2017 Penrith Panthers season
NRL Rank7th
Play-off resultLost semi-final (FW2)
2017 recordWins: 14; losses: 12
Points scoredFor: 532; against: 482
Team information
CoachAnthony Griffin
Captain
StadiumPepper Stadium – 22,500
Carrington Park – 13,000 (round 14 only)
Avg. attendance12,922
High attendance18,848 vs. Dragons, round 25
Top scorers
TriesNathan Cleary (11)
GoalsNathan Cleary (92)
PointsNathan Cleary (228)
Home colours
Home colours		Away colours
Away colours
< 2016 List of seasons 2018 >

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.

Squad

Penrith Panthers
2017 NRL Squad Extended squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)



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 finalsSemi-finalsPreliminary finalsGrand Final
9 September – Melbourne
1 Melbourne Storm18
4 Parramatta Eels1616 September – Sydney
Parramatta Eels16
10 September – Sydney North Queensland Cowboys2422 September – Melbourne
5 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks14 Melbourne Storm30
8 North Queensland Cowboys15 Brisbane Broncos01 October – Sydney
Melbourne Storm34
9 September – Sydney23 September – Sydney North Queensland Cowboys6
6 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles10 Sydney Roosters16
7 Penrith Panthers2215 September – Brisbane North Queensland Cowboys29
Brisbane Broncos13
8 September – Sydney Penrith Panthers6
2 Sydney Roosters24
3 Brisbane Broncos22
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

2017 NRL season
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 finalsSemi-finalsPreliminary finalsGrand Final
Sydney Football Stadium  
1 Wyong34
4 Canterbury26Jubilee Oval
Canterbury-Bankstown32
Jubilee Oval   Illawarra14Leichhardt Oval
5 Mount Pritchard26 Wyong16
8 Illawarra30 New Zealand12Leichhardt Oval  
Wyong12
Jubilee Oval  Leichhardt Oval Penrith20
6 North Sydney18 Penrith16
7 Newcastle40Jubilee Oval Canterbury-Bankstown12
New Zealand30
Jubilee Oval   Newcastle6
2 New Zealand20
3 Penrith36

Representative honours

Domestic

Pos. Player Team Call-up Ref.
BE Leilani Latu Indigenous All Stars 2017 All Stars match
[33]
BE Tyrone Peachey
PR Reagan Campbell-Gillard World All Stars
SR Bryce Cartwright
Five-eighth Bryce Cartwright NSW City 2017 City vs Country Origin
[34]
BE Nathan Cleary
FB Matt Moylan
CE Tyrone Peachey
PR James Tamou
18 Matt Moylan New South Wales 2017 State of Origin
[35][36]
18 Trent Merrin
[37]

International

Pos. Player Team Call-up Ref.
LK Trent Merrin  Australia 2017 Anzac Test
[38]
WG Dallin Watene-Zelezniak  New Zealand
[39]
CE Dean Whare
CE Waqa Blake  Fiji 2017 Pacific Test vs Tonga
[40]
SR Viliame Kikau
BE Sione Katoa  Tonga 2017 Pacific Test vs Fiji
[41]
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
[42]
WG Josh Mansour
[43]
SR Viliame Kikau  Fiji
[44]
WG Mason Cerruto  Italy
[45]
WG Dallin Watene-Zelezniak  New Zealand
[46]
CE Dean Whare
FE Jarome Luai  Samoa
[47]
CE Lachlan Stein  Scotland
[48]
BE Sione Katoa  Tonga
[49]

References

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  4. ^ "Panthers sign playmaker Nicholls". Rugby League Week. 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
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  8. ^ Chammas, Michael (16 June 2016). "I can win another premiership at Penrith Panthers, says James Tamou". Sydney Morning Herald.
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