Penrith Panthers have put last year’s Grand Final heartbreak behind to claim the Jersey Flegg Cup premiership with a commanding 62-16 victory over Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at CommBank Stadium today.
The result made up for the disappointment the Panthers experienced in 2025, after making the decider against Melbourne Storm but proving no match for them on the day after going down 38-16.
“We learnt our lessons from last year, and we concurred it this year,” Panthers prop Judah Galuvao said.
“I am just so proud of the boys, we have so much belief and I am just so happy and over the moon.”
Match: Panthers v Bulldogs
Grand Final -
home Team
Panthers
2nd Position
away Team
Bulldogs
3rd Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
The Panthers produced a statement start, driving the Bulldogs back into their in-goal on their very first hit-up before forcing a couple of errors that eventually saw them turn their early dominance into points. Five-eighth Tua Patea managed to cut through the defence to score next to the posts, with Kye Raven converting to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead.
Another impressive defensive effort from the Panthers saw them force a Bulldogs line dropout, which failed to make the distance before rolling over the sideline. Taking full advantage, the Panthers played the ball 10 metres out before a quick play-the-ball on the last tackle paved the way for prop Hokafonu Lemoto to charge over the try line. Raven again converted to extend the Panthers’ lead to 12-0.
Penrith’s first-half dominance continued on the very next set, stripping the Bulldogs for numbers on the right-hand side to send winger Harry Wald over. Just minutes later, Raven found a gap in the defensive line before pinning his ears back for a 30-metre run to cross the try line. Raven converted Wald’s try as the Panthers raced to a 22-0 lead after just 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs finally got points on the board when a rare Panthers error inside their own half handed them their best attacking opportunity of the match. Quick hands out to the right saw speedster winger Chelden Hayward claim the four points, reducing the deficit to 22-4.
The remainder of the half told a similar story, with the Panthers continuing to find holes in the Bulldogs’ defence as they crossed for three more impressive tries through Cameron Kanaan, Darcy Feltham and Patea for a first-half double. The Panthers took a commanding 34-4 lead into the sheds at half-time.
“This year we have had an up and down starts to our second halves,” Galuvao said.
“I am glad we were able to use those lessons from those instances this year and we saved our best effort until the last.
“The chat at half-time was just if we can hold it for the next 40 minutes, it’s ours.”
The Bulldogs scored two quick tries to start the second half and spark a glimmer of hope for a comeback. Five-eighth Bronson Reuben kicked things off with a dummy close to the line that caught the Panthers defence off-guard before he found his way over.
Shortly after, another Reuben dummy created space for centre Hamish Wilson, who crossed to give the Bulldogs back-to-back tries. Two successful conversions saw the Bulldogs reduce the margin to 34-16.
Any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished as the Panthers responded with a stream of tries to put their Grand Final victory beyond doubt.
A perfectly weighted 40/20 from Ellyjah Birve set up Jack Colley to run his way over before Patea completed his hat-trick. Leo-Stipe Latu then found the try line, before Feltham crossed twice more to secure his own Grand Final hat-trick as the Panthers finished 62-16 winners to claim the 2026 Jersey Flegg Cup premiership.
