"It's been unreal to be a part of."
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There hasn't been the ultimate achievement of premiership glory, but Isaah Yeo says it's special to be part of the Penrith Panthers during this successful period in their history.
The St John's junior and his teammates are in the running to claim another minor premiership heading into this season's final round meeting with Parramatta on Friday night.
The performances this year have come after last season's minor premiership win and progress to the grand final, where they lost to the Melbourne Storm.
Origin back-rower Yeo feels fortunate to have been a part of it all but said plenty of credit goes to those behind the scenes have who built the club into a consistent premiership threat.
"Finals-wise, we've been thereabouts pretty consistently for the past five or six years," he said.
"My first year in grade was 2014 and I got a taste then and that was the year the team went to the prelim final and got beat by the Bulldogs. The year after we were fighting for the spoon so I've had to go through that but since there I've been lucky to play in two semi-finals every year.
"It's obviously a lot nicer to be winning more often like we have the past couple of years and putting yourself in that top four but it's just pleasing to see the club grow."
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Something of a trailblazer for the juniors in the bush, Yeo was one of the first juniors to make the move from the western area to the Panthers.
He's partly surrounded by fellow western juniors, the likes of Matt Burton, Brent Naden, and Charlie Staines, now and those pathways have been a big part of Penrith's success in recent times.
Speaking earlier in the week, Yeo said former general manager Phil Gould and current High Performance Manager Matt Cameron were instrumental to it, as were coaches Ivan Cleary and Anthony Griffin.
"They've put such an emphasis on recruiting who they think will be good but internally they have made sure those pathways have bene outstanding," he said.
"As a club we're really benefiting from that and there's a lot of people who've played a role in that. It's been unreal to be a part of."
The last month it feels like we've been building and just focusing on ourselves.
- Isaah Yeo
The Panthers are locked at the top of the table with Melbourne heading into the final round.
Both sides play on Friday night, the Storm plays in the earlier timeslot against Cronulla, before western Sydney rivals Penrith and Parramatta do battle.
The Storm is playing a vastly weakened side as coach Craig Bellamy has opted to rest a number of stars ahead of the finals.
The same goes for Parramatta but Panthers coach Cleary has named a virtually full-strength side.
"We're just trying to continue to go upward trajectory and the last month it feels like we've been building and just focusing on ourselves," Yeo said when asked about rivals resting players.
The Panthers were a model of consistency last season and finished five points clear of the Storm of the top of the ladder.
While they've again been a competition standout this season the consistency hasn't quite been the same, largely due to disruptions around the Origin period and a number of injuries.
"I thought we were probably playing a little better at this point point year but I still feel like we've got a few gears to go and the games that have had a bit more of semi-finals feel in the last month have been the games we've played better in, the games against Roosters and Souths," Yeo said.
"I think that's pleasing and that will help come a fortnight's time."
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