# 2023 Penrith Panthers season

The 2023 Penrith Panthers season was the 57th season in the club's history. With head coach Ivan Cleary and co-captains Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo, the Panthers competed in the National Rugby League's 2023 Telstra Premiership and won the minor premiership.

## 20th anniversary

In 2023, it was the twentieth anniversary of the Penrith Panthers' 2003 NRL Grand Final win against the Sydney Roosters. This was Penrith's second premiership.

## Jerseys and sponsors

The 2023 home, away and alternate jerseys looked similar to the ones shown below
* Home
* Away
* Alternate

### Sponsors

| Main sponsor | Kit supplier | Minor sponsors |
| Jersey |||
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | Bluestone Home Loans |
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | Hertz |
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | KFC |
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | Allam Property Group |
| Shorts |||
| Turner Freeman Lawyers | O'Neills | KFC |
| Turner Freeman Lawyers | O'Neills | Instyle Solar |
| Training Shirt & Shorts |||
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | MKJ Projects |
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | Hertz |
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | KFC |
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | Instyle Solar |
| OAK Plus | O'Neills | Turner Freeman Lawyers |

## Squad

Source:
| No | Player | 1st Position | 2nd Position | NRL Games | Previous 1st Grade Club |
| 536 | Tyrone Peachey | Lock | Centre | 207 | Wests Tigers |
| 537 | Isaah Yeo (c) | Lock | Second Row | 220 | None |
| 553 | Chris Smith | Second Row | Lock | 39 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| 557 | James Fisher-Harris (vc) | Prop | | 180 | None |
| 560 | Nathan Cleary (c) | Halfback | | 159 | None |
| 562 | Moses Leota | Prop | | 149 | None |
| 564 | Dylan Edwards (vc) | Fullback | | 131 | None |
| 579 | Jarome Luai | Five-Eighth | | 107 | None |
| 584 | Liam Martin | Second Row | | 104 | None |
| 585 | Brian To'o | Wing | | 93 | None |
| 586 | Mitch Kenny | Hooker | Lock | 83 | None |
| 589 | Stephen Crichton | Centre | | 100 | None |
| 591 | Spencer Leniu | Prop | | 83 | None |
| 598 | Matt Eisenhuth | Lock | Prop | 116 | Wests Tigers |
| 599 | Scott Sorensen | Second Row | Lock | 105 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| 601 | Jaeman Salmon | Second Row | Centre | 61 | Parramatta Eels |
| 602 | Lindsay Smith | Prop | Lock | 27 | None |
| 603 | Izack Tago | Centre | | 48 | None |
| 604 | Taylan May | Wing | | 22 | None |
| 607 | Soni Luke | Hooker | | 24 | None |
| 609 | Sunia Turuva | Fullback | Wing | 29 | None |
| 610 | Tom Jenkins | Centre | Wing | 6 | None |
| 612 | Jack Cole | Centre | | 1 | None |
| 613 | Eddie Blacker | Prop | | 2 | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| 614 | Luke Garner | Second Row | Centre | 87 | Wests Tigers |
| 616 | Jack Cogger | Five-Eighth | Halfback | 55 | Huddersfield Giants |
| 615 | Zac Hosking | Second Row | Lock | 25 | Brisbane Broncos |
| Development Players |||||||
| 608 | Kurt Falls | Halfback | Five-eighth | 3 | None |
| 611 | Liam Henry | Prop | Lock | 1 | None |
| - | Mavrik Geyer | Prop | Second Row | ???? | ???? |
| - | Ativalu Lisati | Second Row | Lock | ???? | ????? |

## Fixtures
### Pre-Season Challenge (week 1)

| Date | Trial | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 11 February | 1 | Parramatta Eels | BlueBet Stadium | 22 - 16 | Sommerton, Jenkins, McLean, Cohen | Kurt Falls (3/4) | 3,525 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw ||||||||

### Pre-Season Challenge (week 2) / World Club Challenge

| Date | Trial | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 18 February | 2 | St Helens | BlueBet Stadium | 12 - 13 | Tago, To'o | Nathan Cleary (2/2) | 13,873 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw ||||||||

