Favourite Panther wins

[Panther Mick]

I think we all enjoyed Finals and grand finals wins but what is your favourite all-time Panther wins?

Maybe you were there or you were enjoying a pulsating win at home in front of the box.

Just a few for me.

2007 Round 3 V Brisbane:Won 29-28.
Penrith stage a stunning recovery to beat Brisbane 29-28 in extra-time at Suncorp Stadium. After trailing 28-20, the Panthers score twice in the final three minutes to level the scores. Michael Jennings who raced 85 metres to score, giving the Panthers a chance. Penrith then came up with a miracle play that locked up the scores at 28 all. A Luke Rooney grubber kick deflected off Bronco Darius Boyd, rolling into the in-goal area. Rhys Wesser won the race to the ball and scored a stunning try.
Five-eighth Peter Wallace then landed a 42-metre field goal to secure victory in extra time.

2003 Round 3 V Roosters. Won 23-22.
Penrith end the Sydney Roosters’ undefeated run of 11 successive victories when they score a 23-22 upset win at Aussie Stadium. Inspired by a halftime rev up by Joel Clinton. The Panthers trailed 16 - 4 after 5 minutes of the 2nd half but scored 3 tries in the space of 15 minutes to grab a 22-16 lead. Craig Gower landed a 72 minute field goal before the Roosters responded with a late try, but the Panthers hung on for a memorable win.

Round 18 V Tigers Won 32-31.
The biggest comeback in Penrith Panthers history against the Wests Tigers in 2000. The Panthers were trailing 31-8 with 23 minutes to go at the foot of the mountains.
From there, they produced four unanswered tries to take out the game 32-31. Tries to Gower as well as a double to Tony Puletua was all the Panthers needed to claim the victory.
They did all that in just 14 minutes and had eight minutes left to seal the game.
Chris Hicks' conversion from the sideline sealed the result.

What are some of your favourite wins?

 

[Tronald Crump]

What are some of your favourite wins?

Any against the Chooks, Manly and Parra are my favourites wins.

 

[murraymob]

Any time we beat parr’s.my phone stays silent as my parr’s mates weep and call for the execution of who ever is coach at the time

 

[Alintheeast]

I think we all enjoyed Finals and grand finals wins but what is your favourite all-time Panther wins?

Maybe you were there or you were enjoying a pulsating win at home in front of the box.

Just a few for me.

2007 Round 3 V Brisbane:Won 29-28.
Penrith stage a stunning recovery to beat Brisbane 29-28 in extra-time at Suncorp Stadium. After trailing 28-20, the Panthers score twice in the final three minutes to level the scores. Michael Jennings who raced 85 metres to score, giving the Panthers a chance. Penrith then came up with a miracle play that locked up the scores at 28 all. A Luke Rooney grubber kick deflected off Bronco Darius Boyd, rolling into the in-goal area. Rhys Wesser won the race to the ball and scored a stunning try.
Five-eighth Peter Wallace then landed a 42-metre field goal to secure victory in extra time.

2003 Round 3 V Roosters. Won 23-22.
Penrith end the Sydney Roosters’ undefeated run of 11 successive victories when they score a 23-22 upset win at Aussie Stadium. Inspired by a halftime rev up by Joel Clinton. The Panthers trailed 16 - 4 after 5 minutes of the 2nd half but scored 3 tries in the space of 15 minutes to grab a 22-16 lead. Craig Gower landed a 72 minute field goal before the Roosters responded with a late try, but the Panthers hung on for a memorable win.

Round 18 V Tigers Won 32-31.
The biggest comeback in Penrith Panthers history against the Wests Tigers in 2000. The Panthers were trailing 31-8 with 23 minutes to go at the foot of the mountains.
From there, they produced four unanswered tries to take out the game 32-31. Tries to Gower as well as a double to Tony Puletua was all the Panthers needed to claim the victory.
They did all that in just 14 minutes and had eight minutes left to seal the game.
Chris Hicks' conversion from the sideline sealed the result.

What are some of your favourite wins?

31July 1976 against Manly, we hadn’t beaten Manly since 1970 plus there was the 70-7 in 73. It was a Saturday Match with about 6000 brave souls in attendance mostly Manly fans. It was a cloudy dull day with very little grass on the oval. We won 13-12 with Dollar Geary scoring a try and Greg Hartley missing a few forward passes and knock ons that helped tremendously. Watched the game in black and white on ABC and listened to 2KA.

 

[panther.mike]

Alintheast….where was that game played

 

[TheFrog]

What are some of your favourite wins?

Vs Illawarra 1984 at Penrith Round 15.

Neither side had ever made the finals and both were well in contention. Panthers coached by Tim Sheens, Steelers coached by Brian Smith. Both in their rookie year. Greg Alexander in his first season as well. The match ended 18-10 our way, three tries to one but it was much closer than that.

