"Undisputed": The UFC-inspired theme behind Panthers' three-peat

“Undisputed!”.

That was how Penrith captain Isaah Yeo ended his speech after accepting the NRL Premiership Trophy for a third time on Sunday night.

It was also the word that featured as the centre piece of a UFC-style championship belt the Panthers proudly unveiled after their epic 26-24 triumph against the Broncos and it was written beneath photos of each player on posters in the dressing room.

Penrith were confirmed as the greatest team of the salary cap era and one of the best of all time after overcoming the loss of star playmaker Jarome Luai to complete the biggest comeback in grand final history and win a third consecutive premiership.

It’s a feat that hasn’t been achieved for 40 years and Ivan Cleary’s men are now aiming to become one of just three teams to win four successive grand finals, along with St George (twice during their record run of 11 consecutive premierships from 1956 to 1966) and South Sydney (1926-29).

The Panthers had a specially designed UFC-style belt made during the finals series and after each win they would add a medallion with the score, date and name of their opponent as they strove to become “undisputed” three-time champions.

Clive Churchill Medallist Nathan Cleary added the final medallion, which was engraved with the word "undisputed", to the belt at the conclusion of a speech by his father, Ivan, in the packed Panthers dressing room.

“Firstly, I want to thank everybody in this room and anyone who has ever supported us,” Ivan said.

“It’s been a long journey. I know this year’s team has been an incredible team, that’s one thing, but this is also part of three in a row.

“There are people here who have done so much for this team and club – players, coaches, staff members, they’re all a part of this three-peat.

“This group, man, I love you guys so much. That tonight was unbelievable. We played a way that would have beaten most other teams but the Broncos didn’t go away.

“When we were down 24-8, and in all sorts, I thought we accelerated. We need to finish off our belt.”

Players later posed for photos with the belt on the field at Accor Stadium and were carrying it when they returned to Penrith to continue the celebrations in the early hours of Monday morning.

Liam Martin, who was one of nine players to have featured in each of the three premiership triumphs, said the belt was the idea of Panthers football analyst Demas Wong, who presented the "undisputed" medallion to Cleary to insert.

“It just added a bit of enjoyment during the finals,” Martin said. “After each game that we won we’d just add a bit of an emblem onto the belt with the score and stuff. It was pretty cool.”

Posters in each player’s game day locker were headlined “History Hunters”, with “undisputed” written at the bottom.

The posters featured a photo of the player with the name of their junior club written underneath and a brief description of their playing attributes.

Fullback Dylan Edwards was described as a “try saving wizard”, while Martin was lauded for his “relentless pressure”.

“Every year we have a theme, so it’s been good,” injured playmaker Jarome Luai said. “The belt is a bit of a pinnacle thing that the coaches came up with.

"Each finals game there was a separate emblem to put in the belt so that was pretty cool.”

After singing the club song, the players sung “We are the Champions”, and while they are losing star centre Stephen Crichton, interchange prop Spencer Leniu and back up five-eighth Jack Cogger, the Panthers believe their streak can continue.

“I honestly can’t put into words how good this feels,” Martin said. “This is the sweetest victory yet, because of the way we had to do it and [achieving] the three-peat.

“Even when the score was 24-8 there was still that belief that we were not down and out. You’ll never keep us down, we just keep turning up for one another.

“We will come in next season and be even hungrier. We just want to keep building, keeping each other accountable and getting better and better.

“We just don’t want to let each down and we just keep going. We don’t stop for one another.”