PENRITH Panthers' opponent for next year's NRL match in Bathurst has been confirmed.
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In what will be the 10th time an NRL game has been brought to Carrington Park, the three-time reigning NRL premiers will face the Wests Tigers for the second consecutive year.
The match will be played in the NRL's seventh round on Saturday, April 20, with a 3pm kick-off.
Fans will be hoping for much better conditions next year, with the Panthers-Tigers fixture back in April this year played in heavy rain.
It also brought a huge upset 12-8 win for the Tigers, to break the club's record 12 game losing streak.
The result didn't inspire a Tigers resurgence, however, as they went on to win only three more games and claim the wooden spoon.
The loss for Panthers was during an early season slump for the then reigning two-time premiers, but they would ultimately hit form and take home a third consecutive premiership last month.
Panthers currently have a deal with Bathurst Regional Council that will see them play one game a year at Carrington Park up until the 2028 season.
Previous NRL games in Bathurst
The first ever NRL match in Bathurst was back on July 26, 2014, when 8,824 saw Cronulla Sharks win 18-16.
Crowds would drop off over the next two years, as 6,240 watched Penrith flog Gold Coast Titans 40-0 in 2015 and 6,721 witnessed the Panthers sneak a 19-18 win over Canberra Raiders.
Attendances would start to build back up again in 2016, when 8,730 saw Penrith scored a thrilling come-from-behind 24-20 win over the Raiders, before a crowd hit five figures for the first time in 2018, when 10,289 saw Jonathan Thurston lead the North Queensland Cowboys to a 26-20 win.
Conditions were awful in 2019, when Melbourne Storm thumped Panthers 32-2 in front of 10,973, in near-freezing weather.
Dylan Edwards made several mistakes in that match, which resulted him in being dropped in the weeks that followed, but the superstar fullback has since come back to win three premierships and a Clive Churchill Medal, arguable of the best players in the NRL.
There was no game in 2020 due to the COVID-19, but the NRL returned to Bathurst in 2021 when a restricted-crowd of 5,798 saw Penrith beat Manly Sea Eagles 28-16.
The record attendance for a rugby league match at Carrington Park was set in 2022, when 11,253 watched Penrith defeated 12-men Newcastle Knights 38-20.
Heavy rain soaked fans earlier this year, when Wests Tigers caused a major upset to beat Panthers 12-8 in front of 11,055.
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