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Opinion

The club stalwarts: Penrith and Cronulla

Roar Guru
29th August, 2021
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Roar Guru
29th August, 2021
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This is the third article in a series naming each club’s best team of loyal stalwarts. Not necessarily just one-club players, but those who turned out for the club over a long period and helped build its success and culture.

Today, Penrith and Cronulla, teams who both entered the league in 1967, and have enjoyed mixed success since making the big time.

Penrith Panthers
The Panthers joined the competition in 1967 and have two premiership trophies in the cabinet. Six hundred and three players have turned out for the club in that time, and they boast one of the biggest junior leagues in the NRL.

No Penrith player as yet has played 300 or more games for the club, while eight have played 200-plus games and nearly 50 have played 100-plus games. Their team of stalwarts is drawn from players with 140 or more games for the club.

1. Rhys Wesser – 177 games. An electrifying ball runner and prolific try scorer.

2. Luke Lewis – 208 games. Began life as one of the best wingers in the game and proved his versatility over an 18 year career.

3. Ryan Girdler – 204 games. A classy centre who was always hard to contain, and a great goal kicker to go with it.

4. Brad Izzard – 209 games. A one club player for the Panthers and a member of their victorious 1991 side.

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5. Luke Rooney – 140 games. Big and fast and a one club player for the Panthers before switching to rugby union after seven years with the club.

6. Steve Carter – 242 games. A tough and resourceful player who holds the record for the most games for the Panthers.

7. Craig Gower – 238 games. A great playmaker and dual international, who often let controversy hold his career back.

8. Tony Puletua – 211 games. A giant of a man who combined power and skill to be one of the best forwards in the game during his 12 years with the club.

9. Royce Simmons – 238 games. An exceptional hooker, and Penrith’s favourite son. He spent 12 years slogging away in the Penrith engine room, eventually helping build the team into a premiership force, and captained the club to its first ever premiership in 1991. He then went on to coach the club for seven seasons.

10. Frank Puletua – 151 games. Like his brother Tony, another weapon in the forwards who loved the tough stuff.

11. John Cartwright – 188 games. The name Cartwright is part of the Panthers’ DNA, and Carty proved himself to be one of the best back rowers in the game during his 12-year stint with Penrith, which included a premiership victory in 1991.

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12. Trent Waterhouse – 186 games. Waterhouse was big, mobile and talented, and played a large part in the club’s second premiership victory in 2003.

13. Isaah Yeo – 168 games, and counting. A young giant, Yeo has established himself as the best lock forward in the game in the last two years.

Isaah Yeo of the Panthers is tackled

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

14. Greg Alexander – 228 games. A Panthers legend, Alexander was a very versatile player and prolific goal kicker, capable of destroying even the best defence on his day.

15. Matt Adamson – 157 games. Adamson began life as one of the biggest fullbacks in the game and finished his career as an elite back rower.

16. Tim Sheens – 166 games. A one-club man who spent 13 years as a player with the club before commencing his stellar coaching career.

17. Frank Pritchard – 144 games. A giant of a man, Pritchard is one of the last players the opposition want to see warming up to take the field.

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That’s an awesome squad, chock full of rep players, and the following players who qualified but weren’t selected for the team can consider themselves unlucky: wingers Robbie Beckett and Josh Mansour; and forwards Carl MacNamara, Luke Priddis, Sam McKendry and Warren Fenton.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Like Penrith, the Sharks entered the competition in 1967, and just under 550 players have worn the sky blue, black and white since day one. Of those, two have played more than 300 games for the club, seven more than 200 games, and there are 55 with 100-plus games.

The Sharks have won just the one premiership, but really hit the ground running with a grand final appearance in just their seventh season in the big time in 1973. Here’s their team of stalwarts, made up of players who played 140 or more games for the club.

1. David Peachey – 232 games. A silky smooth attacking player and a prolific try scorer, Peachey was one of the best fullbacks in the game during his time with Cronulla.

2. Andrew Ettingshausen – 327 games. Hardly ever played a bad game in his 18 years with the club and one of the best outside backs in the NRL era.

3. Steve Rogers – 202 games. In the top half dozen centres of all time, a prolific point scorer, and probably the best player to ever pull on a Shark’s jersey.

4. Mark McGaw – 157 games. Big, fast and powerful and knew the way to the try line.

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5. Rick Bourke – 146 games. A crowd favourite and local junior who was equally home at either fullback or on the wing.

6. Mitch Healey – 222 games. A clever half and handy goal kicker who had an excellent tactical kicking game.

7. Brett Kimmorley – 140 games. A talented and resilient halfback and handy goal kicker who spent seven seasons with the Sharks during his long career.

8. Dane Sorenson – 216 games. A tough and uncompromising player who delighted in taking on the opposition at every opportunity.

9. Dean Treister – 161 games. A creative and elusive hooker who was always a threat to the opposition in attack, and was also a noted defender.

10. Andrew Fifita – 186 games, and counting. An irresistible force on his day who could make the opposition look very ordinary.

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11. Wade Graham – 217 games, and counting. A great servant of the Sharks who began his career with the Panthers, and one of the best attacking forwards of his era.

12. Gavin Miller – 180 games. Not only one of the most skillful attacking forwards in the game in the 1980’s but also as tough as nails and a great defender.

13. Paul Gallen – 348 games. All time game record holder for the Sharks and a one-club legend who put his body on the line for the club for an incredible 19 seasons, captaining the club to its first and only premiership in 2016.

Paul Gallen

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

14. Adam Dykes – 183 games. A talented half and utility player whose career was hampered by injury.

15. Danny Lee – 212 games. A tough forward who had a reputation as one of the best defenders in the NRL during his 11 seasons with the Sharks.

16. Greg Pierce – 210 games. A one-club Cronulla legend who made the transition from long haired fullback to talented Test lock forward.

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17. Andrew Pierce – 146 games. A tough and versatile forward who could play anywhere in the pack.

A great team of Sharks there, and the following players who qualified wouldn’t be out of place if selected: exciting fullback Jonathan Docking; outside backs Sosaia Feki and Ben Pomeroy; half Chad Townsend; and forwards David Hatch, Jayson Bukuya, Jason Stevens, Michael Porter, Luke Douglas and Craig Dimond.

So, imagine a match-up between these two teams. Who would come out on top?

I reckon the Panthers have the better spine while the Sharks look more dangerous in the backs. Two tough and talented packs of forwards, and maybe Penrith just has the better bench?

I reckon Penrith win by a whisker.

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