2017 Penrith Panthers season
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.
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. Attend. | 12,922 | |||
High. Attend. | 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 | 28 – 18 | Ellis, Harawira-Naera, Tamou (2), M. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (1/3), Dockar-Clay (2/2) | ||
Saturday, 4 February | Game 9 | 14 – 16 | J. Cartwright, Harawira-Naera, Leota | Narawira-Naera (1/2), Nicholls (1/1) | ||
Sunday, 5 February | Game 18 | 4 – 22 | Akauola, Dockar-Clay, Edwards, Katoa | Dockar-Clay (1/2), Narawira-Naera (1/2) | ||
Sunday, 5 February | Quarter Final | 16 – 12 | Blake, Katoa, May | Cleary (1/1), Nicholls (0/1) | ||
Sunday, 5 February | Semi Final | 13 – 0 | Blake (2), M. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (0/3) | ||
Sunday, 5 February | Grand Final | 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 | Belmore Sports Ground | 10 – 20 | Blake, Cerruto, Harawira-Naera, Katoa | Dockar-Clay (1/2), Nicholls (1/2) | |
Saturday, 18 February | Trial 2 | 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 | UOW Jubilee Oval | 42 – 10 | Blake, Peachey | Cleary (1/1), Wallace (0/1) | 7,283 | ||
Sunday, 12 March | Round 2 | Campbelltown Stadium | 2 – 36 | Cleary, Edwards, Kikau, Latu, Whare (2) | Cleary (6/7) | 12,232 | ||
Saturday, 18 March | Round 3 | Pepper Stadium | 12 – 14 | Peachey | Cleary (4/4) | 11,044 | ||
Friday, 24 March | Round 4 | Pepper Stadium | 40 – 0 | Cleary, Narawira-Naera, Martin, Peachey, Wallace, D. Watene-Zelezniak, Whare | Cleary (6/8) | 10,567 | ||
Saturday, 1 April | Round 5 | AAMI Park | 28 – 6 | Martin | Cleary (1/1) | 15,223 | ||
Friday, 7 April | Round 6 | Pepper Stadium | 20 – 21 | Harawira-Naera, Oldfield, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (4/4) | 15,535 | ||
Sunday, 16 April | Round 7 | Pepper Stadium | 2 – 28 | Cleary (1/1) | 15,780 | |||
Saturday, 22 April | Round 8 | ANZ Stadium | 18 – 12 | Harawira-Naera, Hiku | Cleary (2/2) | 14,070 | ||
Thursday, 27 April | Round 9 | Suncorp Stadium | 32 – 18 | Campbell-Gillard, Merrin, Moylan | Cleary (3/3) | 21,464 | ||
Saturday, 13 May | Round 10 | Pepper Stadium | 36 – 28 | Yeo (2), Blake, Moylan, Peachey, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (6/6) | 11,588 | ||
Sunday, 21 May | Round 11 | 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 | ANZ Stadium | 0 – 38 | Rein (2), Blake, Cleary, Harawira-Naera, Mansour, Moylan | Cleary (5/7) | 11,283 | ||
Saturday, 10 June | Round 14 | Carrington Park | 24 – 20 | Cleary, Harawira-Naera, Moylan, Peachey | Cleary (4/4) | 8,730 | ||
Round 15 | Bye | |||||||
Saturday, 24 June | Round 16 | 1300SMILES Stadium | 14 – 12 | Cleary, Harawira-Naera | Cleary (2/2) | 17,876 | ||
Sunday, 2 July | Round 17 | ANZ Stadium | 42 – 14 | Mansour, Moylan | Cleary (3/3) | 14,103 | ||
Saturday, 8 July | Round 18 | Pepper Stadium | 16 – 8 | Tamou, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (4/4) | 14,625 | ||
Friday, 14 July | Round 19 | Mount Smart Stadium | 22 – 34 | Cleary (3), Blake, Harawira-Naera, May | Cleary (5/6) | 13,076 | ||
Saturday, 22 July | Round 20 | Pepper Stadium | 24 – 16 | Blake (2), Moylan, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (4/5) | 11,480 | ||
Thursday, 27 July | Round 21 | Pepper Stadium | 16 – 8 | Peachey, Wallace, D. Watene-Zelezniak | Cleary (2/4) | 8,727 | ||
Sunday, 6 August | Round 22 | Pepper Stadium | 28 – 14 | D. Watene-Zelezniak (2), Edwards, May, Peachey | Cleary (4/5) | 15,780 | ||
Saturday, 12 August | Round 23 | Pepper Stadium | 24 – 16 | Cleary (2), Mansour, Tamou | Cleary (4/4) | 12,357 | ||
Sunday, 20 August | Round 24 | GIO Stadium | 22 – 26 | Blake, Cleary, Mansour, May | Cleary (5/5) | 14,818 | ||
Sunday, 27 August | Round 25 | Pepper Stadium | 14 – 16 | Mansour, May | Cleary (3/3) | 18,848 | ||
Saturday, 2 September | Round 26 | Lottoland | 28 – 12 | Campbell-Gillard, May | Cleary (2/2) | 14,423 | ||
Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye |
Finals
Qualifying / Elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||||
QF1: 9 Sep, AAMI Park | |||||||||||||||||
1 | |
18 | |||||||||||||||
4 | |
16 | SF1: 16 Sep, ANZ Stadium | ||||||||||||||
|
16 | ||||||||||||||||
EF1: 10 Sep, Allianz Stadium | |
24 | PF1: 22 Sep, AAMI Park | ||||||||||||||
5 | |
14 | |
30 | |||||||||||||
8 | |
15 | |
0 | GF: 1 Oct, ANZ Stadium | ||||||||||||
|
34 | ||||||||||||||||
EF2: 9 Sep, Allianz Stadium | PF2: 23 Sep, Allianz Stadium | |
6 | ||||||||||||||
6 | |
