The Premiers’ first year playing away from Penrith is almost complete, with the Panthers set to run out onto CommBank Stadium for the final time in the regular season this Thursday evening.
After a sluggish 0-3 start at their temporary Parramatta digs, the Panthers have now won six straight games at the venue and are aiming for win number seven tomorrow night against the Melbourne Storm.
While the Panthers are starting to feel more and more comfortable with their new surrounds, it did take the stars of the team some time to adjust to not playing at the iconic and very familiar Penrith Stadium.
“I’m slowly getting used to the whole stadium… it’s certainly a change of venue from Bluebet,” Brian To’o admitted to the Weekender.
“CommBank is definitely a different place but it’s slowly starting to sink in that it’s our new home and new fortress.”
Fellow Panthers Premiership winner Liam Marin said while fans were having a hard time getting used to travelling the 38km to CommBank Stadium from Penrith, the players were also finding it difficult at the beginning to feel at home.
“It was a bit shaky at the start, you were missing Penrith a bit. But after getting a few wins there, it’s starting to feel more like home,” Martin told the Weekender.
“We’re getting more crowds there now and it’s great to see. Hopefully we can finish the regular season there with a bang.”
The Panthers crowds this season have been somewhat disappointing compared to what they would have got if Penrith Stadium was available to them this year.
Across six official Panthers home games this season, 103,643 fans have walked through the CommBank Stadium gates – that’s an average of 14,806 fans per game.
In 12 games (including one Qualifying Final) last year at Penrith Stadium, 235,955 people attended a Panthers match – an average of 19,663 fans per game.
Martin said he sympathises with the club’s fan-base when it comes to the challenges of attending home games this season.
“We know it’s a big ask, it’s not close and footy’s not cheap for families, so when they do turn up, we really appreciate it so much,” the Clive Churchill Medal winner said.
“They are the people we do it for, and we really appreciate their support.”
But it’s not just the players who have felt the change this season, it’s the Penrith coaching staff who have had to navigate the challenges as well.
Speaking with the Weekender ahead of the Storm clash at CommBank, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said not playing at Penrith Stadium on a regular basis has been harder than he initially thought it would be.
“That’s a good question, but not an easy one to answer,” Cleary pondered on Tuesday.
“It probably took longer to adjust than we thought it would. I think we did realise what we had [with Penrith Stadium], but until you lose it, it’s even more magnified.
“But like anything you’ve got to adapt. If you’re going to do anything in this competition and be a half decent team, you’ve got to adapt to all different things and that’s just been one of them.”
Like Martin, the super coach also felt for the club’s loyal supporters who now must battle the temperamental Sydney Train Network or busy M4 and Great Western Highway to get to games.
“I know certainly for the fans I think it’s been difficult – I think they’re probably still adjusting,” he said.
“The reality is, we just don’t get as many fans down there for lots of different reasons.
“It’s been good to have success there lately. It’s been good to play a couple of other teams who have their homes games there too. We’ve started to familiarise ourselves with the place and hopefully our fans have as well.
“But we’re really looking forward to them getting through the travel hassles Thursday night might present, but it will be great to see as many fans as possible down there.”
Thursday night’s blockbuster against Melbourne may not be the last time the Panthers play at CommBank this season. Depending on where they finish on the NRL ladder at the end of the regular season, the players and supporters may have one more trip to make to Parramatta – not that anyone will be complaining about that!
