Penrith Panthers

Inaugural season: 1967

Home field: Bluebet Stadium, Penrith, Australia

Owner: Panthers Group

Team colors: Black, red, yellow, green, and white

Overview

The Penrith Panthers is a professional rugby team that plays in Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL). Officially founded in 1966, the Panthers joined the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) the following year and remained there until the formation of the short-lived Super League in 1997, a year before the birth of the NRL. After struggling in their first few decades in the league, the Panthers finally emerged as a legitimate contender in the early 1990s, most notably winning their first premiership in 1991. Sometimes also known by the nicknames Liquorice AllSorts, the Riff, Chocolate Army, Mountain Men, or the Pennies, the Panthers play their home games at Panthers Stadium in Penrith. Over the course of their existence, the Panthers have sported a number of different jersey designs. Originally wearing blue and white, the team switched to brown and white for a time before donning a black, white, red, yellow and green design in the 1990s. In the early twenty-first century, the Panthers wore jerseys featuring several other color schemes before ultimately returning to the design they made famous in the 1990s. Regardless of the color schemes they adopted, the Panthers’ jersey have always included a panther emblem. Most iterations of that emblem have featured an angry-looking black panther depicted leaping from left to right.

History

Rugby first emerged in Great Britain during the nineteenth century as a variant of traditional football, a sport that North Americans typically know as soccer. Essentially a more physical form of football, rugby was initially created at the Rugby School in Warwickshire, England. Though it is similar to traditional football/soccer in many respects, rugby also bears a resemblance to American football. Among other things, players are free to advance the ball using their hands and are permitted to tackle opposing ball carriers. After initially enjoying a surge of popularity in the British Isles, rugby quickly made its way to many of Britain’s colonial enclaves. In Australia, rugby is believed to have been introduced by British military personnel. By the late-nineteenth century, Australian rugby was being played by a variety of amateur teams. In 1908, a group of amateur Australian rugby players came together to create the nation’s first professional rugby league. The end result of their effort was the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), an organization composed of several professional rugby teams based near Sydney, the largest city in the nation. For decades, the NSWRL was considered to be Australia’s top-ranked professional rugby league.

The origins of the Penrith Panthers are closely tied to the history of rugby in Penrith itself. Penrith is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. The earliest known rugby match held in the city was an exhibition contest staged at the Penrith Showground in April 1912. About a month later, the Penrith United Football Club was formed. Still, Penrith’s emergent rugby league struggled to achieve stability and even briefly disbanded in 1925. Two years later, the club reapplied to take part in the Western Districts competition and ultimately formed the Penrith Waratah Football Club. Over the next few decades, Penrith’s rugby league grew in popularity and success. By the 1960s, Penrith boasted a top level rugby team poised for entry into regional play. In 1964, that team became known as the Penrith Panthers. Two years later, the Panthers found themselves in competition with the Wentworthville Magpies and Cronulla-Sutherland for a spot in the NSWRL premiership. Ultimately, the Panthers organization out-campaigned the other two teams, won the spot, and went on to play their inaugural NSWRL season in 1967.

The Panthers’ early years in the NSWRL were particularly challenging. With a roster of relatively inexperienced players, the team struggled to compete and regularly finished near the bottom of the rankings. Still, the Panthers earned a reputation for their unyielding grit and tenacity. After years of development, the club finally started to become legitimately competitive in the 1980s. The Panthers’ first taste of real success came when they played their first final series in 1985. Another major milestone came when the team reached the grand final for the first time in 1990. Although they fell to the Canberra Raiders, the Panthers returned to the grand final the following year and emerged victorious in a rematch against the Raiders.

Australian rugby went through a period of turmoil in the mid-1990s as officials sought to brand the sport to appeal to a nationwide audience. This effort eventually led to the formation of two rival rugby leagues in 1997. One of these was the Australian Rugby League (ARL), which replaced the NSWRL. The other was a corporately-supported organization known as the Super League. In the midst of this schism, the Panthers moved to the Super League and played there for the single season it was operational. When it became clear that it was financially impossible for Australia to maintain a pair of competing major rugby leagues, the ARL and Super League were forced to merge in 1998 and rebranded as the National Rugby League. From that point forward, the Panthers competed as part of the NRL.