10 | |
16 | |||||||||||||
7 | |
22 | SF2: 15 Sep, Suncorp Stadium | |
29 | ||||||||||||
|
13 | ||||||||||||||||
QF2: 8 Sep, Allianz Stadium | |
6 | |||||||||||||||
2 | |
24 | |||||||||||||||
3 | |
22 |
Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Saturday, 9 September | Elimination Final | Allianz Stadium | 10 – 22 | Cartwright (2), Peachey | Cleary (5/5) | 15,408 | ||
Friday, 15 September | Semi Final | 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 | 24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 633 | 336 | +297 | 44 | |
2 | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 500 | 428 | +72 | 38 | |
3 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 597 | 433 | +164 | 36 | |
4 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 496 | 457 | +39 | 36 | |
5 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 476 | 407 | +69 | 34 | |
6 | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 552 | 512 | +40 | 32 | |
7 | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 504 | 459 | +45 | 30 | |
8 | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 467 | 443 | +24 | 30 | |
9 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 533 | 450 | +83 | 28 | |
10 | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 558 | 497 | +61 | 26 | |
11 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 360 | 455 | −95 | 24 | |
12 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 464 | 564 | −100 | 22 | |
13 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 444 | 575 | −131 | 18 | |
14 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 413 | 571 | −158 | 18 | |
15 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 448 | 638 | −190 | 18 | |
16 | 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 / Elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||||
QF1: Allianz Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
1 | |
34 | |||||||||||||||
4 | |
26 | SF1: Jubilee Oval | ||||||||||||||
|
32 | ||||||||||||||||
EF1: Jubilee Oval | |
14 | PF1: Leichhardt Oval | ||||||||||||||
5 | |
26 | |
16 | |||||||||||||
8 | |
30 | |
12 | GF: Leichhardt Oval | ||||||||||||
|
12 | ||||||||||||||||
EF2: Jubilee Oval | PF2: Leichhardt Oval | |
20 | ||||||||||||||
6 | |
18 | |
16 | |||||||||||||
7 | |
40 | SF2: Jubilee Oval | |
12 | ||||||||||||
|
30 | ||||||||||||||||
QF2: Jubilee Oval | |
6 | |||||||||||||||
2 | |
20 | |||||||||||||||
3 | |
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 | 2017 City vs Country Origin | ||
BE | Nathan Cleary | |||
FB | Matt Moylan | |||
CE | Tyrone Peachey | |||
PR | James Tamou | |||
18 | Matt Moylan | 2017 State of Origin | ||
18 | Trent Merrin |
International
Pos. | Player | Team | Call-up | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
LK | Trent Merrin | 2017 Anzac Test | ||
WG | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak | |||
CE | Dean Whare | |||
CE | Waqa Blake | 2017 Pacific Test vs Tonga | ||
SR | Viliame Kikau | |||
BE | Sione Katoa | 2017 Pacific Test vs Fiji | ||
18 | Samisoni Langi | |||
PR | Leilani Latu | |||
PR | Cowen Epere | 2017 Pre-World Cup Test vs Italy | ||
BE | Reagan Campbell-Gillard | 2017 World Cup | ||
WG | Josh Mansour | |||
SR | Viliame Kikau | |||
WG | Mason Cerruto | |||
WG | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak | |||
CE | Dean Whare | |||
FE | Jarome Luai | |||
CE | Lachlan Stein | |||
BE | Sione Katoa |
References
- "Behind The Scenes: The Staff". penrithpanthers.com.au. 11 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- Pengilly, Adam (10 September 2016). "Canterbury Bulldogs' Tim Browne hoping to deliver dagger blow to Penrith Panthers". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- "Penrith Panthers sign Jed Cartwright on a three-year deal". Fox Sports. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- "Panthers sign playmaker Nicholls". Rugby League Week. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- Ryan, Nathan (5 October 2016). "Gold Coast star Ryan James' $2m payday, Wests Tigers sign forward — NRL Market Watch". Fox Sports. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- Dean, John (25 November 2016). "Why 2017 shapes as a crucial year in the NRL career of Panthers recruit Michael Oldfield". Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- "Rein joins the Panthers". penrithpanthers.com.au. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- Chammas, Michael (16 June 2016). "I can win another premiership at Penrith Panthers, says James Tamou". Sydney Morning Herald.
