2021 Penrith Panthers season

2021 Penrith Panthers season
NRL Rank	2nd (Premiers)
2021 record	Wins: 21; draws: 0; losses: 3
Points scored	For: 676; against: 286
Team information
CEO	Brian Fletcher
Coach	Ivan Cleary
Captain	Nathan Cleary & Isaah Yeo
Stadium	BlueBet Stadium – 22,500 Carrington Park – 13,000 (round 8 only)
Avg. attendance	11,649
High attendance	20,890
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

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Top 30 squad – 2021 season						Development Players		Coaching Staff
Eddie Blacker – PR Matt Burton (gk) – FE, CE, HB Kurt Capewell – SR, CE Nathan Cleary (gk) (c) – HB Stephen Crichton (gk) – CE, FB Dylan Edwards (vc) – FB Matt Eisenhuth – PR, LK James Fisher-Harris (vc) – PR J'maine Hopgood – LK, PR Robert Jennings – WG, CE		Mitch Kenny – HK, LK Viliame Kikau – SR Apisai Koroisau – HK Spencer Leniu – PR Moses Leota – PR Jarome Luai (gk) – FE, HB Liam Martin – SR, LK Taylan May – CE, WG Tyrone May – FE, LK, CE, HK, FB Paul Momirovski – CE (gk)		Brent Naden – CE, WG, FB Tevita Pangai Jnr – SR, PR, LK Jaeman Salmon – FE, CE Lindsay Smith – PR Scott Sorensen – SR, LK Charlie Staines – WG, FB Izack Tago – CE, SR Brian To'o – WG Isaah Yeo (c) – LK		Kurt Falls – HB Brendan Hands – HK, HB Shannon Harris – CE, SR Sunia Turuva – FB, CE		Head coach Ivan Cleary Assistant coaches Andrew Webster Cameron Ciraldo Peter Wallace (ISP NSW coach) Ben Harden (Jersey Flegg coach) Hayden Knowles (head of performance) 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.

Gains Player Signed from Until end of Notes Robert Jennings Wests Tigers 2021 [1] Matt Eisenhuth Wests Tigers 2022 [2] Jaeman Salmon Parramatta Eels 2021 [3] Scott Sorensen Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2021 [4] Paul Momirovski Wests Tigers 2022 [5] Eddie Blacker† St. George Illawarra Dragons 2021 [6]

Losses Player Signed To Until End of Notes James Tamou Wests Tigers 2022 [7] Jack Hetherington Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2022 [8] Caleb Aekins Canberra Raiders 2021 [9] Zane Tetevano Leeds Rhinos (Super League) 2023 [10] Malakai Watene-Zelezniak Retired – [11] Josh Mansour South Sydney Rabbitohs 2022 [12] Daine Laurie Wests Tigers 2023 [13] Dean Whare Catalans Dragons (Super League) 2022 [14] Billy Burns† St. George Illawarra Dragons [6] Pat Hollis Released – [11] Brayden McGrady Released – [11]

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

Bracket

	Qualifying and elimination finals					Semi-finals						Preliminary finals					Grand Final
	10 September – Sunshine Coast
	1	Melbourne	40
	4	Manly Warringah	12			17 September – Mackay
						Manly Warringah		42
	11 September – Townsville					Sydney		6				25 September – Brisbane
	5	Sydney	25									Melbourne		6
	8	Gold Coast	24									Penrith		10			3 October – Brisbane
																	Penrith		14
	12 September – Rockhampton											24 September – Brisbane					South Sydney		12
	6	Parramatta	28									South Sydney		36
	7	Newcastle	20			18 September – Mackay						Manly Warringah		16
						Penrith		8
	11 September – Townsville					Parramatta		6
	2	Penrith	10
	3	South Sydney	16

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 v t e
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. "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. "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.