King-Gutho94
Coach
- Messages
- 15,525
Yeah we had bigger rivalries with Bulldogs & Manly for a lot longer.He knows it's a big rivalry, but isn't sure why.
To be honest, it's a fair point - until recently, our only thing we had in common was that we were both representing Western Sydney.
In recent times, they've surpassed our achievements with a 20-year handicap on them, and it has reignited the rivalry.
But it sort of came out of nowhere - in the early 2000's, I don't recall a big fuss being made of the "Western Sydney derby" whenever we played Penrith.
I would probably put Penrith in that bucket now simply because we have played each other in a GF and the past 4-5 years in plenty of big games & finals that have had controversy and big moments/close finishes.
Like since 2020 we had Moses miss a penalty goal after the siren in 2021, we also lost a semi final by 2 points where we were completely dudded.
In 2022 we beat Penrith twice including Chinboy getting sent off, we then played them in 2 more finals including a GF.
Last year we had the 2 point Cleary FG after the siren that sent the game to Extra time and Moses winning it Golden Point.
Throw in the likes of Reg, Carty, Michael Jennings in the past decade coming across as well.
The rivalry has got bigger in the past 5 years and i think for the next 10-15 years will be like when we play the Dogs and Manly.
Plus Penrith have found some bandwagoners now so they actually have a larger fanbase.