2017 Penrith Panthers season
Rugby league team season
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The 2017 Penrith Panthers season was the 51st in the club's history. Coached by Anthony Griffin and captained by Matt Moylan, the Panthers competed in the National Rugby League's 2017 Telstra Premiership. They also competed in the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines pre-season tournament, which they finished as runners-up.
NRL Rank7th
Play-off resultLost semi-final (FW2)
2017 recordWins: 14; losses: 12
Points scoredFor: 532; against: 482
| 2017 Penrith Panthers season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 7th | |||
| Play-off result | Lost semi-final (FW2) | |||
| 2017 record | Wins: 14; losses: 12 | |||
| Points scored | For: 532; against: 482 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| Coach | Anthony Griffin | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | Pepper Stadium – 22,500 Carrington Park – 13,000 (round 14 only) | |||
| Avg. attendance | 12,922 | |||
| High attendance | 18,848 vs. Dragons, round 25 | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Nathan Cleary (11) | |||
| Goals | Nathan Cleary (92) | |||
| Points | Nathan Cleary (228) | |||
| ||||
| ||||
Squad
Player transfers
A † denotes that the transfer occurred during the 2017 season.
Auckland Nines
| # | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Edwards |
| 2 | Corey Waddell |
| 3 | Waqa Blake |
| 4 | Jed Cartwright |
| 5 | Malakai Watene-Zelezniak |
| 6 | Nathan Cleary |
| 7 | Sitaleki Akauola |
| 9 | Sione Katoa |
| 10 | James Tamou |
| 11 | Isaah Yeo (c) |
| 12 | Moses Leota |
| 13 | Kaide Ellis |
| 14 | Darren Nicholls |
| 15 | Zach Dockar-Clay |
| 16 | Corey Harawira-Naera |
| 17 | Tyrone May |
| 18 | Christian Crichton |
| 19 | Oliver Clark |
With club executives Brian Fletcher and Phil Gould questioning the necessity of the tournament,[28][29] and a number of players unavailable for selection due to recent representative commitments,[30] the Panthers fielded a largely inexperienced squad at the 2017 NRL Auckland Nines on 4–5 February. 9 of the 18 squad members had no previous NRL experience and only 3 had played more than 30 NRL games. Regardless, the team won all 3 of their pool matches, and progressed to the Grand Final, where they were defeated 10–8 by the Sydney Roosters. Waqa Blake and Moses Leota were named in the team of the tournament.[31][32]
| Date | Round | Opponent | Score | Tries | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 4 February | Game 2 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 28 – 18 | Ellis, Harawira-Naera, Tamou (2), M. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (1/3), Dockar-Clay (2/2) | |
| Saturday, 4 February | Game 9 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 14 – 16 | J. Cartwright, Harawira-Naera, Leota | Narawira-Naera (1/2), Nicholls (1/1) | |
| Sunday, 5 February | Game 18 |  Gold Coast Titans | 4 – 22 | Akauola, Dockar-Clay, Edwards, Katoa | Dockar-Clay (1/2), Narawira-Naera (1/2) | |
| Sunday, 5 February | Quarter Final |  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 16 – 12 | Blake, Katoa, May | Cleary (1/1), Nicholls (0/1) | |
| Sunday, 5 February | Semi Final |  Parramatta Eels | 13 – 0 | Blake (2), M. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (0/3) | |
| Sunday, 5 February | Grand Final |  Sydney Roosters | 8 – 10 | Cleary, M. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (0/1), Nicholls (0/1) | |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye | ||||||
Fixtures
Pre-season
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 11 February | Trial 1 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Belmore Sports Ground | 10 – 20 | Blake, Cerruto, Harawira-Naera, Katoa | Dockar-Clay (1/2), Nicholls (1/2) |
| Saturday, 18 February | Trial 2 | Parramatta Eels | Pepper Stadium | 18 – 6 | Latu, Martin, Whare | Cleary (3/3) |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye | ||||||
Regular season
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 4 March | Round 1 |  St. George Illawarra Dragons | UOW Jubilee Oval | 42 – 10 | Blake, Peachey | Cleary (1/1), Wallace (0/1) | 7,283 | |
| Sunday, 12 March | Round 2 |  Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium | 2 – 36 | Cleary, Edwards, Kikau, Latu, Whare (2) | Cleary (6/7) | 12,232 | |
| Saturday, 18 March | Round 3 | Sydney Roosters | Pepper Stadium | 12 – 14 | Peachey | Cleary (4/4) | 11,044 | |
| Friday, 24 March | Round 4 |  Newcastle Knights | Pepper Stadium | 40 – 0 | Cleary, Narawira-Naera, Martin, Peachey, Wallace, D. Watene-Zelezniak, Whare | Cleary (6/8) | 10,567 | |
| Saturday, 1 April | Round 5 |  Melbourne Storm | AAMI Park | 28 – 6 | Martin | Cleary (1/1) | 15,223 | |
| Friday, 7 April | Round 6 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs | Pepper Stadium | 20 – 21 | Harawira-Naera, Oldfield, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (4/4) | 15,535 | |
| Sunday, 16 April | Round 7 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Pepper Stadium | 2 – 28 | Cleary (1/1) | 15,780 | ||
| Saturday, 22 April | Round 8 | Parramatta Eels | ANZ Stadium | 18 – 12 | Harawira-Naera, Hiku | Cleary (2/2) | 14,070 | |
| Thursday, 27 April | Round 9 |  Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 32 – 18 | Campbell-Gillard, Merrin, Moylan | Cleary (3/3) | 21,464 | |
| Saturday, 13 May | Round 10 |  New Zealand Warriors | Pepper Stadium | 36 – 28 | Yeo (2), Blake, Moylan, Peachey, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (6/6) | 11,588 | |
