Rugby league team season
The 2021 Penrith Panthers season is the 55th season in the club 's history. Coached by Ivan Cleary and co-captained by Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo , the Panthers are competing in the National Rugby League 's 2021 Telstra Premiership . After the Panthers round 2 victory against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs the Panthers become the first team in NRL history to win the opening two rounds holding the opposition to nil as well as the first team to hold the opposition to nil in three regular season games in a row. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Bluebet stadium was reduced to a capacity of 14,077 in rounds 1 and 3; after this in round 5 further lifting of restrictions meant that a crowd of 20,890 would be allowed into the stadium. This large crowd, however, was short-lived as Panthers misunderstood the new COVID restrictions, meaning tickets for the hills were oversold. From round 7 onwards the new capacity would be 16,110 until restrictions eased further. After round 12 was completed, the NSW and Queensland state of origin sides were announced for game one, where a record 7 Panthers were selected to represent their state. As a consequence, in round 13 Penrith would have to play without 7 of their stars and 3 debutants for the club. After 27 straight regular season wins and 12 straight to start the season, the win streak was broken, losing 26–6 against rivals the Wests Tigers. Penrith finished second overall at the end of the regular season and went on to play South Sydney in the first week of the finals series. They would go on to lose 10 – 16 but after wins against the Parramatta Eels (8 – 6) and Melbourne Storm (6 – 10) they would set up a rematch against the Rabbitohs. In the grand final Penrith were the eventual Premiers winning 14 – 12, their third title and first since 2003.
Squad
Top 30 squad – 2021 season
Development Players
Coaching Staff
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Legend:
(c) Captain(s)
(vc) Vice-captain(s)
Updated: 22 July 2021 Source(s): Panthers Team Profiles
Player transfers
A † denotes that the transfer occurred during the 2021 season.
Fixtures
Pre-season
Regular season
Date
Round
Opponent
Venue
Score
Tries
Goals
Attendance
Saturday, 13 March
1
North Queensland Cowboys
Panthers Stadium
24 – 0
Capewell , Edwards , To'o , Yeo
Cleary (4/5)
14,077
Saturday, 20 March
2
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Bankwest Stadium
0 – 28
Kikau (2), May , Momirovski (2)
Cleary (2/3), Crichton (2/2)
5,062
Thursday, 25 March
3
Melbourne Storm
BlueBet Stadium
12 – 10
Staines , Capewell
Crichton (2/3)
14,077
Thursday, 1 April
4
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Lottoland
6 – 46
To'o (2), Leota , Kikau (2), Burton , Capewell , Momirovski
Cleary (7/9)
6,076
Friday, 9 April
5
Canberra Raiders
BlueBet Stadium
30 - 10
Staines (2), Burton , Luai , Cleary
Cleary (5/5)
20,890
Thursday, 15 April
6
Brisbane Broncos
Suncorp Stadium
12 - 20
Capewell , Burton , Cleary
Cleary (3/4) 2 Point FG (1/1)
21,224
Thursday, 22 April
7
Newcastle Knights
BlueBet Stadium
24 - 6
Crichton , Burton , Edwards , To'o
Cleary (4/5)
16,110
Saturday, 1 May
8
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Carrington Park
28 - 16
Edwards , To'o , Martin , May , Crichton
Cleary (4/5)
5,798
Friday, 7 May
9
Cronulla Sharks
BlueBet Stadium
48 - 0
Fisher-Harris , Staines (3), Crichton , Kikau , Eisenhuth
Cleary (8/8)
16,110
Sunday, 16 May
10
Gold Coast Titans
Suncorp Stadium
48 - 12
Cleary (3), Fisher-Harris , Leota , Staines (2), Martin
Cleary (8/8)
43,537*
Sunday, 23 May
11
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Caltex Park
12 - 56
Cleary (2), Viliame Kikau , Kapewell , Burton (3), To'o , Crichton
Cleary (10/11)
10,824
Saturday, 29 May
12
