Toyota Cup Grand Final 2015.
A few familiar names in these lineups. Cleary sat out the Grand Final after being selected in the Australian Schoolboys.
6 years on & many of our guys have gone on to become regular NRL players & even higher, which is testament to our system & culture.
For the opponents on that day, not so much!
Off the top of my head, 10 Panthers & 4 Sea Eagles have become first grade players. Interesting to note that Kikau was in the Toyota Cup team of the year that year, along with a few players from this match.
Watching this game on DVD at the moment. Looking over the lineup, there are 3 players from our 1991 premiership team, and 2 from our 2003 premiership team, not surprising when it was about halfway between the premierships.
Also reliving the memory of the short lived Adelaide Rams franchise, and referee Mogsheen Jadwat!!! Darrien Doherty also played a first grade game for Panthers in 1990.
Mogsheen Jadwat… wow there’s a name I have not heard in a long time. He was pretty controversial and short lived (didn’t he leave in like 2000 or 2001?). He was pretty polarising. I remember him referred to once as being “lucky to get out of the ground alive”
I remember having a good strike rate under him (maybe lost 1 or 2 games with him at the whistle)
There was an interview he did, I’ll see if I can find it.
EDIT: Found it.
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He was only active from 1997-2000.
I don’t remember disliking him more than any other referee at the time.
Pretty sure he was from around my way. I know he’s a friend of a guy I used to play & referee basketball with.
I’ d heard he went into banking after refereeing.
Yeah, we did alright under him. I remember other teams couldn’t stand him. IN his interview he was talking about getting dropped for miscounting a tackle count allowing an extra tackle leading to a try… they dropped him to reserve grade fro the rest of the season.
These days you’d get promoted to head referee for that kind of mistake.
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Ah the super league year.
Crazy but enjoyable times.
We had a great team, somewhat spiked by injuries through the year.
First year the grand final was played in Brisbane, not this year.
The media all seem to have short memories.
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This game was the year after super league.
Interesting bit of trivia - Adelaide were the only team we didn’t beat during the super league season, and this game was the only time we did beat them in their brief history!!!
My mistake, I forgot they lasted more than one season. Maybe I should pace myself better with the pre-game beverages lol.
For all the concern of the games expansion, the 22 team 97 comps did add a lot of colour to the game, and a very national competition which we still around with now.
I for one was surprised with the Hunter Mariners.
One thing you could never say of a Royce coached team was that they played boring football, although of course injuries and players attitude left a lot to be desired in 01.
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Came across these from the Super League Grand Final program. Interesting to note that each team included at least 1 future Panthers first grade player!!!
Amazing to see how few of that 1997 squad was still around by the time the 2003 premiership landed at Penrith. Just Wesser and Puletua from what I can see.
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I don’t think too many made it to first grade at all. I know Catic & Rieck both played a few years of first grade at other clubs & a handful of games for us. Elvy & Trindall played a few games too from memory. Not too sure about the rest, would have to look them up.
1999 Grand Final Day. A few future Panthers on show, as well as a future member of our coaching staff, and the father of one of our current players.
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Yeah, I remember Matty Rieck more so from his stint at the Sharks, than the Panthers.
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Rieck played 31 games for us, then 55 for the Sharks, he also played 6 games for the Tigers. If memory serves correctly he was one of the fastest players in the game at the time, but injury prone.
Catic played 46 games for us & 44 for the Roosters (including the 2003 GF against us), before heading over to Super League.
Elvy played 17 games for us, and Trindall played 3.
David Elvy went on to play for Bathurst Panthers for many years. At onre stage he was Captain/Coach. I believe that he is still a development officer with them, so is still in the Panther’s fold.
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Ah, the 1999 grand final… I always considered Matt Geyer as the one who got away. Left with his brother mark to pay at the Western Reds then snapped up by the Storm on foundation.
The other one we lost to the Storm that was one that I considered “one that got away” was Steve Turner. He was stick in the back of one of the strongest Panthers teams in history (2003) and left for an opportunity to play ta the Storm.
Would have bee interesting how things would have turned out had those two stayed at Penrith.
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