Just over two months ago, Penrith hit rock bottom in Bathurst as a makeshift outfit was brushed aside 25-6 by Newcastle.
The loss marked the seventh time the four-time reigning premiers had tasted defeat inside the first three months of the season.
Obituaries weren’t quite being written, but the fall of a dynasty seemed to be all but assured of happening as a constant churn of the roster appeared to have finally struck a fatal blow.
MORE: Brisbane's finals hopes take major hit as star duo set to be sidelined for the rest of the season
Penrith’s unbeaten run continues against woeful Knights
Penrith were rooted to the bottom of the ladder after Round 12 as critics were sent scrambling to the history books to assess whether the champions could be in the midst of a record-breaking descent.
Yet since that dour afternoon at Carrington Park, where Dylan Lucas bagged a hat-trick, Ivan Cleary’s side have turned things around.
Eight victories in a row leading up to their second meeting against the Knights had already flipped the script.
Adam O’Brien’s weary troops are now nervously looking over their shoulders as the prospect of a wooden spoon comes into greater and greater focus each week.
And the Panthers piled the misery onto them in the Hunter as they romped to a 48-12 win.
"The main things have been confidence, connection and our defence," Nathan Cleary said post-match about the reason for such a significant reversal of their fortunes.
"That is the foundation that everything else comes off - our defence.
"The effort earlier in the year was there but it was probably misguided in places. We weren’t scrambling hard enough and didn't have each other's backs.
"That has been the big difference to turn our season around and then attack flows off the back of that and confidence starts to build."
The Knights had crossed for four unanswered tries inside the first 20 minutes or so during their first meeting.
This time, it was the Panthers who twisted the knife as they scored two four-pointers inside the opening five minutes.
The premiers went on to complete the job with relative ease, scoring at regular intervals throughout the remainder of the contest.
"It’s been a weird year," Ivan Cleary reflected post-match.
"I’m a lot happier than I was during the last time we played them.
"It was definitely the low point of the year for us, but credit to the players and staff. Everyone has just put their heads down and gone back to basics.
"It’s funny how it all works out."
Penrith’s two competition points allowed them to climb inside the top four for the first time this year.
A shot at five straight titles suddenly seems to be firmly in their grasp.
"That would be ideal," the halfback smiled when asked if the Panthers wanted to remain in their position on the ladder before launching another raid on the trophy.
"I think the reason we’re in this position is that we lost sight of the ladder a bit and just focused on ourselves. We just tried to improve each week and a lot of the time it was just us versus ourselves.
"It’s no different now. We can’t be falling in love with ourselves."