So you want to know what year the NRL first entered the National Rugby league competition? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
The Penrith Panthers entered the New South Wales Rugby league competition (The forerunner to the NRL) in 1967.
Rugby League had been played in the Penrith District going back as far as 1912. The Penrith Panthers joined the NRL as an expansion clubs alongside the Cronulla Sharks in 1967.
The Penrith Panthers finished their first season in the competition in 11th place, which was second last on the ladder, and only ahead of fellow expansion club the Cronulla Sharks.
The Panthers struggled badly as an expansion club for the early part of their history. It took 18 years before the club would make their first appearance in the finals series in 1985.
Six years later the Penrith Panthers won their first NRL Premiership in 1991.
