Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. The team is based 55 km west of the centre of Sydney and at the foot of the Blue Mountains. They were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League competition in 1967. The club achieved its first Grand Final appearance in 1990 but were beaten by the Canberra Raiders 18–14. The Panthers’ most recent premiership achievement was over the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 Grand Final where they came out on top with an 18–6 victory.
About Penrith Panthers in brief
Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. The team is based 55 km west of the centre of Sydney and at the foot of the Blue Mountains. They were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League competition in 1967. The club achieved its first Grand Final appearance in 1990 but were beaten by the Canberra Raiders 18–14. The Panthers’ most recent premiership achievement was over the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 Grand Final where they came out on top with an 18–6 victory. Ivan Cleary was appointed head coach in October 2018. OAK Milk has been their major sponsor since 2012. They made the finals during 1997 Super League and 2000 NRL competition where they were defeated 28-10 by the Parramatta Eels in the elimination semi-final. In 2020 the Panthers reached their fourth grand final but were defeated 26-20 by the Melbourne Storm. 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 NSWRL in 1967 would introduce two new teams to the Sydney premiership. There were three teams vying for the two proposed slots, Penrath, Cronulla-Sutherland, and the Wentworthville Magpies. The NSWRL eventually settled on PenrITH due to their location and a win in the 1966 Second Division title. After admission to the competition in1967, they promptly came second last on the competition ladder.
They 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. They went on to play Wigan in England for the 1991 World Club Challenge. In 1992 tragedy struck the club when the younger brother of Captain Greg Alexander, Ben, died in a car accident. Greg and close family friends Mark Geyer and Brad Fittler left the club soon after as well as coach Phil Gould. The same year Penrital came second on the ladder and finished 12th on the 2001 NRL season. This year they came third in the competition and were eliminated in the semi-finals of the NRL competition. In 2003 they showed hope as they knocked the Northern Eagles out of the final eight of the Super League. The next year they showed the promise that was to come the next year and progressed to the final three. This season they finished 3rd and lost 3-3 to Stu Galuvao, Joe Galu, Preston Campbell and Joe Galvao. This was their last season of promise and they proceeded to lose all three games early in the season. In the next season they won the pre-season competition and finished 8th, but this improvement proved to be short lived. In 2004 they came 12th and finished in the final four of the Sydney Rugby League Super League competition. The following year they finished in 12th place.
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