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Friday, 3 March | 1 | Brisbane Broncos | BlueBet Stadium | 12 - 13 | Chricton, Luke | Nathan Cleary (2/2) | 17,125 |
| Thursday, 9 March | 2 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | BlueBet Stadium | 16 - 10 | Chricton, Tago, To'o | Chrichton (1/1), Cleary (1/3) | 16,906 |
| | 3 | Bye | | | | | |
| Thursday, 23 March | 4 | Parramatta Eels | CommBank Stadium | 17 - 16 | Edwards, Hosking | Cleary (3/3) 1 2pt FG | 16,342 |
| Friday, 31 March | 5 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium | 12 - 53 | Turuva (2), Tago (2), Cleary, Hosking, Peachey, Crichton, Salmon | Cleary (8/9) 1 FG | 15,334 |
| Saturday, 8 April | 6 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | BlueBet Stadium | 44 - 12 | Edwards (4), To'o, Sorensen, Cleary | Cleary (8/8) | 20,312 |
| Saturday, 15 April | 7 | Newcastle Knights | McDonald Jones Stadium | 15 - 16 | To'o, Salmon | Cleary (3/4) 2 FG | 26,084 |
| Thursday, 20 April | 8 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Accor Stadium | 20 - 18 | Crichton (3) | Crichton (3/4) | 19,574 |
| Saturday, 29 April | 9 | Wests Tigers | Carrington Park | 8 - 12 | Peachey | Crichton (2/2) | 11,055 |
| Saturday, 6 May | 10 | New Zealand Warriors | Suncorp Stadium | 6 - 18 | Edwards, To'o, Leniu | Cleary (3/4) | 50,183* |
| Friday, 12 May | 11 | Sydney Roosters | BlueBet Stadium | 48 - 4 | Sorensen (2), Edwards, Peachey (2), To'o, Turuva, Luai | Cleary (8/8) | 20,255 |
| Thursday, 18 May | 12 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 4 - 15 | Turuva, Cleary | Cleary (3/3) 1 FG | 33,343 |
| | 13 | Bye | | | | | |
| Sunday, 4 June | 14 | St George Illawarra Dragons | BlueBet Stadium | 26 - 18 | To'o (2), Turuva, Leota | Cleary (1/1), Chrichton (4/5) | 16,912 |
| Saturday, 10 June | 15 | Sydney Roosters | Allianz Stadium | 6 - 30 | Crichton, Edwards, Yeo, To'o, Tago | Crichton (5/6) | 23,610 |
| Friday, 16 June | 16 | North Queensland Cowboys | Queensland Country Bank Stadium | 27 - 23 | Tago (2), Salmon, Jenkins | Cogger (3/4) 1 FG | 17,277 |
| Saturday, 24 June | 17 | Newcastle Knights | BlueBet Stadium | 20 - 12 | Edwards, Peachey (2), Salmon | Cogger (2/4) | 18,589 |
| Friday, 30 June | 18 | Melbourne Storm | Marvel Stadium | 16 - 34 | Crichton, Tago (2), Martin, Hosking, To'o | Chricton (5/6) | 26,829 |
| | 19 | Bye | | | | | |
| Sunday, 16 July | 20 | Dolphins | Kayo Satdium | 14 - 24 | Leota, Tago (2), Jenkins | Cogger (1/4), Edwards (2/2) | 10,065 |
| Sunday, 23 July | 21 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | BlueBet Stadium | 44 - 18 | Peachey (2), Yeo, To'o (2), Crichton, Sorenson, Garner | Cleary (6/8) | 21,525 |
| Saturday, 29 July | 22 | Cronulla Sharks | BlueBet Stadium | 28 - 0 | Luai, Yeo, To'o, Turuva, Martin | Cleary (4/5) | 20,694 |
| Friday, 4 August | 23 | Melbourne Storm | BlueBet Stadium | 26 - 6 | To'o (2), Luai, Crichton | Cleary (5/6) | 19,953 |
| Thursday, 10 August | 24 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 4 Pines Park | 12 - 24 | Crichton (2), Turuva, To'o | Cleary (4/5) | 10,102 |
| Saturday, 19 August | 25 | Gold Coast Titans | Cbus Super Stadium | 14 - 40 | Edwards (2), Yeo, Peachey, Jenkins, Martin, Crichton | Cleary (6/7) | 19,106 |
| Thursday, 24 August | 26 | Parramatta Eels | BlueBet Stadium | 18 - 32 | Peachey, Cleary, Martin, Jenkins | Cleary (1/4) | 21,525 |
| Saturday, 2 September | 27 | North Queensland Cowboys | BlueBet Stadium | 44 - 12 | Crichton, Turuva (2), Martin, To'o (2), Sommerton, Cleary | Cleary (6/8) | 21,525 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||
* Round 10 attendance figure is for the whole of Magic Round day 2

