Penrith Panthers: town’s close bonds drive perennial outsiders to make history

There’s the son of Panthers five-eighth Jarome Luai, shedding a tear in a barber’s chair, waiting for his grandpa to return.

There’s the sporting goods store coach Ivan Cleary used to buy boots for his son, the star halfback Nathan.

There, the restaurant Nathan Cleary named as his favourite, not long after he signed his long-term deal with the Panthers.

The black, yellow, red, and green (and pink) streamers on the shops down Penrith’s High Street. Signs above the door when you walk into the library. More adorning council fences. Decals on car after car.

Visit Penrith and a Panther is never far away. And as the pride of Sydney’s west prepares for Friday’s NRL preliminary final against Melbourne – and a possible fourth-straight grand final appearance next week – the buzz around town is building.

“Everyone you talk to is ‘Panthers, Panthers, Panthers’,” says long-time supporter Nick Peet, who owns Family Dreamz Tattoo on the High Street with his ex-wife, daughter and son-in-law. “We’ve been to a lot of the home games this year and the atmosphere there has been incredible.”

Penrith star Jarome Luai in action. Photograph: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

The Panthers are on the cusp of becoming the first top-grade club in 40 years to win a third-straight premiership. This proximity to greatness, according to coach Ivan Cleary, has made the local fans especially fervent. “I just felt for the last few games here that the atmosphere just had a little bit more of an edge,” he says. “We’re in a position where we can help make our community proud. That’s such a great position to be in and we really don’t take that for granted.”

After the club joined the NSWRL in 1967, Panthers fans endured 18 seasons without a finals appearance. Legendary local halfback Greg Alexander helped guide the side to five visits to September in seven seasons from 1985 – culminating in their 1991 Premiership – but the Panthers were never perennial contenders. Their 2003 NRL trophy came two years after a wooden spoon, and four years before another.

Yet the current era of success is altogether different. This is no longer the upstart Panthers, of Sydney’s western periphery, making a brief appearance on the honours board. Not any more the likeable unlikelies in Royce Simmons or Scott Sattler, bringing smiles to the neutrals.

These Panthers are dominant, electrifying, talent-laden winners. And they act like they know it. Luai said after last year’s Grand Final victory, “If you’re not hated, you’re not doing it right”.

“We’re viewed a bit differently than the rest of the Sydney metropolitan area, and that seems to get under everyone’s skin a bit, and just gees them up,” Peet says. “So when we can get one over everyone else, we go hard.”

Coach Cleary, the mastermind behind this black behemoth, has reflected on their progress. “[Compared to] when I first got out here, over 10 years ago now, it’s definitely different,” he says.

“They sort of looked in towards the big city and, not saying they felt like outsiders, but … put it this way, there’s a lot of people that supported other teams.” he says. “Whereas now there’s a lot more of this community that supports the Penrith Panthers.”

Peet thinks the recipe is simple. “It’s always the same: if you win, everyone follows you,” he says. “But I think Penrith’s grown a lot, too, in the last five to ten years.”

It’s difficult to generalise about Penrith’s population. Nestled up against the Blue Mountains, the council boundaries stretch from just south of Richmond in the north some 30km south to Luddenham – the same distance as between Parramatta and Bondi – across many centres and suburbs.

The area’s residents skew slightly younger than the rest of the country, marginally more Australian-born, fractionally more Catholic. Fewer are professionals, more are machinery drivers. Incomes are just barely above average.

But there’s no doubt the region is changing. The Penrith council area has grown by nearly 40,000 people between 2011 and 2021, and now includes just shy of 220,000 residents. Almost half of that increase was from people born outside Australia.

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Anthony Catania (left) and Peter Connelly have lived in Penrith since 1980. Photograph: Jack Snape/The Guardian

Anthony Catania and his husband Peter Connelly moved to Penrith in 1980 because it was the only place they could afford. “You could buy a house and land for $44,000 in south Penrith”, Catania says.

Despite their long association with the area, they – unlike much of their neighbourhood – have never been drawn to BlueBet Stadium. “It’d be nice if they win the third one, right, but I wouldn’t be screaming at my television or going to the game to say ‘go on Panthers’,” Catania says. “It’s just not me but, if they win, I’d be happy for the team.”

The couple have witnessed the growth of the past decade and have enjoyed the influx of other cultures. “I like the amount of variety of food outlets and restaurants that we have here now,” Connelly says.

One such establishment is Siam Thai – Cleary’s favourite restaurant, as owner Peter Artpairin will tell you if given the opportunity. The Thai national moved to Penrith from Cabramatta 12 years ago and in that time has also noticed a shift. “There’s more and more Asian countries, more African people, more Indians,” he says, “Before … it’s slow and quiet. But now, more life, more variety.”

Siam Cuisine restaurant owner, Peter Artpairin, has seen Penrith grow over the past decade. Photograph: Jack Snape/The Guardian

As much as the region is changing, the Panthers remain its tightest bonding agent.

Two more Panthers wins this year and SportsPower Penrith stands to enjoy more than $100,000 in additional turnover due to merchandise sales. “If Melbourne was to make the Grand Final, I’ve got an order of about 12 [grand final commemorative] T-shirts coming, as compared to 500 Penrith t-shirts,” says owner Charbel Moubarak. “We obviously barrack for Penrith, but in terms of sales, it’s a massive difference.”

On Wednesday Moubarak had his hair cut at Fadez R Us, just across the arcade. The sign out front is adorned with a picture of a fresh Nathan Cleary cut. The halfback actually came in for his regular appointment on Wednesday, just before the neighbouring shop owner.

“It’s still very community-based,” Moubarak says. “The boys are around all the time, they grew up here. [Cleary’s] father used to buy his boots here, so you do get to live the same journey they’ve been through with them.”

Charbel Moubarak anticipates a boom in sales at SportsPower Penrith if the Panthers win. Photograph: Jack Snape/The Guardian

In Fadez R Us on Wednesday it was Cleary. On Thursday it was the son of Luai, being dropped off by his grandfather. The older man left briefly, prompting the youngster to shed a tear, quickly fixed by a lollipop from his barber.

Those community bonds – and that outsider Penrith spirit – won’t soon unravel, according to Peet. Even if the region’s demographics do. Or if the Panthers were to win another ten premierships. “Because that’s where your roots are from,” he says.

Ten premierships would be good for business though. One fan has already made a booking with Peet for a premiership tattoo for the first week of October. “If they win the Grand Final, we’ll probably do about 20 to 30,” Peet says. “That’s a lot.”