|
The history of the Penrith Panthers stretches back to the 1960s when a team from Penrith entering Sydney's elite competition was first mooted. After admission to the NSWRFL premiership in 1967, the club struggled on-field until reaching the finals for the first time in the 1980s, and reaching the grand final in the 1990s. The Panthers were a part of 1997's Super League competition before continuing in the re-unified NRL competition. To date they have won two premierships: 1991 and 2003. ==1960s== Various Penrith rugby league teams had played for many years between 1912 and 1966 in the Western Districts League under the control of the Western Suburbs RLFC, in the Parramatta competition after Parramatta was admitted to the NSWRL in 1947, and also in a second-tier Sydney competition introduced by the NSWRFL in 1962. By this time a single top level rugby league team had emerged in the Penrith area and in 1964 they became known as the Penrith Panthers. The Panther had been chosen as the Penrith emblem after a public competition won by a graphic artist from Emu Plains named Deidre Copeland. In 1966 word was out that the New South Wales Rugby Football League would introduce two new teams to the Sydney premiership for the 1967 season. There were three teams vying for the two proposed slots, Penrith, Cronulla-Sutherland, and the Wentworthville Magpies. Cronulla-Sutherland had been assured of one place, leaving Penrith and Wentworthville to fight it out for the other place. The NSWRL eventually settled on Penrith due to their location and a win in the 1966 Second Division title. The team played its first pre-season trial against Cronulla-Sutherland on February 24. Penrith won 18-12 in front of a crowd of 18,768. The first premiership team was: Bill Tonkin, Bob Landers, Dave Applebee, Ern Gillon, Wayne Peckham, Maurie Raper, Laurie Fagan, Tony Brown (captain), Wal Crust, Bill McCall, Geoff Waldie, Barry Harris and Ron Workman. They played their first premiership match was against Canterbury on April 2 and Penrith led 12-10 until the final 15 minutes. Canterbury won 15-12. On April 23, 1967 Penrith Park was officially opened with a match between the Panthers and the reigning premiers, St George. The Panthers won 24-12 in front of 12,201 spectators. Penrith finished the season in 11th place, with 12 points from five wins, two draws and 11 losses. In 1968 under new captain coach Bob Boland, the team showed improvement. Penrith surprised everyone by winning the pre-season competition, the Wills Cup, and finished in 8th place. It was hoped they would continue to improve but this hope was short lived. The new club would struggle for almost 20 years before finally reaching their first finals series in 1985. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the Penrith Panthers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|