2018 Penrith Panthers season explained

The 2018 Penrith Panthers season was the 52nd in the club's history. Coached by Anthony Griffin (from round 1 to round 21) and Cameron Ciraldo (from round 22 onwards) on caretaker basis and captained by Peter Wallace and James Maloney, the Panthers competed in the National Rugby League's 2018 Telstra Premiership.

Squad

Player transfers

A † denotes that the transfer occurred during the 2018 season.

Gains

Player	Signed From	Until End of	Notes
Adam Keighran
Andy Saunders†	Wentworthville Magpies (NSW Cup)
Siosifa Talakai†

Losses

Player	Signed To	Until End of	Notes
	Warrington Wolves (Super League)
Tim Browne†	Retirement
Tom Eisenhuth†
Tony Satini†	Mount Pritchard Mounties (NSW Cup)
Lachlan Stein†	Newtown Jets (NSW Cup)
Peter Wallace†	Retirement

Fixtures

Pre-season

^[2]

Date	Trial	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals
Saturday, 17 February	1	Sydney Roosters	Panthers Stadium	30 – 18	Sivo (2), Eisenhuth, Egan, Leota, Peachey	Cleary (2/4), Keighran (1/2)
Saturday, 24 February	2	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Belmore Sports Ground	24 – 10	Campbell-Gillard, Crichton	Cleary (1/2)
Legend:

Regular season

^[3]

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Sunday, 11 March	1	Parramatta Eels	Panthers Stadium	24  - 14	Blake (2), Kikau	Cleary (6/6)	21,506
Saturday, 17 March	2	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Panthers Stadium	18  - 14	Blake, Merrin, Peachey	Cleary (3/4)	15,995
Friday, 23 March	3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	ANZ Stadium	18  - 20	Edwards, Maloney, Mansour	Cleary (2/2), Maloney (1/1)	11,247
Thursday, 29 March	4	North Queensland Cowboys	1300SMILES Stadium	33  - 14	Blake, Kikau, Leota, Maloney	Maloney (8/8, 1 FG)	11,907
Sunday, 8 April	5	Parramatta Eels	ANZ Stadium	6  - 12	Mansour	Maloney (4/4)	10,061
Sunday, 15 April	6	Gold Coast Titans	Panthers Stadium	35  - 12	Harawira-Naera (2), Crichton, Edwards, Peachey, Tamou	Maloney (5/7, 1 FG)	11,091
Sunday, 22 April	7	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Southern Cross Group Stadium	26  - 22	Edwards, Kikau, Watene-Zelezniak, Yeo	Maloney (3/4)	12,667
Friday, 27 April	8	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Panthers Stadium	22  - 14	Harawira-Naera, Leota, Yeo	Maloney (5/6)	13,760
Friday, 4 May	9	North Queensland Cowboys	Carrington Park	20  - 26	Phillips (2), Wallace (2)	Maloney (2/4)	10,289
Friday, 11 May	10	Newcastle Knights	McDonald Jones Stadium	18  - 29	Campbell-Gillard, Harawira-Naera, Peachey, Watene-Zelezniak	Maloney (6/6, 1 FG)	14,801
Thursday, 17 May	11	Wests Tigers	Panthers Stadium	16  - 2	Peachey, Phillips	Maloney (4/5)	15,081
Saturday, 26 May	12	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Panthers Stadium	28  - 2	Campbell-Gillard, Cleary, Crichton, Kikau	Maloney (6/6)	21,565
	13	Bye
Friday, 8 June	14	Canberra Raiders	GIO Stadium	22  - 23	Peachey (2), Whare	Maloney (5/6), Cleary (1 FG)	7,662
Friday, 15 June	15	Sydney Roosters	Allianz Stadium	32  - 6	Whare	Maloney (1/1)	10,078
Saturday, 30 June	16	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Panthers Stadium	10  - 18	Watene-Zelezniak	Maloney (3/3)	12,755
Friday, 6 July	17	New Zealand Warriors	Panthers Stadium	36  - 4	Luai (2), Blake, Harawira-Naera, Kikau, Phillips	Luai (6/8)	10,255
Friday, 13 July	18	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Panthers Stadium	12  - 24	Blake, Harawira-Naera	Luai (2/3)	11,742
Friday, 20 July	19	Brisbane Broncos	Suncorp Stadium	50  - 18	Blake, Mansour, Peachey	Cleary (3/3)	26,357
Saturday, 28 July	20	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Lottoland	24  - 28	Blake, Cleary, Mansour, Whare, Yeo	Cleary (4/5)	6,134
Sunday, 5 August	21	Canberra Raiders	Panthers Stadium	40  - 31	Tamou, Peachey (2), Whare, Watene-Zelezniak, Mansour, Maloney	Cleary (6/7)	12,195
Saturday, 11 August	22	Gold Coast Titans	Cbus Super Stadium	16  - 17	Blake, Cleary, Watene-Zelezniak	Cleary (6/7, 1 FG)	11,283
Saturday, 18 August	23	Newcastle Knights	Panthers Stadium	12  - 20	May, Egan	Cleary (2/2)	14,125
Friday, 24 August	24	New Zealand Warriors	Mount Smart Stadium	16  - 36	Blake, Mansour, Merrin	Cleary (2/3)	17,195
Friday, 31 August	25	Melbourne Storm	AAMI Park	16  - 22	Mansour (2), Blake (2), Crichton	Cleary (1/6)	20,637
Legend:

