The Penrith Panthers feel an “obligation” to help develop players and the club is taking its plan to the next level by increasing its presence in the western area.
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Penrith High Performance Manager Matt Cameron was at Dubbo last week, meeting with local rugby league stakeholders while also scouting locations for one of three expanded academies the club wants to have in conjunction with the Western Rams.
Cameron’s vision proposes academies at Bathurst, Dubbo and Forbes, who would work with the Western Rams under 16s and 18s sides in a pre and post-Christmas block of 10 weeks.
The Panthers would not take over, the respective teams would still have local coaches, but the NRL club would be able to help assist and develop the coaches and programs.
With so much potential change in the NRL in the coming years, Cameron and his club is doing this to further strengthen its connection with the western areas, something which is set to be hugely beneficial for both parties.
Penrith already has a deal with Bathurst through the Panthers league club and the fact it will be taking one NRL match to the city until 2028 but Cameron says his club is determined to develop its relationship with the entire region.
“It looks like the stipulation will be NRL clubs won't be able to bring players down until they're 19 so philosophically we've decided if we can't bring the players to us then we'll bring Penrith to the where the players are, hence the setting up of these three academies.”