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2021 Penrith Panthers season
NRL Rank2nd (Premiers)
2021 recordWins: 21; draws: 0; losses: 3
Points scoredFor: 676; against: 286
Team information
CEOBrian Fletcher
Coach Ivan Cleary
Captain
Stadium BlueBet Stadium – 22,500
Carrington Park – 13,000 (round 8 only)
Avg. attendance11,649
High attendance20,890
Top scorers
Tries Matt Burton (16)
Goals Nathan Cleary (88)
Points Nathan Cleary (219)
←  2020 List of seasons 2022 →

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

Penrith Panthers 2021 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

Date Trial Opponent Venue Score Tries Goals
Saturday, 27 February 1 Parramatta Eels Panthers Stadium 16 - 6 Luai, Cleary Cleary (2/2), Burton (0/1)
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw

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

Qualifying and elimination finalsSemi-finalsPreliminary finalsGrand Final
10 September – Sunshine Coast
1 Melbourne40
4 Manly Warringah1217 September – Mackay
Manly Warringah42
11 September – Townsville Sydney625 September – Brisbane
5 Sydney25 Melbourne6
8 Gold Coast24 Penrith103 October – Brisbane
Penrith14
12 September – Rockhampton24 September – Brisbane South Sydney12
6 Parramatta28 South Sydney36
7 Newcastle2018 September – Mackay Manly Warringah16
Penrith8
11 September – Townsville Parramatta6
2 Penrith10
3 South Sydney16
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

2021 NRL season
Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Melbourne Storm 24 21 0 3 1 815 316 +499 44
2 Penrith Panthers (P) 24 21 0 3 1 676 286 +390 44
3 South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 20 0 4 1 775 453 +322 42
4 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 16 0 8 1 744 492 +252 34
5 Sydney Roosters 24 16 0 8 1 630 489 +141 34
6 Parramatta Eels 24 15 0 9 1 566 457 +109 32
7 Newcastle Knights 24 12 0 12 1 428 571 −143 26
8 Gold Coast Titans 24 10 0 14 1 580 583 −3 22
9 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 10 0 14 1 520 556 −36 22
10 Canberra Raiders 24 10 0 14 1 481 578 −97 22
11 St. George Illawarra Dragons 24 8 0 16 1 474 616 −142 18
12 New Zealand Warriors 24 8 0 16 1 453 624 −171 18
13 Wests Tigers 24 8 0 16 1 500 714 −214 18
14 Brisbane Broncos 24 7 0 17 1 446 695 −249 16
15 North Queensland Cowboys 24 7 0 17 1 460 748 −288 16
16 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 3 0 21 1 340 710 −370 8

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.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1 Melbourne Storm 2 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 42 44
2 Penrith Panthers (P) 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 24 24 26 28 30 32 34 34 36 38 40 42 44
3 South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 38 40 42
4 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 24 26 26 28 30 32 34
5 Sydney Roosters 2 4 4 6 8 8 10 12 12 14 14 16 18 20 20 20 22 24 26 28 28 30 32 32 34
6 Parramatta Eels 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 18 18 20 22 24 24 26 28 28 28 28 28 30 32 32
7 Newcastle Knights 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 12 14 16 16 16 18 20 22 24 26 26
8 Gold Coast Titans 0 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 12 14 14 16 18 20 20 20 20 22
9 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 18 18 18 20 22 22
10 Canberra Raiders 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 16 18 18 20 20 20 22 22
11 St. George Illawarra Dragons 0 2 4 6 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18
12 New Zealand Warriors 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 16 18 18 18 18
13 Wests Tigers 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 10 10 10 10 12 14 14 14 16 18 18 18 18
14 Brisbane Broncos 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 14 14 16
15 North Queensland Cowboys 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 16 16
16 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 8

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

Pos. Player Team Call-up Ref.
HB Nathan Cleary New South Wales 2021 State of Origin
FE Jarome Luai
LK Isaah Yeo
WG Brian To'o
SR Liam Martin
HK Apisai Koroisau
SR Kurt Capewell Queensland

References

  1. ^ "Robert Jennings returns to panthers". 30 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Eisenhuth signs with Panthers". 30 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Salmon signs with Panthers". 22 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Sorensen signs with Panthers". 11 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Momirovski joins Panthers as Laurie departs". 7 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Blacker joins Panthers as Burns departs". Penrith Panthers. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Wests Tigers sign James Tamou". 18 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Jack Hetherington signs with the Bulldogs on a two-year deal". 14 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Raiders Sign Caleb Aekins". 15 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Tetevano released to join Leeds". 25 December 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "Tamou headlines players departing Panthers". 28 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Mansour granted release by Panthers". 13 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Wests Tigers secure Daine Laurie, effective immediately". 7 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Whare released to join Catalans". 8 February 2021.
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