The 2000s proved to be something of a mixed bag for the Panthers. The team met with significant postseason success in some years, but also floundered at or near the bottom of the standings in others. The Panthers’ high-water mark of the era came in 2003, a historic year in which the Panthers claimed a minor premiership and eventually defeated the Sydney Roosters in the grand final to win a second championship. After that, the club entered a precipitous decline from which they did not begin to recover until the 2010s. Following a return to the finals series in 2010, the Panthers suffered several more losing years and would ultimately fall short of earning another berth in the finals series until 2016. Starting that year, the club returned to the finals series in three straight seasons, but failed to reach the grand final. In 2019, the Panthers struggled out of the gate and ultimately missed out on the postseason. However, the team rebounded in 2020, posting the league’s best record during the regular season and making it deep into the finals series. From there, the team became recognized as reigning champions when they secured the premiership trophy two times in a row, in 2021 and 2022.

At the end of the 2023 regular season, the Panthers won their third straight premiership, and fifth overall, defeating the Brisbane Broncos 26-24 in the 2023 Grand Final. Prior to the 2024 season, the Panthers traveled to England to participate in the 2024 World Cup Challenge. They lost against Wigan, 16-12.

Notable players

The Penrith Panthers have had many notable players over the course of their history. One of the team’s earliest stars was Tim Sheens. In his thirteen seasons with the Panthers from 1970 to 1982, Sheens recorded 11 tries in 166 matches. Known for his toughness and endurance, Sheens established himself as one of the team’s best players during some of its most difficult seasons.

Royce Simmons played for the Panthers from 1980 to 1991 and notched 15 tries over 238 matches in that time. In a remarkable feat, two of his career tries came during the Panther’s successful 1991 grand final matchup against Canberra. As such, Simmons was a key contributor to the club’s first premiership victory.

Halfback Greg Alexander suited up with the Panthers from 1984 to 1994 and later returned for a second stint that lasted from 1997 to 1999. In that time, he played in 228 matches and recorded 105 tries and 335 goals. Alexander won the Dally M Player of the Year Medal in just his second season and quickly cemented himself as one of the club’s best players. The Dally M is an award given to the league’s most outstanding player in the regular season. His career highlight came when he captained the team during its successful run to the 1991 premiership.

John Cartwright was one of the Panthers’ leading players from 1985 to 1996. During his twelve seasons with the team, he notched 14 tries over 184 matches. Although he was injured for much of the 1991 season, Cartwright also played a key role in the Panthers’ premiership victory. In the latter portion of his career, Cartwright succeeded Greg Alexander as the team captain.

Mark Geyer was another of the Panthers' leading players in the 1980s and 1990s. He played two separate stints with the team, the first stretching from 1987 to 1992 and the latter taking place from 1998 to 2000. Geyer’s greatest moment came in the 1991 grand final, when he set up two of the three tries that led to the Panthers’ inaugural premiership win.

One of the Panthers’ all-time greatest players, Brad Fittler, began his illustrious rugby career at Penrith in 1989 and remained with the team until 1995. During that time, he played in 119 matches and notched 31 tries. He was also a key contributor to the Panthers’ two grand final matchups against Canberra. Fittler later went on to become a standout player with the Sydney Roosters and was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2008.

Players who were considered particularly key to the Panthers' success in 2021 and 2022 included second-rower Viliame Kikau, hooker Api Koroisau, halfback Nathan Cleary, five-eighth Jarome Luai, and centre Stephen Crichton.

Other notable Panthers players have included Steve Carter, Ryan Girdler, Tony Puletua, Rhys Wesser, Scott Sattler, Luke Lewis, and Josh Mansour.

Bibliography

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