Penrith Panthers

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Club information
Full name	Penrith Rugby League Club
Nickname(s)	Mountain Men, Chocolate Soldiers, Pennies
Colours	Primary:      Black      Teal Secondary:      White      Teal      Grey
Founded	1967
Current details
Ground(s)	Centrebet Stadium Penrith, New South Wales (22,500)
Coach(s)	Ivan Cleary
General Mgr.	Phil Gould
Captain(s)	Luke Lewis
Competition	National Rugby League
2011 season	12th
Home colours		Away colours
Current season
Records
Premierships	2 (1991, 2003)
Minor premiership	2 (1991, 2003)
Wooden spoons	4 (1973, 1980, 2001, 2007)
Most capped	242 - Steve Carter
Most points	1,572 - Ryan Girdler

The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan Cleary and captained by Luke Lewis. Sports media personality Phil Gould is the club's manager of football operations. Their major shirt sponsor in 2012 is Cudo.

Based 55 km west of the centre of Sydney and at the foot of the Blue Mountains, the Panthers were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) 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 the Panthers met the Raiders again in the 1991 Grand Final, this time winning the game 19–12. Penrith's most recent premiership achievement was over the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 Grand Final where Penrith were considered underdogs but came out on top with a 18–6 victory.

History[link]

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.

After admission to the competition in 1967, they promptly came second last on the competition ladder. 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.

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.

Penrith developed a strong team in the late 80's and started to build momentum. They made their first Grand Final appearance in 1990 with a team boasting notable players the likes of Greg Alexander, John Cartwright, Brad Fittler and Mark Geyer only to be beaten by the Canberra Raiders 18–14. The next year the Panthers met the Raiders again in the Grand Final, this time winning 19 to 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.^[1]

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. Greg and close family friends Mark Geyer and Brad Fittler left the club soon after (Fittler left after the 1995 season as Penrith had signed with Super League) as well as coach Phil Gould left mid-way through the 1994 season, to be replaced by Royce Simmons.

The Panthers were coached by former player and club captain Royce Simmons starting with the last six games in 1994 until the end of 2001.

They made the finals during the 1997 Super League season and then again in 2000 in the re-united NRL competition.

In the year 2001, they came last on the competition ladder. 2001 was Royce Simmons' last season as coach for the Panthers, 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.

This showed the promise that was to come the next year. With the signing of Preston Campbell and Joe Galuvao, their 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 against the Sydney Roosters. Entering the match as underdogs, Penrith defeated the Roosters 18–6, with winger Luke Rooney scoring two tries. Hooker Luke Priddis 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.^[2] The Panthers did however rally after that loss and once again qualified for the NRL semi-final series by finishing fourth and defeating St George Illawarra in the first week of the semi-finals before being knocked out by the Bulldogs in the Grand Final qualifier two weeks later.

The Panthers 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 the Panthers 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 the Panthers finished the season in 11th spot out of 16 teams in the NRL competition with 11 wins, one draw and 12 losses.^{[citation needed]}

Michael Gordon holds the club record for most points in one game, scoring 30 Points in round 24 of the 2010 NRL season against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Michael Gordon also holds the club record for most points in a season at 270, achieved in 2010.

In 2011 following the Panthers terrible start to the season, the Panthers board decided to severe ties with Matthew Elliot at seasons end. On 20 June 2011 Matthew Elliot stepped down as coach and that same day they appointed Steve Georgallis as caretaker coach for the remainder of the season. On 29 June Ivan Cleary was announced as coach for the next 3 seasons, Georgallis will remain coach for the remainder of the season

