The Panther had been chosen as the Penrith emblem after a public competition won by a graphic artist from Emu Plains named Deidre Copeland.

Hopes were raised in 1968 under new Captain-Coach Bob Boland when they won the pre-season competition and finished 8th, but this improvement proved to be short-lived.

They made their first Grand Final appearance in 1990 with a team boasting notable players Greg Alexander, John Cartwright, Brad Fittler and Mark Geyer only to be beaten by the Canberra Raiders 18–14.

The next year Penrith met Canberra again in the Grand Final, this time winning 19–12, including two tries by Royce Simmons the former team captain in his last game.

[2] Their reign was short-lived as in 1992 tragedy struck the club when the younger brother of Captain Greg Alexander, Ben, died in a car accident on June 21, 1992.

The Panthers began the 1998 NRL Season with 2 wins from 5, to sit in the top 10, however, they would go on to win only 6 of their remaining 19 games to sit in 14th place out of 20, in doing so, setting an unwanted record for conceding the equal biggest choke in NRL history, against the Cowboys in Round 12, where they led 26-0, before losing 28-36 in Bluebet Stadium In 2000, the Panthers finished in 5th place where they were defeated 28–10 by the Parramatta Eels in the elimination semi-final.

Coming off 3 early season losses, they proceeded to lose only 3 other games for the rest of the competition with the local hero, Rhys Wesser scoring a new club record 25 tries.

While round 2 went a lot better for the team, beating rivals the Eels at Parramatta Stadium 20–6, the year was marked by inconsistency as they finished 12th on the ladder.

However, the club discovered some new talent in the form of winger Josh Mansour, a candidate for Rookie of the Year, as well as fullback Lachlan Coote's successful move to five-eighth.

However, a more inspired performance against the Parramatta Eels in round 7, where they won 44–12, was a trigger for a strong run; four wins from five games to see Penrith move into the top eight of the competition.

A playing roster overhaul saw the arrival of big name players such as Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace, Jamal Idris, Tyrone Peachey and Elijah Taylor at Penrith, while Matt Moylan took the vacant fullback role left by the departed Lachlan Coote.

[9][10] In 2018, Penrith finished 5th on the table at the end of the regular season during which coach Anthony Griffin was sacked four weeks before the finals series after falling out with Phil Gould.

[15] At the start of the 2021 NRL season, Penrith became the first team in Rugby League History to win their opening two games without conceding a point as they beat North Queensland 24–0 and then defeated Canterbury 28-0.

In a crucial part of the match with Parramatta on the attack, Penrith trainer Pete Green ran onto the field which stopped play as he attended to hooker Mitch Kenny in the 76th minute.

“As a club we understand our responsibilities to the game, our corporate partners, our members and fans, and the wider Rugby League community," Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher said.

"Panthers will coordinate with the NRL to ensure Tyrone receives access to any support services he needs moving forward.

In round 9, the club was defeated 22–20 by Parramatta at Penrith Stadium which ended their 21-game winning streak at the ground that stretched all the way back to the 2019 NRL season.

Following the grand final victory, the Penrith club came under scrutiny from sections of the media for their behaviour after the premiership win with James Fisher-Harris and Jarome Luai coming under the most criticism for their comments directed towards Parramatta.

[29] At the conclusion of the 2023 regular season, Penrith claimed their second Minor Premiership in a row and their fifth overall as they defeated North Queensland 44–12 to finish ahead of Brisbane on for and against.

This win exorcised the demons from their heartbreaking defeat to the Storm four years prior in what was to be the first of five consecutive Grand Finals which they would contest during this remarkable dynastic run of successive championships, the likes of which is unprecedented in the history of top-tier salary-capped sports leagues worldwide.

Just before Christmas 2007 the Panthers launched a new 'home' jersey which is predominantly black with light grey claw marks on either side at the front and back.

This investment, as well as a greater focus on the Penrith Junior District resulted in an increase from five out of twenty five local players in 2012 to eleven of seventeen in the 2020 Grand Final.

The Panthers Entertainment Group has five licensed club sites in NSW – Penrith, Port Macquarie, Bathurst, North Richmond, and Glenbrook.

The Eels were up by 6 with two seconds to play before Penrith's Michael Jennings made a break and kicked ahead for Lachlan Coote to score and force the game into golden point extra time.

Halfback Luke Walsh then kicked a field goal in extra time to consign Hindmarsh to a 23-22 loss in his milestone match.

Parramatta had a chance in the dying seconds to win the match, which was supposedly to cement Mitchell Moses against Adam Reynolds for a position as half-back in the New South Wales State of Origin squad to replace the injured Nathan Cleary.

The final score ended 28–12 in favour of Penrith as they became the second team to win consecutive titles in the NRL era.

Parramatta lead the match 16–8 with less than seven minutes to play but Penrith levelled the game at 16–16 after Nathan Cleary kicked a 40 metre field goal with seconds remaining.

[56] In round 26 of the 2023 NRL season, Parramatta ended Penrith's eight game winning streak, defeating them 32-18 at home and potentially halting their chances of a minor premiership.

Updated: 4 October 2006Source(s): [59] On 25 June 2016, the Panthers inducted the four inaugural members of its Hall of Fame - Grahame Moran, Royce Simmons, Greg Alexander, and Craig Gower.