Preparing for the future, the Penrith Panthers have continued to add to their outside backs stock by poaching another talented youngster from the Wests Tigers.
A member of this year’s Western Suburbs Magpies side Under-17s Harold Matthews Cup competition, Zero Tackle can reveal that Tyler Peken has decided to make the switch from the Tigers’ pathways system to sign with the Penrith Panthers.
A member of the Patrician Brothers’ Blacktown squad that won this year’s 2025 Peter Mulholland Cup, Peken will spend next year playing in the Under-19s SG Ball Cup as he continues to grow as a player.
Primarily used in the centres, the youngster has also been used on the wing and in the halves over the past 12 months at the club and school level.
The signing of Peken comes after Camden Rams junior and St Gregory’s College product Thomas Goodfield agreed to join the Panthers earlier in the season.
A member of the Magpies side in the Under-17s Harold Matthews Cup for the past two seasons, Goodfield made an immediate impact at the club and the 2024 Under-16s NSW City representative will be looking to do the same at the Panthers.
“My dad, who was a die-hard Parra fan, got me into playing footy, and it’d be mad and good for my family (to one day play in the NRL),” Goodfield told Zero Tackle earlier in the year.
“I’ve played this sport all the way up through the grades, but I’d just be over the moon about it if it does happen in the future. It would be so good (to play in the NRL).”
