Penrith Panthers
The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
Penrith were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League competition in 1967. Penrith struggled for almost twenty years before finally reaching their first finals series. The club achieved its first grand final appearance in 1990 but were beaten by the Canberra Raiders 18–14. The following year, Penrith met Canberra again in the 1991 Grand Final, this time winning the game 19–12.
Penrith won their second NRL premiership in 2003. Their most recent premiership achievement came in 2024, where they defeated the Melbourne Storm by 14-6 in the Grand Final. After losing the 2020 grand final to the Melbourne Storm, Penrith became the second club to retain the premiership in the NRL-era as well as the first to win three and subsequently four Premierships, winning the 2021, 2022, 2023, and the 2024 Grand Finals.
Ivan Cleary was appointed head coach in October 2018, having previously served in the same role between 2012-15. Former Penrith premiership winning head coach Phil Gould was the club's general manager but departed in 2019.
History
Varied Penrith teams had played for many years between 1912 and 1966 in the Western Districts League under the control of the Western Suburbs RLFC. In the Parramatta competition after Parramatta was admitted to the NSWRL in 1947, and also in a second-tier Sydney competition introduced by the NSWRL in 1962. By this time a single top level rugby league team had emerged in the Penrith area and in 1964 they became known as the Penrith Panthers. The Panther had been chosen as the Penrith emblem after a public competition won by a graphic artist from Emu Plains named Deidre Copeland.In 1966 word was out that the New South Wales Rugby League in 1967 would introduce two new teams to the Sydney premiership. There were three teams vying for the two proposed slots, Penrith, Cronulla-Sutherland, and the Wentworthville Magpies. Cronulla-Sutherland had been assured of one place, leaving Penrith and Wentworthville to fight it out for the other place. The NSWRL eventually settled on Penrith due to their location and a win in the 1966 Second Division title.
1967 season (first season)
After admission to the competition in 1967, they came second last on the competition ladder finishing only ahead of fellow 1967 newcomers Cronulla-Sutherland. Hopes were raised in 1968 under new Captain-Coach Bob Boland when they won the pre-season competition and finished 8th, but this improvement proved to be short-lived.1985 season (first finals appearance)
Penrith had trouble attracting the sort of experienced players they knew they needed, and although they always had good junior talent coming through, they did not get the on-field leadership they needed. Penrith needed to wait until they could develop their own 'stars'. They consequently struggled for almost 20 years before finally reaching their first finals series in 1985 with a team boasting new local star Greg Alexander and captained by Royce Simmons.1988–1991 seasons (first grand finals)
Penrith developed a strong team in the late 80s and started to build momentum. They made their first Grand Final appearance in 1990 with a team boasting notable players Greg Alexander, John Cartwright, Brad Fittler and Mark Geyer only to be beaten by the Canberra Raiders 18–14. The next year Penrith met Canberra again in the Grand Final, this time winning 19–12, including two tries by Royce Simmons the former team captain in his last game. They went on to play Wigan in England for the 1991 World Club Challenge but were beaten by the British champions 21–4.1992–1995 seasons (downfall)
Their reign was short-lived as in 1992 tragedy struck the club when the younger brother of Captain Greg Alexander, Ben, died in a car accident on June 21, 1992. Greg and close family friends Mark Geyer and Brad Fittler left the club soon after as well as coach Phil Gould who left midway through the 1994 season.Penrith were coached by former player and club captain Royce Simmons starting with the last six games in 1994 until the end of 2001.
1997–2000 seasons (back to finals)
They made the finals during the 1997 Super League season.The Panthers began the 1998 NRL Season with 2 wins from 5, to sit in the top 10, however, they would go on to win only 6 of their remaining 19 games to sit in 14th place out of 20, in doing so, setting an unwanted record for conceding the equal biggest choke in NRL history, against the Cowboys in Round 12, where they led 26-0, before losing 28-36 in Bluebet Stadium
In 2000, the Panthers finished in 5th place where they were defeated 28–10 by the Parramatta Eels in the elimination semi-final.
