The $21 million Academy is much more than a factory for producing footballers. It signifies a major long-term investment in the 13-player code in western Sydney … and beyond.

“Being here is a dream come true,” one of the Penrith development system’s finest recent examples, Nathan Cleary, tells Inside Sport. “I’ve wanted to play in the NRL for as long as I can remember, since I first started watching footy as a three-year-old carrying a footy around. You just have to enjoy it. We’re really lucky to be in the position we are.”

But don’t take our word – or State of Origin debutant Cleary’s – word for it, for that matter. Dive into Inside Sport’s eight-page feature story on the facility, titled Learning To Be A Panther, and find out for yourself why the Panthers’ Academy is the envy of the rugby league world.

 

There’s plenty more rugby league in this issue, including a walk down memory lane for Panthers legend Greg “Brandy” Alexander, who relives memories of the club’s famous 1991 grand final win in his Fox League column this month.

(Photo by Getty images)

Speaking of looking back, another Fox League identity, Gorden Tallis, takes us back to the season he missed entirely. It was in the midst of the Super League war, and the Raging Bull learnt plenty from the experience.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Meanwhile, we catch up with Jordan Mailata. The Philadelphia Eagles’ 203cm, 157kg Samoan-Aussie NFL draftee outlines the differences between training with the Rabbitohs’ Under-20s and preparing for the gridiron.

 

For ten seasons now, Tim Mannah has trucked it up the middle for his beloved Parramatta Eels. In our August edition, he tells us what it takes to compete consistently in one of the toughest positions on the rugby league field.

 

Switching to AFL, every time our footy team loses, we lament our players’ wastefulness in front of goal. But how accurate are they meant to be? From a new book on the AFL’s embrace of data analytics, we learn about the concept of xSco, or expected score.

 

The Bradman of the lanes? You heard that right – kingpin Jason Belmonte dominates his game the way no other Australian sportsperson does at the moment. And it all started in a bowling alley in Orange.

 

Robert Whittaker shatters the mould of what you expect a fighter to be, much like how his sport has broken through old notions about it. Australia’s first UFC champion – and its best fighter, period – is not one to be caged.

 

Also in this issue, quick-thinking 24-year-old heart of the Melbourne Vixens’ defence, Jo Weston, provides an insight into what it takes to excel in pro netball … all the while keeping those pesky cross-town rival Magpies at bay.

 

ALL THIS AND PLENTY MORE IN THE AUGUST 2018 EDITION OF INSIDE SPORT MAGAZINE – ON SALE NOW!