‘Hopefully they will come’: Panthers lose home ground advantage in 2025, but Ivan Cleary hopes fans will travel to watch them play

Penrith’s quest for a fifth-straight title faces a new challenge, with the kings of the west forced to say goodbye to BlueBet Stadium while it undergoes a facelift.

Coach Ivan Cleary has urged fans to make the trip east to support them as they call CommBank Stadium home.

It’s a lengthy drive or only two stops for fans who want to catch the train from Penrith to Parramatta where they’ll play at the state-of-the-art venue where they have a 6-4 record over the past few years.

The Panthers have been a huge success story for the local Penrith community, with huge crowds coming out to watch them during their incredible streak, and Cleary says the best way to encourage them to travel is simply “by playing well”.

“We love the fans turning up. We play for our fans and our community,” he said.

“It is different, but it’s a fantastic stadium and we should celebrate that. I’ve been there a couple of times when I’m not working and you understand how good it is.

“We had a pretty good record out at BlueBet and we love playing there, but we’ve got a pretty good record at other places as well.

“It started back in 2021 when we were up in Queensland (during Covid) and we played at Suncorp most weeks and ended up having some success up there, so it’s just another field.

“Our job is to play well, and if we play well, then hopefully they will come.”

The Panthers will host eight games at the venue this year and will also play two away matches there against the Eels and Tigers, with the champions also hosting their round 1 game in Las Vegas with more home games to come in Bathurst, Brisbane and Mudgee.

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Their first test is on Friday in what will be their first game since Vegas where they beat the Sharks in what was the most competitive match of the day.

Recovery was always going to be a massive factor for the travelling teams, but Cleary says his side is doing better than this time 12 months ago when they struggled early on to overcome their trip to the UK for the World Club Challenge.

“I don’t think it mattered if we won or lost, but the Manchester time difference was a lot more kind of the opposite to what we are here, whereas Vegas is only five hours,” he said.

“I feel like that’s made a difference, but time will tell.

“We had a plan, we’ve gone through it and I’m pretty happy with how that’s going. We’ll find out a little bit more on Friday.

“It (our recovery) wasn’t that different, but we definitely learnt a bit. As I said, I feel the time difference was easier this time.

“We were a bit flat when we came back last year, so hopefully that’s not the case this year.”