The Steelers only try came in the opening minutes, and from then on they were camped in our quarter attacking. From memory, we scored either side of halftime, one of them being an intercept, but a couple of penalty goals brought it to 12-10, and the match sealer only came at the death. It was the finest defensive effort I have ever seen from a Penrith side. The Steelers must have had 75% of possession. Only 5000 there to see it. I was in front of the old scoreboard and screamed myself hoarse. I'm not aware of the existence of any footage of this match.

Neither side made the finals, which was a top 5 then. We missed out by a point, Illawarra by 2 points.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

The year was 1996 and Manly were on their way to their 2nd consecutive grand final appearance.1996 was the only one they would win over the 3 consecutive grand finals they made in the mid 90's, but make no mistake they were a dominant team of the mid to late 90's.
They lost just 4 matches that year and one of them was round 20 of that year. They never lost again that year after losing to us.
We didn't have much to celebrate that year with just 7 wins. Fittler, Sing and Freeman had left the club at the end of the previous season in the midst of the super league war.

Manly had won 14 of their previous 16 games of that season leading up to playing us. We had lost 5 straight.
On to the game.
Prior to kick off Royce Simmons had invited John Farragher in for a pep talk. His words of hope and inspiration would have the desired effect.
Up against 10 internationals the under strengthed and underaged Panthers led by rookies Catic, Clinch, Petersen, Hinson and Gower.
Some would go to greater things for others this was their moment to shine.
The Panthers put in an inspired performance to lead 12 - 6 at halftime. Led by Carl McNamara who virtually all match hit the ball up set after set, sometimes twice a set. After the match Royce Simmons was qouted as saying 'I can't remember a forward making that many metres in a game before'
Manly hit back in the second half to lead 14 -12. Matthew Ridge got sinned binned for dissent, I can't remember when.
Ned Catic (then a centre) scored the matchwinner 8 minutes from fulltime. Manly were coming back again.
They threw everything at the young Panthers side in the final minutes but desperate defenders were able to repel their attack. Applause from the 7000 crowd showed their appreciation as they hung on.
Manly scored 3 tries to Penrith’s 2 but goal kicking proved the difference.
Girdler kicked 5 from 5 while Matthew Ridge only landed 1 from 4.

I couldn't wait to run down to the newsagent the following day to buy the paper and read all about it. I did the same again later that week when RLW came out.
1996 was a tough season but for one afternoon that year Panther players and fans had something to cheer about.

 

[John Hamblin]

My favourite win of all time was in 1967 our first season when we beat St George 24-12 at Penrith Park. St George had won the previous 11 premierships. Our young centres Wayne Peckham and Dave Applebee were sensational and young forward Russell Johnstone also had a big game.

 

[TheFrog]

A couple of other good ones going back, both at Penrith-

28-10 win over a star-studded Manly in 1981 (Round 4) under Len Stacker. Manly had put on 2 tries late in the first half to undeservedly lead 10-8 at halftime. The Panthers ran away with it in the second half. I didn't go to this one. Listened to Frank Hyde's call. We were star-studded too I suppose. Roycie was there, along with Kevin Dann, Darrell "Big Marn" Brohman, Shifty Sheens and Lew (the Fixer) Zivanovic.

The other one was a 40-15 win over the Sharks in '75. They scored twice early to go to 10-0 before the Panthers steadied and fought back to get to 12-10 with two converted tries a penalty goal. The Sharks scored on halftime and led 15-12, but the second half was a procession, 6 unanswered tries. Would have been 48-18 in today's money, a true shellacking. We were running last and they were just outside the top 5. Bill Ashurst kicked 8 goals in this game and I suspect he had a lot to do with a few of the tries as well.

Both these years we ran 2nd last although the effort in '81 especially deserved better following a dreadful 1980. Finishing in the cellar was not unusual in that era, but you never knew when they might turn it on, especially at home.

 

[Whino]

Cool thread.

 

[MugaB]

My favourite was a few years ago against Manly at brookie, 4 tries in 10mins late in the 2nd half comeback to win, trent barrett was the manly coach, his face was in tears, ivan cleary was on the hill behind me in the crowd, he was beside himself, and i had just gone to take my daughter to the toilet down the hill at the 60th minute, all but sure that we were going to lose big time, when i finally came back from up the hill 5mins later it was a barrage of tries, then kikau sealed it with that tackle on tommy turbo knocking the ball out and nathan clinching the winning try.... great day!!!

 

[TheFrog]

I notice Manly are the victims in a lot of these games. Which brings me to the 72-12 scoreline of 2004. Could have been more too. We were pretty scratchy in the first 30 minutes or so before it all clicked into gear. Amos Roberts equalled Girdler's club points scoring record for a single game, but it's been broken twice since.

The last game of 2002, a season that was over for us almost before it began, against a Northern Eagles side attempting to make the finals (and in their last appearance under that name) is another fond memory. A preview of what 2003 would bring, champagne attacking football with 68 points being put on a side in finals contention. They would have made it too had the Dragons not beaten the competition leaders (Knights) in their last game. In this game, like the 2004 one, Girdler's record of 28 points (set against Manly in 2009) was also equalled, this time by Girdler himself.