### Finals

| Qualifying and elimination finals | Qualifying and elimination finals | Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Penrith | 32 | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | New Zealand | 6 | 16 September – Auckland | 16 September – Auckland | 16 September – Auckland | | | | |
| | | | New Zealand | New Zealand | 40 | | | | |
| 10 September – Newcastle | 10 September – Newcastle | 10 September – Newcastle | Newcastle | Newcastle | 10 | 22 September – Sydney | 22 September – Sydney | 22 September – Sydney | | | |
| 5 | Newcastle | 30 | | | | Penrith | Penrith | 38 | |
| 8 | Canberra | 28 | | | | Melbourne | Melbourne | 4 | 1 October – Sydney | 1 October – Sydney | 1 October – Sydney |
| | | | | | | | | | Penrith | Penrith | 26 |
| 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | | | | 23 September – Brisbane | 23 September – Brisbane | 23 September – Brisbane | Brisbane | Brisbane | 24 |
| 6 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 12 | | | | Brisbane | Brisbane | 42 | | |
| 7 | Sydney | 13 | 15 September – Melbourne | 15 September – Melbourne | 15 September – Melbourne | New Zealand | New Zealand | 12 | | |
| | | | Melbourne | Melbourne | 18 | | | | | | |
| 8 September – Brisbane | 8 September – Brisbane | 8 September – Brisbane | Sydney | Sydney | 13 | | | | | |
| 2 | Brisbane | 26 | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Melbourne | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Saturday, 9 September | Qualifying Final | New Zealand Warriors | BlueBet Stadium | 32 - 6 | To'o, Martin, Turuva (2), Cleary | Cleary (6/6) | 21,525 |
| Friday, 22 September | Preliminary Final | Melbourne Storm | Accor Stadium | 38 - 4 | To'o (3), Turuva, Cleary, Edwards | Cleary (7/8) | 35,578 |
| Sunday, 1 October | Grand Final | Brisbane Broncos | Accor Stadium | 26 - 24 | Kenny, Leota, Crichton, Cleary | Crichton (1/1), Cleary (4/4) | 81,947 |

## Ladder

2023 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Penrith Panthers (P) | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 645 | 312 | +333 | 42 |
| 2 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 639 | 425 | +214 | 42 |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 627 | 459 | +168 | 38 |
| 4 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 572 | 448 | +124 | 38 |
| 5 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 626 | 451 | +175 | 35 |
| 6 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 619 | 497 | +122 | 34 |
| 7 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 472 | 496 | −24 | 32 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 486 | 623 | −137 | 32 |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 564 | 505 | +59 | 30 |
| 10 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 587 | 574 | +13 | 30 |
| 11 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 546 | 542 | +4 | 30 |
| 12 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 545 | 539 | +6 | 29 |
| 13 | Dolphins | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 520 | 631 | −111 | 24 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 527 | 653 | −126 | 24 |
| 15 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 438 | 769 | −331 | 20 |
| 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 474 | 673 | −199 | 16 |
| 17 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 385 | 675 | −290 | 14 |

## Player movements
### Gains

| Pos | Player | From | Date |
| FE/HB | Jack Cogger | Huddersfield Giants (Super League) | 24/10/22 |
| SR/CE | Luke Garner | Wests Tigers | 24/6/22 |
| SR/LK | Zac Hosking | Brisbane Broncos | 24/10/22 |
| LK/CE/FE | Tyrone Peachey | Wests Tigers | 21/10/22 |

### Losses

| Pos | Player | To | Date |
| WG | Christian Crichton | Released | |
| LK/SR | J'maine Hopgood | Parramatta Eels | 31/5/22 |
| CE/WG | Robert Jennings | The Dolphins | 10/5/22 |
| FE/HB | Isaiya Katoa | The Dolphins | 18/2/22 |
| SR | Viliame Kikau | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 19/11/21 |
| HK | Api Koroisau | Wests Tigers | 3/12/21 |
| FE/HB | Sean O'Sullivan | Dolphins | 30/6/22 |
| WG/FB | Charlie Staines | Wests Tigers | 21/10/22 |