- "Rabbitohs Sign Four Up-And-Coming Players". rabbitohs.com.au. 25 August 2016.
- "Dockar-Clay makes Rovers move". hullkr.co.uk. 31 March 2017. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- Bungard, Matt (25 November 2016). "Penrith Panthers release Chris Grevsmuhl to deal with 'personal issues'". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- "Gold Coast Titans sign former Penrith Panthers forward Chris Grevsmuhl". Fox Sports. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Townsville Blackhawks Gains and Losses". QRL.com.au. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- "Zak Hardaker to join Castleford on initial loan deal from Leeds". Sky Sports. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- "Exciting Heffernan joins Rovers ranks". hullkr.co.uk. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- "Peta Hiku: Warrington Wolves sign Penrith Panthers & New Zealand centre". BBC. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- "Eels sign George Jennings for 2017". parraeels.com.au. 17 September 2016.
- "Panthers release Langi". penrithpanthers.com.au. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
- "Samisoni Langi: Leigh sign Tonga international until the end of the season". BBC. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- "Sharks bolster big-men depth". sharks.com.au. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- Ryan, Nathan (16 June 2017). "Te Maire Martin Cowboys signing, Penrith Panthers playmaker moves mid-season as JT successor". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- "Parramatta Has Just Announced ANOTHER Signing". Triple M. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- Polkinghorne, David (29 June 2017). "Canberra Raiders sign former Penrith Panther Michael Oldfield and Sydney Rooster Liam Knight". Canberra Times. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- "Bulldogs sign ex-Panthers NYC captain". NRL.com. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- "Parramatta Eels announce signings for the 2017 squad". parraeels.com.au. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- Worthington, Sam (10 September 2016). "Former NRL player Tupou Sopoaga now starring in NRC for Western Sydney Rams". Fox Sports. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- "Wests Tigers sign Malakai Watene-Zelezniak". weststigers.com.au. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- "Panthers' boss Brian Fletcher calls for scrapping of Auckland Nines". stuff.co.nz. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- Walshaw, Nick (4 February 2017). "Could the Penrith Panthers be unwilling champions of the Auckland Nines?". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- Encarnacion, Matt (17 January 2017). "Eleven Panthers ruled out of Nines squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- Walsh, Dan (5 February 2017). "Auckland Nines 2017: Teens and tyros headline team of the tournament". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- Rosser, Corey (5 February 2017). "Auckland Nines team of the tournament". NRL.com. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- "Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars teams announced". NRL.com. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- "TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT | KARI City Origin". NSWRL.com.au. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- Effeney, David (22 May 2017). "State of Origin teams: NSW Blues team for Game 1 2017". Wide World of Sports. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
- "NSW Blues name team for Origin II". NRL.com. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
- "Trent Merrin joins Blues squad". NRL.com. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- "2017 Kangaroos Anzac Test squad". NRL.com. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- "Kiwis team announced to take on Kangaroos". NRL.com. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- "Fiji Bati squad for Tonga Test Match". Asia Pacific RL. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- "Samoa and Tonga squads announced". NRL.com. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- "Campbell-Gillard called into Kangaroos squad". NRL.com. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- "Mansour joins Kangaroos squad". NRL.com. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- "Fiji Bati World Cup squad announced in Suva". RLWC2017.com. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
- "Rugby League World Cup – Gli azzurri" (in Italian). Federazione Italia Rugby League. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- "Kiwis World Cup squad named". NRL.com. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- Newton, Alicia (6 October 2017). "Panther Luai bolts into Samoa side". NRL.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
- Laybourn, Ian (12 October 2017). "Seven rookies in Scotland squad". NRL.com. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- "Fifita, Taumalolo in Tonga World Cup squad". NRL.com. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.