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Sport Nation
2025 Mid-season review: Penrith Panthers
Charles Goodsir • June 5th, 2025 2:33 pm
Many speculated that 2025 would finally be the year that Penrith would see a dip in fortunes. However, none would’ve predicted that after 12 matches, the four-time reigning Premiers would be entrenched in the bottom four and in a serious fight to avoid the wooden spoon.
Replacing the likes of Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris, Sunia Turuva in the last off-season alone has appeared to be a bridge too far. It’s not all doom and gloom with a number of emerging youngsters enjoying terrific 2025 seasons. One suspects that it won’t be long before Penrith are dominating the competition once again.
Ladder: 14th
Record: 4W, 7L, 1D, 1 Bye
Positive: Magic Round win v Brisbane
At 2-6 and sitting last on the ladder, the Panthers arrived at Suncorp Stadium for Magic Round in a must-win clash against the Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos were in the midst of their own issues but were expected to blitz past a disappointing Penrith team up until that point.
The Panthers proceeded to put on a masterclass and what was most encouraging was that it was the unheralded Penrith players that stood up. Thomas Jenkins was a handful in the centres with two tries and three line breaks, Luke Sommerton stood up in Mitch Kenny’s absence and Luron Patea crossed over for his first career try.
The 32-8 scoreline flattered the Broncos who were comprehensively outplayed by Penrith. The win proved that despite the significant player drain over the last few years, the Penrith pipeline can still produce quality players.
Negative: The losing streak
It’s hard to find a worse five-week period from the Panthers in their history. There have been poorer iterations of Penrith but it’s been a spectacular collapse from the side that had made the previous five Grand Finals.
Everyone wrote off the Round 2 loss to the Roosters as an anomaly, the Round 3 loss to Melbourne was an honourable defeat but the three losses to the Rabbitohs, Cowboys and Dolphins confirmed that this Penrith side was nowhere close to competing for a five-peat.
Best Player: Thomas Jenkins
It’s been a strange journey for the 24-year-old. Jenkins was part of the 2022 and 2023 Penrith squads but on the search for more opportunity, he signed with Newcastle in 2024. After struggling to hold down a first grade spot at the Knights, Jenkins returned to Penrith the following season and was thrust into fullback in Round 3 after injuries to Dylan Edwards and Daine Laurie.
Jenkins has played 10 games, the most across his four seasons in the NRL and he has thrived with regular football. Jenkins has scored four tries, averaged 132 running metres and registered seven line breaks in a strong and also consistent season to date.
Biggest Moment: Round 2 loss v Sydney Roosters
After being humbled at home in the opening round, the Roosters were $11 outsiders against a side they had lost to on 10 consecutive occasions.
It was a sure thing that Penrith would go 2-0 on the season but the Panthers defence was breached on multiple occasions. The 71% completion rate, 46 missed tackles and 13 errors fell well below their lofty standards and it was the first indication that this Penrith side had plenty of structural issues.
It was the beginning of a five-game losing streak in which Penrith haven’t properly recovered from.
Grade: D-
