More than 11,000 fans watch Wests Tigers triumph over Penrith Panthers in Bathurst

The Wests Tigers got off to a thrilling start of Saturday night, scoring the first try of the match in the opening five minutes, and they kept up the momentum throughout the remaining 75.

In a result few expected, the Tigers claimed victory against the defending premiers, the Penrith Panthers, winning 12-8.

It broke a 273-day drought for the Tigers and it all unfolded in front of a crowd of 11,055 people.

Sadly, that fell short of the record 11,253 who attended the 2022 Carrington Park match between the Panthers and the Newcastle Knights.

Mayor Robert Taylor said the wet weather deterred some people on Saturday night, but for the numbers to still exceed 11,000 in those conditions was a fantastic result.

"It just goes to show how well patronised this is and the support the Penrith Panther do get," he said.

"... And full credit to the crowds. I take my hat off to them. They came prepared, they had their umbrella, their wet weather gear, they had their poncho, and they were prepared to sit out in the rain and it never stopped the whole game.

"It rained, not torrential, but it was just steady rain, and for them to sit out there and support their teams in those conditions, it's just phenomenal."

Cr Taylor watched the match from the corporate tent and described the atmosphere at the ground as "fantastic", particularly as the Tigers pushed ahead in the second half.

"A little bit of a dampener because of the weather, but when it got down to 15 minutes to go and Wests Tigers were leading, well the atmosphere was just fabulous," he said.

"They were cheering, they were applauding. They were going off."

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With an experience like that on offer, it is no surprise that excitement around the Bathurst NRL match continues to build each year, and with it comes great benefits to Bathurst.

"It is becoming an annual event, to the point where we had 11,000 tickets [sold]," Cr Taylor said.

"Seventy per cent of those tickets were outside the 2795 postcode, so that shows you how many visitors come into our city to watch this game."

He said that accommodation across Bathurst would have been booked out, and other businesses would have benefitted from the additional people.

This is the only NRL event organised between a club and a local council, and the partnership is proving to be a formidable one.

"This is a private event between Panthers and Bathurst Regional Council, and it's just growing," Cr Taylor said.

"We approached NRL to look at it when we first initiated this program. They weren't interested, they said you won't succeed in taking it to the regional areas.

"Well, just look a [Saturday] night, in those conditions and the amount of people you got there, and how it's grown over the years, to the point where the NRL is taking it to regional areas."

He sees the deal with the Penrith club continuing well into the future, particularly with the plans to extend the Carrington Park grandstand offer more facilities so women's games can also be held at the ground.