Penrith Panthers

Stars headline grand final entertainment while King Wally gets royal treatment

Grand Final Week officially kicked off on Sunday evening with Brisbane City Hall, King George Tower and the Hilton lit up with iconic images from the season, tributes to Penrith and South Sydney, the game’s fans and a thank you to the Queensland community for their hospitality.

King George Square in the Brisbane CBD is being renamed King Wally Square in honour of Queensland Immortal Wally Lewis as part of a two-day NRL Fan Fest on Thursday and Friday, culminating with the appearance of both teams on Friday afternoon.

Penrith Panthers' Brent Naden gets one-month drug ban for cocaine use

The sanction was announced on Tuesday at the end of anti-doping processes held by Sport Integrity Australia and the NRL, and is backdated to the start of his provisional suspension on December 1.

The NRL released a statement saying the penalty is in line with new provisions of the incoming World Anti-Doping Code 2021, which has slashed penalties for cocaine use provided the athlete can establish it was used out of competition and was unrelated to sport performance.

Naden provisionally suspended after positive drug test

Naden, whose place in Penrith's game-day 17 was one of the storylines of grand final week, admitted using the recreational drug to club officials last month.

His positive A-sample for "metabolites of cocaine" was registered in a post-game test conducted by Sport Integrity Australia after the October 25 decider.

Cocaine is prohibited in-competition by both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the NRL's Anti Doping Policy, with Naden now serving a provisional suspension as a result.

Panthers v Storm: Kikau back on deck; Melbourne in good shape

All eyes are on Storm captain Cameron Smith. Will he retire after a peerless 430 matches across 19 seasons?

He's given nothing away despite the intense interest, but the scenes at Suncorp Stadium after Melbourne's preliminary final win over Canberra were perhaps indicative of a man bidding farewell.

The Panthers are shooting for 18 straight victories, led by star halfback Nathan Cleary and his father, coach Ivan.

Penrith are conceding vast experience to the Storm, but they're yet to be overawed as belief courses through them.

Star Penrith forward Viliame Kikau banned by NRL judiciary for dangerous tackle

Kikau was on Tuesday night found guilty at the NRL judiciary of endangering Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and banned for one match.

The suspension came after his legal team failed with their argument that the Sydney Roosters prop had contributed by dipping his body and making the situation look worse.

The verdict comes as a blow to Penrith's hopes of playing in their first grand final in 17 years, given Kikau is the most damaging second-rower in the competition.

Panthers win 13th straight NRL game

Penrith's now guaranteed a top two finish and a home qualifying final.

The Panthers will secure the minor premiership as early as tomorrow (Sunday) if the Melbourne Storm don't beat the North Queensland Cowboys.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are poised to finish with the competition's wooden spoon after falling to their 16th defeat from 18 matches.

They've been beaten 32-20 by the Manly Sea Eagles in Sydney.

Manly's now 10th, level on points with the Warriors who play the Cronulla Sharks tomorrow night.

     

Warriors slide to disappointing defeat

The Panthers made amends for blowing a double-digit lead against Newcastle last week to run in five tries tonight - including a Matt Burton double.

Burton, playing in just his third NRL game, also had a hand in another try as he bounced back from the disappointment of missing five field goals on the same ground against the Knights.

The rookie had plenty of help from his teammates, particularly tireless front-rower James Fisher-Harris, who finished with a game-high 239 metres.

He also added four offloads and 31 tackles with no misses to his stat line.

Panthers upset Roosters

The Panthers racked up a third straight win by downing the defending premiers at Panthers Stadium, with Maloney providing three try assists and a field goal in an impressive showing to enhance his claims for a State of Origin recall.

Nathan Cleary came in for criticism following the Blues' State of Origin I defeat to Queensland in midweek, but he also put in a strong showing against the high-flying Roosters.

NRL player accused of filming, leaking sex tapes of two women

Police alleged May, 22, filmed a sexual act with a woman at Coffs Harbour in February last year as well as with another woman at Kingswood in western Sydney in May.

The 22-year-old was today charged with filming two women without their consent last year and disseminating those videos without their permission.

The Panthers said May would deny the allegations when he faced court in May and believed a player at a different club leaked the footage.

Cleary junior beats his dad

Cleary had missed the past seven matches with a knee issue but set up a first- half try and broke three tackles in a strong performance against his dad's Tigers side.

He has now won both contests against father Ivan but, more importantly, took a step towards a possible NSW debut two weeks before teams are selected for the State of Origin opener.

The halfback combined well with veteran James Maloney in a dominant first half at Penrith Stadium, where the hosts enjoyed triple the amount of plays inside the opposition 20-metre zone.