Finals

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance
Saturday, 8 September	Elimination Final	New Zealand Warriors	ANZ Stadium	27 – 12	Peachey (2), Maloney, Crichton	Cleary (5/6) Maloney (1FG)	style=text-align:center;"	17,168
Friday, 15 September	Semi Final	Cronulla Sharks	Allianz Stadium	21 - 20	Cleary, Yeo, Blake	Cleary (4/4)	style=text-align:center;"	19,211
Legend:

Statistics

Name		App	T	G	FG	Pts
	21	1	0	0	0	0
	24	9	8	0	0	32
	25	14	2	0	0	8
	21	10	2	18/20	1	45
	22	16	2	0	0	8
	22	8	3	0	0	12
	21	9	0	0	0	0
	22	5	0	0	0	0
	22	19	0	0	0	0
	23	18	6	0	0	24
	22	11	0	0	0	0
	23	14	0	0	0	0
	23	18	5	0	0	20
	23	13	2	0	0	8
	21	4	2	8/11	0	24
	29	2	0	0	0	0
	32	17	2	53/61	3	117
	28	8	4	0	0	16
	22	3	0	0	0	0
	29	18	1	0	0	4
	27	17	7	0	0	28
	24	9	4	0	0	16
	30	19	1	0	0	4
	33	9	2	0	0	8
	23	13	3	0	0	12
	28	18	3	0	0	12
	24	19	3	0	0	12
27 players		19	62	79/92	4	410

Other teams

In addition to competing in the National Rugby League, the Panthers are also fielding semi-professional teams in the 2018 Jersey Flegg Cup (for players aged under 20) and the New South Wales Rugby League's 2018 Intrust Super Premiership (NSW Cup). The JF team is coached by Ben Harden, and the NSW Cup team is coached by Guy Missio.

Representative honours

Domestic

	Player	Team	Call-up	Ref.
PR	Reagan Campbell-Gillard	New South Wales	2018 State of Origin
HB	Nathan Cleary
FE	James Maloney
BE	Tyrone Peachey

International

	Player	Team	Call-up	Ref.
CE	Tyrone Phillips		2018 Test vs Papua New Guinea
WG	Christian Crichton		2018 Test vs Tonga
FE	Tyrone May
BE	Sione Katoa		2018 Test vs Samoa
BE	James Fisher-Harris		2018 Test vs England
FB	Dallin Watene-Zelezniak

Notes and References

1. Web site: 11 January 2018. Peter Wallace named Penrith Panthers captain for 2018 season. Daily Telegraph. 19 January 2018.
2. Web site: Dodds. Troy. 8 December 2017. Panthers confirm 2018 trials. Western Weekender. 19 January 2018.
3. Web site: 2018 Draw and Results - Penrith Panthers. 23 December 2017. NRL.com.