The Penrith Panthers

Various clubs played in the Penrith district from 1912 on. The clubs in the district were Penrith United, Glenbrook Rovers, Emu Wanderers. They were part of the Western Districts League under the control of the Western Suburbs Rugby League Football Club. Eventually the competition was extended to include clubs from Lidcombe, Parramatta, Wentworthville, Auburn, Blacktown, Emu Plains, Windsor and Riverstone.

In 1967 two new teams were to be admitted to the competition. Three teams were vying for a place. Those teams were Penrith, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Wentworthville Magpies.
Cronulla had been guaranteed a place so the choice was between Penrith and
Wentworthville.
Wentworthville had the disadvantage of being too close to Parramatta with the same junior base. Penrith was in a rapidly growing area on the outskirts of Sydney and had a massive junior base. Penrith was chosen due to their location and it also helped that they won the 1966 second division competition.

Their first season in 1967 was not too successful with them finishing 2nd last in the competition.They first made the finals in 1985.

In 1990, Penrith played in their first grand final which they lost to the Canberra Raiders 18-14.
In 1991 Penrith won their 1st grand final beating the Canberra Raiders 19-12.
They then went on to play in the World Club Challenge which they lost to Wigan 21-4.
In 1992 the club was struck by tragedy when the younger brother of captain Greg Alexander, player Ben Alexander, was killed in a car accident.
In 1997, Penrith was part of the Super League competition, making the finals.
They then rejoined the newly formed NRL the next year, making the finals again in 2000.
In 2003 Penrith finished minor premiers and premiers after defeating the Roosters 18-6 in the grand final. Luke Priddis won the Clive Churchill medal.
They then played again in the world club challenge but lost to Bradford 22-4.

In 2008, Penrith finished in 12th position on the table.

Before 1967, the Penrith club colours were blue and white. The colours were changed when they joined the NSWRL because blue and white colours were used by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Newtown. Parramatta and the Roosters also had a lot of blue in their uniforms.
Brown with a white V was chosen for the jerseys with a resulting nickname of 'The Chocolate Soldiers'. The jerseys were changed in 1974 to brown and white vertical bars.
In 1991 the colours were changed to Black, with white,red,green and yellow stripes.
In 2000 again were changed to Black,red, green and white.
In 2007 the colours were changed to Black and light grey.

In 2009 Penrith finished 11th in the competition.

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March 13th - Panthers 34 v Raiders 16
March 20th - Cowboys 28 v Panthers 20
March 27th - Panthers 10 v Storm 16
April 5th - Knights 30 v Panthers 34
April 11th - Panthers 28 v Roosters 6
April 16-19th - Warriors 12 v Panthers 40
April 23-26th - Panthers 26 v West Tigers 18
April 30-May 2 - Titans 38 v Panthers 24
May 8-10th - Bye
May 14-17th - Sharks 14 v Panthers 34
May 21-24th - Panthers 31 v Bulldogs 6
May 28-31st - Rabbitohs 42 v Panthers 22
June 4-7th - Panthers 28 v Knights 10
June 11-14th - Bye
June 18-21st - Broncos 12 v Panthers 22
June 25-28th - Panthers 40 v Sea Eagles 22
July 2-5th - Dragons 8 v Panthers 12
July 9-12th - Panthers 6 v Warriors 12
July 16-19th - Panthers 28 v Eels 34
July 23-26th - Storm 18 v Panthers 10
July30-Aug 2nd - Panthers 24 v Cowboys 16
Aug 6-9th - Raiders 30 v Panthers 26
Aug 13-16th - Wests Tigers 43 v Panthers 18
Aug 20-23rd - Panthers 54 v Rabbitohs 18
Aug 27-30th - Bulldogs 18 v Panthers 24
Sept 3-5th - Panthers 50 v Sharks 12