# 2003 Penrith Panthers season

The 2003 Penrith Panthers season is the 37th season in the club's history. Coached by John Lang and captained by Craig Gower, the Panthers competed in the National Rugby League's 2003 Telstra Premiership. The Panthers won the clubs second ever premiership after defeating the Sydney Roosters 18 – 6 in the grand final

## Fixtures
### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance |
| Sunday, 16 March | 1 | Brisbane Broncos | Panthers Football Stadium | 20 - 24 | Girdler, Lewis, Priddis, Wesser | Campbell (2/2), Gridler (0/3) | 13,499 |
| Saturday, 22 March | 2 | Melbourne Storm | Olympic Park Stadium | 42 - 16 | Campbell, Gower, Wesser | Preston Campbell (2/3) | 10,254 |
| Sunday, 30 March | 3 | Sydney Roosters | Allianz Stadium | 22 - 23 | Wesser (3), Whatuira | Campbell (3/4), Gower (1 FG) | 9,854 |
| Saturday, 5 April | 4 | Canberra Raiders | Panthers Football Stadium | 28 - 40 | Wesser (2), Galuvao, Gower, Ross | Campbell (4/6) | 14,472 |
| | 5 | Bye | | | | | |
| Satday, 19 April | 6 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Allianz Stadium | 14 - 16 | Lewis, Puletua, Waterhouse | Campbell (2/4) | 9,308 |
| Sunday, 27 April | 7 | New Zealand Warriors | Mount Smart Stadium | 14 - 28 | Wesser, Lewis, Rooney | Campbell (4/5) | 15,732 |
| Saturday, 3 May | 8 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Panthers Football Stadium | 30 - 29 | Wesser, Galuvao, Lewis, Priddis | Campbell (5/6) | 19,676 |
| Sunday, 11 May | 9 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Panthers Football Stadium | 30 - 26 | Campbell, Howland, Lewis, Wesser | Campbell (4/6), Rodney (2/2), Sattler (1/1) | 17,862 |
| Saturday, 17 may | 10 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium | 18 - 26 | Whatuira (2), Rodney, Rooney | Campbell (5/5) | 13,140 |
| Sunday, 25 May | 11 | Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium | 4 - 26 | Howland (2), Gower, Priddis, Wesser | Campbell (3/5) | 4,125 |
| Saturday, 31 May | 12 | New Zealand Warriors | Panthers Football Stadium | 34 - 12 | Campbell (3), Howland, Waterhouse, Whatuira | Campbell (5/7) | 20,280 |
| Saturday, 7 June | 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers | 24 - 28 | Galuvao (2), Lewis, Priddis, Rooney | Campbell (4/5) | 17,102 |
| Saturday, 14 June | 14 | Melbourne Storm | Panthers Football Stadium | 12 - 32 | Lewis, Wesser | Campbell (2/3) | 15,863 |
| Friday, 20 June | 15 | Newcastle Knights | Panthers Football Stadium | 34 - 6 | Priddis (2), Rooney (2), Campbell, Lewis, Whatuira | Campbell (3/7) | 18,744 |
| Sunday, 29 June | 16 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Panthers Football Stadium | 28 - 26 | Lewis (2), Elford, Rooney, Wesser | Campbell (4/6) | 22,147 |
| Saturday, 5 July | 17 | Cronulla Sharks | Endeavour Field | 0 - 20 | Campbell, Rooney, Wesser | Girdler | 13,477 |
| Saturday, 12 July | 18 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Panthers Football Stadium | 30 - 24 | Galuvao (3), Rooney (2), Gower | Girdler (3/7) | 15,251 |
| Friday, 18 July | 19 | Newcastle Knights | Newcastle International Sports Centre | 16 - 29 | Rooney (2), Whatuira (2), Lewis, Waterhouse | Girdler (2/6), Gower (1 FG) | 19,246 |
| Sunday, 27 July | 20 | Sydney Roosters | Panthers Football Stadium | 24 - 38 | Campbell (2), Girdler, Whatuira | Girlder (4/4) | 22,227 |
| Sunday, 3 August | 21 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Wollongong Showground | 34 - 28 | Campbell (2), Rooney (2), Whatuira | Girdler (4/5) | 15,310 |
| Friday, 8 August | 22 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium | 6 - 13 | Puletua, Wesser | Girdler (2/2), Gower (1 FG) | 31,180 |
| | 23 | Bye | | | | | |
| Sunday, 23 August | 24 | Wests Tigers | Panthers Football Stadium | 44 - 28 | Lewis (2), Wesser (2), Priddis, Puletua, Rooney, Waterhouse, Whatuira | Girdler (4/9) | 10,924 |
| Saturday, 30 August | 25 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Brookvale Oval | 26 - 52 | Campbell (2), Lewis (2), Galea, Priddis, Puletua, Sattler | Campbell (6/7), Girdler (2/2) | 9,774 |
| Sunday, 7 September | 26 | Parramatta Eels | Panthers Football Stadium | 40 - 22 | Wesser (3), Gower, Rodney, Rooney, Swain | Girdler (6/7) | 22,304 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||

## Ladder

2003 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Penrith Panthers (P) | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 659 | 527 | +132 | 40 |
| 2 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 680 | 445 | +235 | 38 |
| 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 702 | 419 | +283 | 36 |
| 4 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 620 | 463 | +157 | 36 |
| 5 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 564 | 486 | +78 | 34 |
| 6 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 34 |
| 7 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 632 | 635 | -3 | 32 |
| 8 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 497 | 464 | +33 | 28 |
| 9 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 570 | 582 | -12 | 26 |
| 10 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 548 | 593 | -45 | 26 |
| 11 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 606 | 629 | -23 | 24 |
| 12 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 497 | 704 | -207 | 20 |
| 13 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 470 | 598 | -128 | 18 |
| 14 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 557 | 791 | -234 | 18 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 457 | 758 | -301 | 10 |

### Ladder progression

* Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
* Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
* Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
* Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.
| | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 1 | Penrith | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 36 | 38 | 40 |
| 2 | Sydney | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 36 | 36 | 38 |
| 3 | Bulldogs | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 36 |
| 4 | Canberra | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 34 | 36 | 36 |
| 5 | Melbourne | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 34 |
| 6 | New Zealand | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 34 |
| 7 | Newcastle | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 32 |
| 8 | Brisbane | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
| 9 | Parramatta | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 26 |
| 10 | St George Illawarra | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 26 |
| 11 | North Queensland | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 24 |
| 12 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 |
| 13 | Wests | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 14 | Manly-Warringah | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 15 | South Sydney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |