Penrith, for most of its history, has been in a slumber.
There have been times, most notably in the premiership seasons of 1991 and 2003, that the Panther has been roused. But for a club with such a large nursery and following, its potential has never been fully tapped.
Which is why new coach Anthony Griffin has been brought in. To poke the Panther.
"When you're in opposition to the club you always heard about that scenario, that they're a sleeping giant," Griffin said.
"We're always going to be asleep until somehow we get them right. That's the challenge for me, the same as any other coach that's been here.
"They've definitely got a lot of resources. There's great junior leagues here, they've been able to convert their juniors into great 20s sides over the last few years. Obviously the challenge now is to convert that into NRL sides on a consistent basis. There's certainly the potential to do that.
"Until it happens it's always going to be a sleeping giant. I've got to try and wake it up."
Exactly how Griffin expects to do that is unclear. The former Brisbane mentor has only been at the foot of the mountains for a few short weeks and, not knowing a single member of the coaching or playing staff save for Peter Wallace, has no preconceived ideas.
The man dubbed "Hook" is yet to decide whether Wallace, the man he cut from the Broncos, will retain the captaincy. Wallace, who bears no grudges over his exit at Red Hill, made it clear he wants to continue in the role.
"Oh yeah, I'd love to," said Wallace, who is recovering from his latest ACL operation after a dead person's Achilles was inserted into the troublesome area.
"It's been a huge honour to captain the club. I grew up 10 minutes up the road, so to be given another opportunity to do it a couple of years ago, I took it with both hands. It's something I'd love to continue doing, but in saying that it's up to the direction Hook wants to go."
It's also unclear whether the man known as Hook will, well, hook his halves. The Panthers were again decimated by injury this year, with the first-choice spine selections spending a total of just 11 minutes of game time together during a horror season in which the club narrowly avoided the wooden spoon. Jamie Soward also needs a big pre-season after being told by Panthers supremo Phil Gould to consider retirement unless his attitude improved. There has been speculation that Matt Moylan could fill the void, although a Darren Lockyer-style switch from fullback to five-eighth appears some time away.
"Fullback," Moylan said when asked where he is playing next year. "It looks like fullback at the moment. I just want to play, it feels like I haven't played for a few years, it's been a while."
Gould is on record as wanting a crack at Jarryd Hayne should the NFL project player opt to return to the game that launched his career. The current fullback is unfazed.
"I didn't read it," Moylan said. "I think every club would want to get him. I don't know, it's up to them. I'm not worried about anything like that. I'm here to play footy and that's all I can do."
Griffin and Gould have struck up a close relationship in a relatively short time.
"He really rolls his sleeves up," Griffin said. "He's a lot more hands-on than what I thought across all areas of the club.
"I think the club's benefiting from that."
Griffin said he had the ultimate say when it came to footballing affairs.
"He's just like any other CEO or manager," Griffin said. "He'll sit there and talk footy with me, but in the end it's my decision.
"I certainly respect his opinion, he's one of the great coaches and commentators, so you'd be silly not to seek his advice."