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. Round 2 went a lot better for the team, when they beat the Eels at Parramatta Stadium 20-6. However, round 3 they again were smashed at home, losing 44-12 to the Sharks. A round 4 trip up to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to face the Broncos saw the team lose 18-10. Luke Walsh did not take part in that match after being injured in the previous game. Kevin Kingston played halfback, and the lack of scoring ability was shown in the result. The Raiders travelled to the Foot of the Mountains for a round 5 clash, and Penrith came out on top on this occasion, 36-10. Round 6 saw the Panthers play at home to Melbourne Storm, and a frustrating start to the season continued with a 25-10 loss. Manly was Panthers' next mission in round 7, and Matthew Elliot's position as head coach was looking shaky after they lost 22-16 at Brookvale Oval. A trip across the Tasman to Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland didn't go so well once again for the team, losing 26-18 to the Warriors. A bye in round nine gave the team an opportunity to take a week off, and it worked wonders for the team when they returned to the field in round 11 to take down the Broncos 33-10 at Centrebet Stadium. However, round eleven was disappointing once again, losing to Wests Tigers 20-18 at Campbelltown Stadium. In a round 12 encounter at Centrebet Stadium, the team was totally dominant against a struggling South Sydney Rabbitohs outfit when they won 22-10. They kept their streak going with a 23-10 win over the Titans at Skilled Park before a week off in round 14. Ausgrid Stadium was the venue for round 15, when the team travelled up to Newcastle to play the Knights only to be defeated 16-12. Before the Panthers played the Cowboys in round sixteen, head coach Matthew Elliot was sacked and replaced by Steve Georgallis. The high flying Cowboys came to Penrith to play on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in round 16, and the Panthers took away the points with a 30-20 win. Another home game against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs was all to easy for Penrith, with a 20-6 victory. In round eighteen, the Panthers will face a frustrated Sydney Roosters team who languish in second last on the ladder.

Sponsorship[link]

Over their forty six years, the Panthers have gone through eight major sponsors (These sponsors appear on the chest of the jersey).

• FEENEY (1977)
• Alpha Micro (1984-85)
• Radio 2KA (1986-87)
• Penrith City (1988)
• Calphos (1989)
• Dadah Uniforms (1990-1994)
• Prospect Electricity (1995)
• Classifieds (1996)
• Sanyo (2000-2012)
• OAK Milk (2012-present)

Penrith currently hold the record for longest major sponsorship deal, Sanyo for "12 Great Years". In early 2012 unfortunately, the Panthers' sponsorship with Sanyo was ended, due to being taken over by Panasonic. It was looking as though Panthers would start the 2012 season with an empty jersey, until OAK Milk officially signed as the Panthers' major sponsor for the next three years.

Name and colours[link]

Penrith's uniform colours in the 1966 NSWRL Second Division and earlier years were blue and white but due to the Cronulla-Sutherland side registering a predominantly blue jersey design first, and with Newtown, Canterbury, Eastern Suburbs and Parramatta also displaying various shades of blue, Penrith went in search of an alternative. A decision was made to change their colours to Brown with a white V. This decision subsequently earned them the affectionate name of the "Chocolate Soldiers" thanks to radio commentator Frank Hyde who wrote in the Penrith Club journal "these chocolate soldiers from out west – they don't melt!".

The team had been referred to as the 'Panthers' as early as 1970.^[3]

In 1974 Penrith changed their strip to a jerseys with brown and white vertical bars and again in 1991 they changed the colours to Black with White, Red, Yellow and Green stripes (drawing another confectionery-related nickname, The Liquorice Allsorts) until 1997 when Super League had all new jerseys made by Nike. The yellow was all but removed from the jersey at this stage. Then in 2000 they changed the colours once more to Black, Rust red, Teal green and White. In 2004 the design of the jersey changed once more to its current design. On Thursday, 23 November 2006 the club launched a new 'alternate/away' jersey predominately white in colour as a stark contrast to its main design.

Just before Christmas 2007 the Panthers launched a new 'home' jersey which is predominately black with light grey claw marks on either side at the front and back. For Season 2010, the Panthers have launched a new predominantly teal away jersey, this teal jersey connect with the away jersey from their 03 and 04 season's. With their official colours still Black, Teal green and rust red the alternate jersey was chosen to represent their secondary colour. The inception of Teal into the colour palet of Panthers links directly back to the unique colour their 2nd division jerseys had before brown and white.

In late October, 2010, the Panthers announced that rust would no longer be a secondary colour for the club. A new jersey was also launched, black with grey claw marks on either side. The club's teal jersey was also scratched in Round 4, 2011, when a new white jersey with grey claw marks and teal and black stripes was announced the club's new alternate jersey.

