Panthers claim 2026 NSW Cup

NSW Cup Player of the Year Jaxen Edgar rounded out his supreme campaign with another standout performance. The boom fullback scored one try, assisted two and made a number of crucial defensive plays.

Jesse McLean scored a first-half double, and was joined on the score sheet by Edgar, captain Kalani Leuluai-Going, Nick Murphy, Zakauri Clarke and Luron Patea.

MATCH REPORT

Minor Premiers Penrith Panthers have completed a stellar 2026 campaign in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, claiming a dominant 36-6 win over Newtown Jets in tonight’s historic Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium.

The victory completed a successful evening for the club with Penrith’s Jersey Flegg Cup side winning their decider 62-16 in the earlier clash.

A scoreless first 15 minutes was indicative of a tightly fought battle but once the Panthers opened the scoring via centre Jesse McLean the scoreline continued to grow. 

“All the hard work all year has paid off,” Player of the Match and The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup Player of the Year, Jaxen Edgar said.

“The boys really deserve this, every single one of them. They have all worked so hard, so to win this is a good feeling.

“Being a part of that losing Flegg side last year was tough, so to see them and us win this year is just unreal.”

The fullback’s effort was one of the standouts for the night, turning the game on its head midway through the first half with a pair of try assists and a try of his own along with a try-saving tackle just before half-time.

It was a tense opening to the match with the ball staying in play for six minutes and both sides refusing to give up easy territory, but a break came when Penrith came up with an error in strong field position.

Newtown had the first real chance at scoring after Jaxon Lavender made a bust down the right edge and found the returning Liam Ison in support, only for the fullback to be stopped by a last-ditch cover tackle from Panthers winger Nick Murphy. The Jets couldn’t execute a shift to the short side on the ensuing play as the last pass landed over the sideline.

With Penrith working their way back upfield it was only a matter of time before Edgar made his mark on the contest, and the Panthers fullback did just that when he darted right from close range, shrugging off a tackle and flinging a pass for McLean to score.

In the immediate set Luron Patea powered into a hole just short of the halfway line before finding the ever-present Edgar in support, who raced away under the sticks for his second try. Back-rower Zakauri Clarke landed his second conversion of the night for a 12-0 lead.

Suddenly the Panthers were on song, once again finding themselves in the Jets’ redzone. Shifting right to Kurt Falls, the halfback made no mistake with a short ball for skipper Kalani Leuluai-Going to muscle his way over the try-line. 

At 16 points down the Jets began to stem the flow of points putting a few sets together and eventually pressing the goal-line defence of the Panthers. 

Penrith responded by adding more points in similar fashion to their opening try, this time with Edgar floating a double pump pass for McLean to complete his double in the corner and give his side a 20-0 lead.

In the final stages of the half the Jets had another opportunity to score from 20 metres out when No.7 Riley Pollard busted free of a tackler and grubbered for winger Kristian Dixon in space, but Dixon couldn’t overcome the desperate Panthers’ defence as Edgar and Murphy held him up in the in-goal area.

The contest reverted to an arm-wrestle in the second half as both sides went scoreless for nearly 20 minutes, but the Panthers’ defence held firm despite the Jets’ best efforts to find the scoresheet.

Penrith broke through in the 57th minute with some quick hands finding Murphy’s grasp, who went low between defenders for a well-deserved try. Four minutes later they went in again as Clarke won the race for a grubber in behind and dotted down before the dead-ball line. Clarke landed both conversions to take unassailable 32-0 lead.

Prop Luron Patea got in the act in the 65th minute when he charged onto a flat pass from Falls and carried a handful of Jets over the line with him to extend the margin to 36-0.

A second try assist in the decider capped off a memorable year for Falls, the sole remaining player from Penrith’s last NSW Cup triumph in 2022, who returned to the Panthers this season after stints in the Queensland Cup (2024) and Wests Magpies (2025).

With just over 10 minutes remaining Newtown made another rare foray into the attacking 20. On this occasion they came away with points, albeit a consolation, as Lavender snapped up a deflection from a kick to score underneath the uprights. Dixon added the two extra points to round out the 36-6 score.

By Tom Gibbs, courtesy of NSWRL