 

[soc123_au]

I notice Manly are the victims in a lot of these games. Which brings me to the 72-12 scoreline of 2004. Could have been more too. We were pretty scratchy in the first 30 minutes or so before it all clicked into gear. Amos Roberts equalled Girdler's club points scoring record for a single game, but it's been broken twice since.

The last game of 2002, a season that was over for us almost before it began, against a Northern Eagles side attempting to make the finals (and in their last appearance under that name) is another fond memory. A preview of what 2003 would bring, champagne attacking football with 68 points being put on a side in finals contention. They would have made it too had the Dragons not beaten the competition leaders (Knights) in their last game. In this game, like the 2004 one, Girdler's record of 28 points (set against Manly in 2009) was also equalled, this time by Girdler himself.

Pretty sure we pumped Manly in 99 as well. Matt vs Phil Adamson. I remember being at the game & it being a great win. I dont recall if we cracked 50 or not though.

 

[BxTom]

I notice Manly are the victims in a lot of these games. ....

Doesn't it just make your heart sing

 

[TheFrog]

Pretty sure we pumped Manly in 99 as well. Matt vs Phil Adamson. I remember being at the game & it being a great win. I dont recall if we cracked 50 or not though.

That would be the game Girdler set his (then) club record. 52-10 IIRC

 

[Kilkenny]

I think sometimes it is more memorable supporting a side that is less successful.
The great victories are far more memorable when they are less frequent than sides who enjoy success more often that not.

While maybe not politically correct but I must say I really enjoyed some of our victories under the much maligned Anthony Griffin era. 14-0 down on numerous occasions only to fight our way back. The Semi Final wins against the Bulldogs and Manly were also pretty special. Griffin had his flaws, we all know what they were but he wore his heart of his sleeve and when I look back on things he guided us to the most successful era even if he didn’t bring us a premiership.

 

[Alintheeast]

A couple of other good ones going back, both at Penrith-

28-10 win over a star-studded Manly in 1981 (Round 4) under Len Stacker. Manly had put on 2 tries late in the first half to undeservedly lead 10-8 at halftime. The Panthers ran away with it in the second half. I didn't go to this one. Listened to Frank Hyde's call. We were star-studded too I suppose. Roycie was there, along with Kevin Dann, Darrell "Big Marn" Brohman, Shifty Sheens and Lew (the Fixer) Zivanovic.

The other one was a 40-15 win over the Sharks in '75. They scored twice early to go to 10-0 before the Panthers steadied and fought back to get to 12-10 with two converted tries a penalty goal. The Sharks scored on halftime and led 15-12, but the second half was a procession, 6 unanswered tries. Would have been 48-18 in today's money, a true shellacking. We were running last and they were just outside the top 5. Bill Ashurst kicked 8 goals in this game and I suspect he had a lot to do with a few of the tries as well.

Both these years we ran 2nd last although the effort in '81 especially deserved better following a dreadful 1980. Finishing in the cellar was not unusual in that era, but you never knew when they might turn it on, especially at home.

Brohman’s nickname was “the Professor”, he was given the name by his Queensland club mates who considered him be a bit of an intellectual as he had a job in a bank.

 

[Alintheeast]

Alintheast….where was that game played

At Penrith Park before it became Penrith Stadium

 

[Westernised Panther]

The last game of 2002, a season that was over for us almost before it began, against a Northern Eagles side attempting to make the finals (and in their last appearance under that name) is another fond memory. A preview of what 2003 would bring, champagne attacking football with 68 points being put on a side in finals contention. They would have made it too had the Dragons not beaten the competition leaders (Knights) in their last game. In this game, like the 2004 one, Girdler's record of 28 points (set against Manly in 2009) was also equalled, this time by Girdler himself.

I remember this game! I was away with my wife so I didn’t get to watch the game on Fox. However I remember getting to the B&B in Bega where my wife and I were staying and we decided to watch the Channel 9 game (which probably was the Dragons game that @TheFrog mentioned). During the game, Peter Sterling piped up and said, “Did you see what the score was at the Eagles v Panthers clash?”. I was immediately thinking that it was the Panthers getting lapped but to my absolute shock, it was completely the other way around!!

Thankfully Fox replayed the game on the Thursday so I got to watch the replay. The most satisfying part was seeing how absolutely stunned in silence the Manly crowd were (and how noisy the small but boisterous band of Panthers fans were!!)

Brett Kenny was sideline commentator in that game and I remember there was a shot of the Manly cheer girls and Kenny said, “Those girls should throw a few Manly jerseys on and get out on the field. They certainly couldn’t do any worse!”

 

[Whino]

Brandys last home game vs Canberra round 25 1999 always holds a special memory for me.

And John Cartwright's last game. Round 22 1996 vs Parramatta worth a mention too.