| Sunday, 21 May | Round 11 | Newcastle Knights | McDonald Jones Stadium | 20 – 30 | Moylan (2), Latu, Tamou, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (5/5) | 13,319 | |
| Round 12 | Bye | |||||||
| Sunday, 4 June | Round 13 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium | 0 – 38 | Rein (2), Blake, Cleary, Harawira-Naera, Mansour, Moylan | Cleary (5/7) | 11,283 | |
| Saturday, 10 June | Round 14 |  Canberra Raiders | Carrington Park | 24 – 20 | Cleary, Harawira-Naera, Moylan, Peachey | Cleary (4/4) | 8,730 | |
| Round 15 | Bye | |||||||
| Saturday, 24 June | Round 16 |  North Queensland Cowboys | 1300SMILES Stadium | 14 – 12 | Cleary, Harawira-Naera | Cleary (2/2) | 17,876 | |
| Sunday, 2 July | Round 17 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium | 42 – 14 | Mansour, Moylan | Cleary (3/3) | 14,103 | |
| Saturday, 8 July | Round 18 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Pepper Stadium | 16 – 8 | Tamou, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (4/4) | 14,625 | |
| Friday, 14 July | Round 19 | New Zealand Warriors | Mount Smart Stadium | 22 – 34 | Cleary (3), Blake, Harawira-Naera, May | Cleary (5/6) | 13,076 | |
| Saturday, 22 July | Round 20 | Gold Coast Titans | Pepper Stadium | 24 – 16 | Blake (2), Moylan, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (4/5) | 11,480 | |
| Thursday, 27 July | Round 21 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Pepper Stadium | 16 – 8 | Peachey, Wallace, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (2/4) | 8,727 | |
| Sunday, 6 August | Round 22 | Wests Tigers | Pepper Stadium | 28 – 14 | D. Watene-Zelezniak (2), Edwards, May, Peachey | Cleary (4/5) | 15,780 | |
| Saturday, 12 August | Round 23 | North Queensland Cowboys | Pepper Stadium | 24 – 16 | Cleary (2), Mansour, Tamou | Cleary (4/4) | 12,357 | |
| Sunday, 20 August | Round 24 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium | 22 – 26 | Blake, Cleary, Mansour, May | Cleary (5/5) | 14,818 | |
| Sunday, 27 August | Round 25 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Pepper Stadium | 14 – 16 | Mansour, May | Cleary (3/3) | 18,848 | |
| Saturday, 2 September | Round 26 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Lottoland | 28 – 12 | Campbell-Gillard, May | Cleary (2/2) | 14,423 | |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye | ||||||||
Finals
| Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 September – Melbourne | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Parramatta Eels | 16 | 16 September – Sydney | ||||||||||||||||
| Parramatta Eels | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 September – Sydney | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 22 September – Melbourne | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 14 | Melbourne Storm | 30 | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | North Queensland Cowboys | 15 | Brisbane Broncos | 0 | 1 October – Sydney | ||||||||||||||
| Melbourne Storm | 34 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 9 September – Sydney | 23 September – Sydney | North Queensland Cowboys | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 10 | Sydney Roosters | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 |  Penrith Panthers | 22 | 15 September – Brisbane | North Queensland Cowboys | 29 | ||||||||||||||
| Brisbane Broncos | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8 September – Sydney | Penrith Panthers | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 22 | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 9 September | Elimination Final | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Allianz Stadium | 10 – 22 | Cartwright (2), Peachey | Cleary (5/5) | 15,408 | |
| Friday, 15 September | Semi Final | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 13 – 6 | Campbell-Gillard | Cleary (1/1) | 38,623 | |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye | ||||||||
Statistics
| Name | Age | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sitaleki Akauola | 25 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Waqa Blake | 23 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Tim Browne | 30 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reagan Campbell-Gillard | 24 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Bryce Cartwright | 23 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Nathan Cleary | 20 | 26 | 11 | 92/102 | 0 | 228 |
| Dylan Edwards | 21 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| James Fisher-Harris | 22 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Corey Harawira-Naera | 23 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Peta Hiku | 25 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Sione Katoa | 22 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Viliame Kikau | 22 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Leilani Latu | 24 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Moses Leota | 22 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Mansour | 27 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Te Maire Martin | 22 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Tyrone May | 21 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Trent Merrin | 28 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Matt Moylan | 26 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Michael Oldfield | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Tyrone Peachey | 26 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Mitch Rein | 27 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| James Tamou | 29 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Peter Wallace | 32 | 19 | 2 | 0/1 | 0 | 8 |