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
BlueBet Stadium
30 - 4
Staines (2), Leniu , Momirovski , Burton , Crichton
Cleary (3/6)
16,110
Friday, 4 June
13
Wests Tigers
Leichhardt Oval
26 - 6
Burton
Crichton (1/1)
9,127
Friday, 11 June
14
Cronulla Sharks
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
19 - 18
Burton (2), Tago
Crichton (3/4)
5,217
Friday, 18 June
15
Sydney Roosters
BlueBet Stadium
38 - 12
Crichton , To'o (2), Yeo , Cleary , Staines
Cleary (5/6)
14,406
Friday, 2 July
16
Parramatta Eels
BlueBet Stadium
13 - 12
May , Koroisau
Crichton (2/2), Burton (1/2) FG
0*
17
Bye
Sunday, 18 July
18
New Zealand Warriors
Suncorp Stadium
16 - 30
Kikau (2), To’o , Staines (2), Martin
Crichton (3/6)
24,894
Saturday, 24 July
19
Brisbane Broncos
Suncorp Stadium
18 - 12
To'o , Staines , Crichton
Crichton (1/1), Burton (1/3), Edwards (1/1) 2 Point FG
8,019
Saturday, 31 July
20
Melbourne Storm
Suncorp Stadium
37 - 10
Naden , Sorenson
Burton (1/2)
0
Saturday, 7 August
21
Sydney Roosters
Suncorp Stadium
14 - 20
Burton (2), Momirovski
Burton (2/2)
0
Friday, 13 August
22
St. George Illawarra Dragons
Suncorp Stadium
16 - 34
Naden (2), Edwards (2), Burton , Momirovski
Cleary (5/6)
6,653
Friday, 20 August
23
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Suncorp Stadium
25 - 12
Cleary , Crichton , Naden , Koroisau
Cleary (4/6), (1/1) FG
8,848
Sunday, 29 August
24
Wests Tigers
Moreton Daily Stadium
30 - 16
Leota , Pangai Junior, Luai , Kikau , To'o
Cleary (5/5)
5,351
Friday, 3 September
25
Parramatta Eels
Cbus Super Stadium
6 - 40
To'o (3), Pangai Junior, Burton , Koroisau , Cleary
Cleary (6/7)
8,580
Legend : Win Loss Draw Bye
TBA = To be announced
Round 10 attendance refers to the total attendance on day 3 of magic round
Round 16 was played without crowds due to the June outbreak and lockdown in NSW
Round 20 and 21 was played without crowds due to lockdown in QLD
Finals
Bracket
Date
Round
Opponent
Venue
Score
Tries
Goals
Attendance
Saturday, 11 September
Qualifying Final
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Queensland Country Bank Stadium
10 - 16
Crichton
Cleary (3/3)
18,224
Saturday, 18 September
Semi Final
Parramatta
BB Print Stadium
8 - 6
Capewell
Cleary (2/2)
6,011
Saturday, 25 September
Preliminary Final
Melbourne Storm
Suncorp Stadium
10 - 6
Crichton ,To'o
Cleary (1/2)
29,011
Sunday, 3 October
Grand Final
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Suncorp Stadium
14 - 12
Burton , Crichton
Cleary (3/3)
39,322
Ladder
Ladder progression
Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.
Other teams
In addition to competing in the National Rugby League , the Panthers are also fielding semi-professional teams in the 2021 Jersey Flegg Cup (for players aged under 21) and the New South Wales Rugby League 's The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup (NSW Cup).
Representative honours
Domestic
References
^ "Robert Jennings returns to panthers". 30 October 2020.
^ "Eisenhuth signs with Panthers". 30 October 2020.
^ "Salmon signs with Panthers". 22 December 2020.
^ "Sorensen signs with Panthers". 11 January 2021.
^ "Momirovski joins Panthers as Laurie departs". 7 February 2021.
^ a b "Blacker joins Panthers as Burns departs". Penrith Panthers. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021 .
^ "Wests Tigers sign James Tamou". 18 September 2020.
^ "Jack Hetherington signs with the Bulldogs on a two-year deal". 14 October 2020.
^ "Raiders Sign Caleb Aekins". 15 October 2020.
^ "Tetevano released to join Leeds". 25 December 2020.
^ a b c "Tamou headlines players departing Panthers". 28 October 2020.
^ "Mansour granted release by Panthers". 13 January 2021.
^ "Wests Tigers secure Daine Laurie, effective immediately". 7 February 2021.
^ "Whare released to join Catalans". 8 February 2021.
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