Mon, August 04, 2025
Penrith Panthers fined a hefty $50K and trainer banned
Penrith Panthers, an Australian professional rugby league football club, has been fined a hefty $50K, and the club’s trainer Corey Bocking has been banned for five games for impeding a Gold Coast Titians conversion attempt. A conversion attempt is a kick at goal awarded to the team that has just scored a try. Therefore, Bocking will not be present for the rest of the home and away season.
Bocking ran in front of Gold Coast Titans’ Jayden Campbell as he prepared to take a sideline conversion that could have given his team a four-point lead in the final minutes of the game on Saturday, as reported by ABC News. Penrith then took the victory over the Titans after Nathan Cleary kicked a two-point field goal which sent the game to extra time where Blaize Talagi scored the match winning try. Naturally, Campbell was enraged at the situation, and the Panthers are unlikely to appeal against the National Rugby League’s (NRL) decision.
The NRL’s breach notice also factored in Panthers’ previous trainer misconduct. Earlier this season, the club was fined $10K after its trainer Shane Elford squirted water on the ball during a match against North Queensland, which was fined for doing the same.
In 2021, Penrith was fined $25K after its trainer Peter Green stopped a semi-final against the Paramatta Eels so that he could attend to an injured Mitch Kenny during the final moments of the game. It was later revealed that Green had not performed a mandatory initial assessment on Kenny. This stoppage was detrimental to the Eels who were potentially about to score a game winning try but were interrupted by Green. Even though Green was later suspended, the Eels were eliminated, and the Panthers went on to win the 2021 Grand Final.
A NRL statement voiced:
“It is alleged the trainer unnecessarily interfered with and distracted Gold Coast Titans player Jayden Campbell as he was attempting a conversion kick, in breach of the NRL operations manual and NRL code of conduct…
The proposed penalty takes into account previous breaches by Penrith Panthers trainers…
The NRL rules permitting club trainers onto the field will be monitored and strictly enforced by the NRL.”
Ivan Cleary, a Panthers coach, argued that Bocking’s actions were accidental and that he made “an honest mistake.” According to Cleary, Bocking was in a rush to communicate a late change in substitutions resulting in the mistake.
Panthers’ official statement seconded this:
“The club is adamant that the actions of the trainer were an honest mistake and there was no intent to breach the rules or gain an advantage. The trainer immediately apologised upon realising the error…
The circumstances involved a late change and in-the-moment confusion, but we understand that does not excuse the outcome.”
Titans coach Des Hasler said he had to be “careful” about his choice of words, but ultimately said the incident probably didn’t cost his side the game, according to The Guardian.
The NRL is also simultaneously dealing with the West Tigers who allegedly made hand gestures which are offensive to Arab cultures after scoring a try against Bankstown which has a 17% Lebanese population.
The Panthers’ statement can be found here.
The NRL’s statement can be found here.