Primary Jerseys[link]

• 

  Home 1967–1972

• 

  Home 1973–1977

• 

  Home 1978–1982

• 

  Home 1983–1990

• Penrith Panthers 1991 Primary Kit.svg

  Home 1991–1996

• 

  Home 1997–1999

• Penrith Panthers Primary jersey 2001.svg

  Home 2000–2003

• Penrith Panthers home jersey 2004.svg

  Home 2004–2007

• Penrith Panthers Primary Jersey 2007.svg

  Home 2008–2010

• 

  Home 2011–present

Alternate Jerseys[link]

• Penrith Panthers 1991 Alternate Kit.svg

  Alternate 1991–1994

• Penrith Panthers Alternate Jersey 1995.svg

  Alternate 1995–1996

• Penrith Panthers Alternate Jersey 2001.svg

  Alternate 2000–2002

• 

  Alternate 2007–2009

• 

  Alternate 2010

• 

  Alternate 2011-‎

Special Jerseys[link]

• 

  Heritage 2007-2010

• Penrith Panthers 1991 Primary Kit.svg

  Heritage 2011

• Penrith Panthers 1991 Alternate Kit.svg

  Heritage 2012

• Penrith Panthers 40th Anniversary Jersey.svg

  40th Anniversary 2006

• Penrith Panthers Pink Panthers 2009.svg

  Pink Panthers 2009-

Penrith Panthers Leagues Club[link]

Aerial photograph of the Penrith Panthers Leagues Club complex, in Penrith

The Penrith Panthers Rugby League Football Club is the major financier the Penrith Panthers Leagues Club (of the Panthers Entertainment Group). The Panthers Entertainment Group has 14 licensed club sites in NSW – from Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast to Lavington, in the south. The clubs cater for a wide range of activities for members, their families and guests. On 13 July 2007 the Panthers Entertainment Group (PEG) settled with ING Real Estate on the property partnership deal and is now debt free.^{[citation needed]}

Players[link]

2012 squad[link]

2012 signings/transfers[link]

Gains

Player	Previous club	Years signed	Until the end of
Chris Armit	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	2 years	2014
Cameron Ciraldo	Newcastle Knights	2 years	2014
Clint Newton	Hull KR	2 years	2014
Geoff Daniela	Wests Tigers	2 years	2014
Ryan Simpkins	Tweed Heads Seagulls	2 years	2014

Losses

Losses
Player	Signed for
Shane Elford	Retired
Trent Waterhouse	Warrington Wolves
Matthew Bell	Wests Tigers
Petero Civoniceva	Brisbane Broncos
Joseph Paulo	Parramatta Eels
Timana Tahu	Newcastle Knights
Adrian Purtell	Bradford Bulls

Representative players[link]

Panthers Team of Legends[link]

On 4 October 2006 a 40 Year Panthers Legends Team was named.

No. Position Player 399 FB Rhys Wesser 7 WG Bob Landers 14 CE Grahame Moran 337 CE Ryan Girdler 280 WG Alan McIndoe 286 FE Brad Fittler 228 HB Greg Alexander 50 PR Terry Geary 181 HK Royce Simmons

No. Position Player 62 PR Tim Sheens 248 SR John Cartwright 100 SR Bill Ashurst 260 LK Colin van der Voort 383 RE Craig Gower 196 RE Brad Izzard 262 RE Mark Geyer 393 RE Tony Puletua

Coaches[link]

• Leo Trevena: 1967, 1973
• Bob Boland: 1968–1972
• Jack Clare: 1974
• Mick Stephenson: 1975
• Barry Harris: 1975–1976
• Don Parish: 1977–1978
• Len Stacker: 1979–1981
• John Peard: 1982–1983
• Tim Sheens: 1984–1987
• Ron Willey: 1988–1989
• Phil Gould: 1990–1994
• Royce Simmons: 1994–2001
• John Lang: 2002–2006
• Matthew Elliott: 2007–2011
• Steve Georgallis 2011 (Caretaker)
• Ivan Cleary: 2012-

Records[link]

• Most points in a match: 30 by Michael Gordon in Round 24, 2010 NRL season.