| Dallin Watene-Zelezniak | 22 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Malakai Watene-Zelezniak | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dean Whare | 27 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Isaah Yeo | 23 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 28 players | 24.54 | 26 | 87 | 92/103 | 0 | 532 |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne Storm (P) |
24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 633 | 336 | +297 | 44 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters |
24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 500 | 428 | +72 | 38 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos |
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 597 | 433 | +164 | 36 |
| 4 | Parramatta Eels |
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 496 | 457 | +39 | 36 |
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 476 | 407 | +69 | 34 |
| 6 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 552 | 512 | +40 | 32 |
| 7 | Penrith Panthers |
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 504 | 459 | +45 | 30 |
| 8 | North Queensland Cowboys |
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 467 | 443 | +24 | 30 |
| 9 | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 533 | 450 | +83 | 28 |
| 10 | Canberra Raiders |
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 558 | 497 | +61 | 26 |
| 11 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 360 | 455 | −95 | 24 |
| 12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 464 | 564 | −100 | 22 |
| 13 |  New Zealand Warriors |
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 444 | 575 | −131 | 18 |
| 14 | Wests Tigers |
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 413 | 571 | −158 | 18 |
| 15 | Gold Coast Titans |
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 448 | 638 | −190 | 18 |
| 16 | Newcastle Knights |
24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 428 | 648 | −220 | 14 |
Other teams
In addition to competing in the National Rugby League, the Panthers also fielded semi-professional teams in the National Youth Competition's 2017 Holden Cup (Under-20s) and the New South Wales Rugby League's 2017 Intrust Super Premiership (NSW Cup). The NYC team was coached by Garth Brennan and captained by Wayde Egan, and the NSW Cup team was coached by David Tangata-Toa and captained by Sione Katoa in early rounds and Darren Nicholls in later rounds.
The club won the 2017 New South Wales Cup season and the 2017 NRL State Championship.
Finals
| Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||||||
| Sydney Football Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |  Wyong | 34 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Canterbury | 26 | Jubilee Oval | ||||||||||||||||
| Canterbury-Bankstown | 32 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jubilee Oval |  Illawarra | 14 | Leichhardt Oval | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 |  Mount Pritchard | 26 | Wyong | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | Illawarra | 30 | New Zealand | 12 | Leichhardt Oval | ||||||||||||||
| Wyong | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jubilee Oval | Leichhardt Oval | Penrith | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 |  North Sydney | 18 | Penrith | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 | Newcastle | 40 | Jubilee Oval | Canterbury-Bankstown | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| New Zealand | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jubilee Oval | Newcastle | 6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | New Zealand | 20 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Penrith | 36 | |||||||||||||||||
Representative honours
Domestic
| Pos. | Player | Team | Call-up | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE | Leilani Latu | Indigenous All Stars | 2017 All Stars match | |
| BE | Tyrone Peachey | |||
| PR | Reagan Campbell-Gillard | World All Stars | ||
| SR | Bryce Cartwright | |||
| Five-eighth | Bryce Cartwright |  NSW City |
2017 City vs Country Origin | |
| BE | Nathan Cleary | |||
| FB | Matt Moylan | |||
| CE | Tyrone Peachey | |||
| PR | James Tamou | |||
| 18 | Matt Moylan |  New South Wales |
2017 State of Origin | |
| 18 | Trent Merrin |
International
| Pos. | Player | Team | Call-up | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LK | Trent Merrin |  Australia |
2017 Anzac Test | |
| WG | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak |  New Zealand |
||
| CE | Dean Whare | |||
| CE | Waqa Blake |  Fiji |
2017 Pacific Test vs Tonga | |
| SR | Viliame Kikau | |||
| BE | Sione Katoa |  Tonga |
2017 Pacific Test vs Fiji | |
| 18 | Samisoni Langi | |||
| PR | Leilani Latu | |||
| PR | Cowen Epere |  Malta |
2017 Pre-World Cup Test vs Italy | |
| BE | Reagan Campbell-Gillard | Australia |
2017 World Cup | |
| WG | Josh Mansour | |||
| SR | Viliame Kikau | Fiji |
||
| WG | Mason Cerruto |  Italy |
||
| WG | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak | New Zealand |
||
| CE | Dean Whare | |||
| FE | Jarome Luai |  Samoa |
||
| CE | Lachlan Stein |  Scotland |
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| BE | Sione Katoa | Tonga |