.
The Panthers are again in the gun for allegedly not celebrating their grand win over Parramatta with enough class, grace and style.
Some were triggered by Jarome Luai's Instagram post labelling Penrith the Eels' 'Daddy'.
Api Koroisau, wearing ski goggles with KFC stickers on the lens if you want a read on what state he was in, is shot down for a sarcastic cackle referencing his new club the Tigers while being interviewed at a fan day.
Wests Tigers took no great offence.
At the same do, James Fisher-Harris is brought before the judge for allegedly inciting hatred towards Parramatta and declaring this Penrith side the best in the club's history.
'We hate Parra!'
Story: https://t.co/VCBJwBCbGv@FatimaKdouh_ pic.twitter.com/mZkFNgOvG2— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) October 3, 2022
Greg Alexander responds to Penrith furore
Greg Alexander is arguably the greatest Panther of all-time – albeit with Nathan Cleary closing fast – and a member of the first Penrith side to win a competition in 1991.
It came a year after the mountain men had gone down to Canberra in the decider.
There was talk of a Panthers dynasty off the back of the '91 success but it never materialised, the club torn apart by the tragic death of Alexander's brother Ben in a car accident in 1992.
If people are outraged by Fisher-Harris's assessment, as we're led to believe, then surely it stands to reason Greg Alexander should be the most offended.
Over to you, Brandy.
"I take no offence to what James Fisher-Harris said. I don’t find that disrespectful," he said.
"I've got no problem with what he said because I think they are (the best).
"That's how I see them. The numbers for this team over the last three years are phenomenal."
Nothing more to see here.
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.