Supporters[link]

Notable fans

• Kurt Fearnley, Paralympic wheelchair racer^[6]
• Mick Fanning, professional surfer^[7]
• Matthew Nielsen, Olympic basketball player^[8]
• James Courtney, V8 supercar driver^[9]
• Leonardo Zappavigna, Australian professional boxer^[10]
• Patrick Cummins, Australian Cricketer^[11]

Season Statistics[link]

* Average home crowd

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Collis, Ian and Whiticker, Alan (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: New Holland Publishers (Australia). pp. 400. ISBN 1-74110-075-5. 

External links[link]

• Official Penrith Panthers Web Site
• Hawkesbury Radio 89.9FM Broadcaster of Penrith Panthers games
• Daily Telegraph – Penrith Panthers 2007 season feature
• Penrith Panthers History at yesterdayshero.com.au

Rhys Wesser

Rhys Wesser in 2005
Personal information
Full name	Rhys Joseph Wesser
Nickname	Sugar, Rhys Lightning, Wesser The Expresser
Born	(1979-03-31) 31 March 1979 (age 33) Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	86 kg (13 st 8 lb)
Playing information
Position	Fullback, Wing, Halfback
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1998–08	Penrith Panthers	177	113	1	0	454
2009–11	South Sydney	41	16	0	0	64
	Total	218	129	1	0	518
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2004–06	Queensland	4	0	0	0	0
As of 16 July 2010
Source: RLP

Rhys Joseph "Sugar" Wesser (born 31 March 1979) is a Indigenous Australian professional rugby league footballer for the South Sydney Rabbitohs of the NRL. A Queensland State of Origin representative fullback, he previously played for the Penrith Panthers, with whom he won the 2003 NRL Premiership.

Early career[link]

Wesser began his rugby league career in Rockhampton having moved there, with his junior club, the Rockhampton Brothers. At age 16, Wesser was selected for the Queensland Under 17s representative side which helped him catch the eye of several NRL clubs but none more than the Penrith Panthers.

Before making the move south Wesser finished his schooling at Emmaus College, Rockhampton, Queensland and also helped his School side take out the Mal Meninga Under 19s Cup being the fourth fastest 19-year-old in the state, running times around 11 seconds in 100 metres.^{[citation needed]}

Penrith Panthers[link]

Debuting in 1998 Wesser moved from his hometown of Rockhampton to the foot of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, to play for the Penrith Panthers but he found trouble in pushing for a first-grade spot with Peter Jorgensen holding that title. Three years later Rhys was given the opportunity to play first grade with the departure of Jorgensen. Wesser scored ten tries in his debut season despite Penrith finishing last on the premiership table.

In 2002, he scored a Penrith club record of nineteen tries, including three hat-tricks, and was dubbed "Rhys-Lightning" and soon became a crowd favourite with his acceleration and line-breaking ability. The following season Wesser bettered his own record by scoring on 25 occasions, earning the title of the most prolific try-scoring fullback for a season in the history of Australian rugby league. The Panthers won their second premiership title, narrowly edging out the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 NRL grand final in which Wesser played at fullback.

Wesser's try-scoring declined in 2004 with the addition of Amos Roberts to the squad but he still scored thirteen tries. In 2004, Wesser was selected to play of the Queensland State of Origin team.

Wesser's 113 tries is the most scored by any Penrith player.

South Sydney Rabbitohs[link]

In 2008, Wesser announced that he would be joining the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2009 for a two-year deal.^[1] In only the second round of the 2009 season, Wesser injured his knee.^[2] He made his return to the field in the 2010 NRL season. On 12 August 2011, Wesser announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season.,^[3] wesser finished his season for the Rabbitohs with his knee injured and could not play the last games of the 2011 NRL season.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rhys Wesser at Rugby League Tables
• Official Penrith Panthers Webpage
• Penrith Panthers vs Melbourne Storm Round 5 2005