2001–2004 season (build to a premiership)
In the 2001 NRL season, Penrith came last on the competition ladder. The same year was Royce Simmons' last season as coach for Penrith, and he was replaced by John Lang from Cronulla in 2002, where they finished 12th. Their last game of 2002 showed hope as they proceeded to thrash the Northern Eagles, knocking them out of the final eight.2002 showed the promise that was to come the next year. With the signing of Preston Campbell and Joe Galuvao, the side fired in 2003. Coming off 3 early season losses, they proceeded to lose only 3 other games for the rest of the competition with the local hero, Rhys Wesser scoring a new club record 25 tries. Penrith finished as Minor Premiers after convincingly accounting for the Parramatta Eels in the last round of competition. In the Finals series Penrith beat the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors to reach the 2003 NRL grand final. Entering the match as underdogs, Penrith defeated the Roosters 18–6, with winger Luke Rooney scoring two tries. Hooker Luke Priddis, the other try-scorer for the Panthers, received the Clive Churchill Medal. The game is also remembered for a spectacular tackle by Scott Sattler in the 2nd Half, where he ran down and tackled Roosters winger Todd Byrne, who was sprinting down the left wing for an almost certain try. Penrith lost the 2004 World Club Challenge in the following pre-season, with the Bradford Bulls defeating them 22–4 in sub-zero temperatures. Penrith did however rally after that loss and once again qualified for the NRL semi-final series by finishing fourth and defeating St. George in the first week of the semi-finals before being knocked out by Canterbury-Bankstown in the grand final qualifier two weeks later.
2005–2009 season (continued failures)
Penrith then just failed to qualify for the Top 8 in 2005 finishing two points out and in 10th spot on percentages. They endured another below-par season in 2006 this time falling well short of the finals finishing the year in 12th position. The 2007 season turned out to be a poor one for the Panthers, they won only eight games, finished last and "won" the wooden-spoon for the second time in six years after losing to the New Zealand Warriors in the last round of the regular season competition.In 2008, Penrith improved four spots on their 2007 performance by finishing in 12th spot out of 16 teams in the NRL competition with 10 wins, one draw and 13 losses. In 2009 they finished the season in 11th spot out of 16 teams in the NRL competition with 11 wins, one draw and 12 losses.
In 2009, Penrith finished 11th. In round 21 of the 2009 NRL season, Penrith drew with the New Zealand Warriors 32–32 the 2nd highest drawn NRL game of all time.
2010 season (brief finals appearance)
In 2010, Penrith had an excellent season, finishing in 2nd place in the ladder out of the 16 teams, with 16 wins and 9 losses. However, in the first round of the Finals series, they lost 24–22 at home to the Canberra Raiders and were knocked out in the second round when they lost 34–12 to the Sydney Roosters.Michael Gordon played very well in that year, setting two new club records. In round 24, against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, he set a new club record for most points scored in one game: 30. By the end of the final game of the regular season, game 24, round 26, he had also set a new club record for the most points scored in one season at 270.
2011–2013 seasons (rebuilding the club)
After a 2010 season where the club went above and beyond expectations, they were looking to starting the new season on a high. It wasn't to be, however, when they were thumped by Newcastle at the newly named Centrebet Stadium, 42–8. While round 2 went a lot better for the team, beating rivals the Eels at Parramatta Stadium 20–6, the year was marked by inconsistency as they finished 12th on the ladder.In 2011, following another terrible start to the season, the Penrith board decided to sever ties with coach Matthew Elliot at season's end. On 20 June 2011 he stepped down as coach and that same day Steve Georgallis was appointed caretaker coach for the remainder of the season. On 29 June Ivan Cleary was announced as coach for the next 3 seasons, with Georgallis staying as assistant coach for the remainder of the season.
2012 was again a disappointing year for Penrith, finishing second last with an 8–16 record. However, the club discovered some new talent in the form of winger Josh Mansour, a candidate for Rookie of the Year, as well as fullback Lachlan Coote's successful move to five-eighth.
2013 began poorly for the Penrith; after a first up win against the Canberra Raiders, they went on to lose their next five games. However, a more inspired performance against the Parramatta Eels in round 7, where they won 44–12, was a trigger for a strong run; four wins from five games to see Penrith move into the top eight of the competition. The four wins included a 12–10 victory over the reigning premiers, Melbourne Storm, and a 64–6 thrashing of the New Zealand Warriors. However, after a year with mixed results, Penrith finished in tenth position, one win out of the top eight. At the end of the season, the likes of Luke Walsh, Lachlan Coote, Mose Masoe and Brad Tighe departed.
A playing roster overhaul saw the arrival of big name players such as Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace, Jamal Idris, Tyrone Peachey and Elijah Taylor at Penrith, while Matt Moylan took the vacant fullback role left by the departed Lachlan Coote.