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Tony PULETUA [Player Stats]

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Williams axed and Puletua demoted as Elliott makes changes
Tue March 18, 2008
by Matthew O'Neill
Penrith coach Matthew Elliott has axed halfback Joe Williams for Saturday's crunch clash against Canberra at CUA Stadium on Saturday night (5:30pm kick off).

The Panthers were hammered 48-12 by Brisbane on Sunday in the biggest margin of Round 1 action.

Jarrod Sammut who started on the bench on Sunday before coming into five-eighth moves to halfback in place of Williams. Maurice Blair goes from centre to five-eighth, Michael Jennings from wing to centre and Mark O'Halloran is the new winger.

Brendan Worth comes into prop for Adam Woolnough and Tony Puletua moves back to the bench with Frank Pritchard selected to start in the second row after starting at five-eighth last weekend.

TELSTRA NRL PREMIERSHIP
Penrith Panthers vs Canberra Raiders
CUA Stadium
Saturday March 22
5:30pm
Panthers (NRL): 1. Rhys Wesser 2. Luke Rooney 3. Brad Tighe 4. Michael Jennings 5. Mark O'Halloran 6. Maurice Blair 7. Jarrod Sammut 8. Brendan Worth 9. Luke Priddis 10. Petero Civoniceva (c) 11. Trent Waterhouse 12. Frank Pritchard 13. Nathan Smith. Subs: 14. Paul Aiton 15. Tony Puletua 16. Adam Woolnough 17. Frank Puletua 18. Matthew Bell.
Coach: Matthew Elliott

TOYOTA NYC CUP
Penrith Panthers vs Canberra Raiders
CUA Stadium
Saturday March 22
3:20pm
Panthers (NYC): 1. Lachlan Coote 2. Sonny Tuigamala 3. William Isa 4. Chris Ward 5. Junior Tia Kilifi 6. Trent Iselin 7. Luke Clydesdale 8. Sam McKendry 9. Masada Iosefa 10. Tinirau Arona 11. Michael Leeds 12. Bradley Goodwin 13. Jamie Theoharous. Subs:: 14. Joel Romelo 15. Joseph Paulo 16. Ollie Tia Tia 17. Jesse Sene-Lefao 18. Daniel Penese.
Coach: Steve Georgallis

NSW VB CUP
Windows Wolves vs Cronulla Cobras
Windsor Sporting Complex
Sunday March 23
3:00pm
Wolves: 1. Richie Williams 2. Daniel King 3. Geoff Daniela 4. David Georgiou 5. Zoram Watene 6. Josh McCrone 7. Joe Williams 8. Hutch Maiava 9. Keith Peters 10. Andrew Pearn 11. Junior Moors 12. John Nuumaallii (c) 13. Josh Bateman. Subs: 14. Ben Harden 15. Jason Chan 16. Fatualua Mumu 17. Lino Salafai 18. Alister Taua'a (one to be omitted).

Gower poised to reclaim Penrith captaincy
Tue January 2, 2007
by Matthew O'Neill
Penrith's inspirational halfback and 2003 premiership winning captain Craig Gower is poised to reclaim the captaincy with Tony Puletua indicating he would step aise.

Puletua tookover the Penrith captaincy last year in very controversial circumstances when Gower was sacked from the role following an incident at the Jack Newton Golf Classic on the Gold Coast.

The powerful New Zealand forward said, "I would be happy to give the captaincy back to him. He has always been the leader at our club and if it went back to 'Gowie', I would be fine with it. He was there in the first place and we won a competition under him in 2003. I wouldn't have any worries about it.

"We all know Craig had some problems and he regrets what happened up on the Coast. He didn't feel good about losing it and I know he was disappointed. He was very upset about how everything was handled and how it turned out. I think it was very hard for him. I have played alongside him for years and he is the sort of guy who will always bounce back."

Whilst Puletua is willing to give Gower back to the captaincy, he said he has enjoyed the role and went on to say, "It has been a good experience and has made me think about my responsibilities both on and off the field. I have enjoyed it but I won't be too disappointed if it comes to an end. I will just continue on helping wherever I can.

"Gowie has been training the house down and is ready for a big year. Our main focus is next season and regardless of who the captain is we are determined to dig in and prepare for a big season.

"We were very disappointed with last season and we won't accept another year like it. We have been very focused on doing the work during the off-season to prepare us for a big year."

New Penrith coach Matthew Elliott is expected to officially name Gower as captain later this month and Penrith officials have endorsed Gower resuming the official leadership role after being dumped from the position 12 months ago.

Gower tookover the Penrith captaincy on a full-time basis in 2002 and led the Panthers sensationally to premiership success in 2003 where they defeated the star-studded Sydney Roosters outfit 18-6 in the biggest Grand Final upset since 1969. Gower has also captained Australia in one Test in 2005 when both Darren Lockyer and Danny Buderus were unavailable. Gower will be looking for a big start to the season as he'll be the front-runner for the NSW halfback position this year.

Tue October 24, 2006

Tupou and Pritchard return to Kiwis line up

Thu October 5, 2006

Penrith's 40-Year Team Announced and 2006 Panthers Awards

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2008 NRL Telstra Premiership

Penrith Panthers 
8 games; 1 tries, 4 points. 
		 [View] Round 1 [16 Mar 08] L 12-48 v Broncos (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 2 [22 Mar 08] L 16-20 v Raiders (H). [BE] 
[View] Round 3 [30 Mar 08] W 26-22 v Rabbitohs (H). [PR] 
[View] Round 4 [07 Apr 08] W 30-8 v Tigers (A). [PR] 
[View] Round 5 [12 Apr 08] L 12-28 v Roosters (H). [PR] 
[View] Round 6 [19 Apr 08] W 21-20 v Sharks (A). [PR] 
[View] Round 8 [03 May 08] L 18-26 v Eels (H). [PR] 4 Pts; 1t (18)
[View] Round 9 [10 May 08] W 30-4 v Bulldogs (A). [PR] 
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2007 NRL Telstra Premiership

Penrith Panthers 
22 games; 4 tries, 16 points. 
		 [View] Round 1 [17 Mar 07] L 0-18 v Sharks (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 2 [23 Mar 07] W 40-10 v Bulldogs (H). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t (72nd)
[View] Round 3 [30 Mar 07] W 29-28 v Broncos (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 4 [08 Apr 07] L 22-24 v Gold Coast (H). [SR] 
[View] Round 5 [13 Apr 07] L 14-27 v Eels (H). [SR] 
[View] Round 6 [21 Apr 07] L 20-30 v Storm (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 7 [28 Apr 07] L 18-34 v Raiders (H). [SR] 
[View] Round 8 [04 May 07] L 16-28 v Dragons (A). [BE] 
[View] Round 9 [12 May 07] W 22-12 v Cowboys (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 11 [27 May 07] L 24-25 v Tigers (H). [SR] 
[View] Round 12 [01 Jun 07] W 22-16 v Sea Eagles (H). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 13 [08 Jun 07] L 4-14 v Rabbitohs (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 14 [16 Jun 07] L 20-24 v Roosters (H). [SR] 
[View] Round 15 [22 Jun 07] L 14-54 v Warriors (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 16 [30 Jun 07] L 16-24 v Broncos (H). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 17 [06 Jul 07] L 26-43 v Tigers (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 18 [14 Jul 07] W 30-20 v Bulldogs (A). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 19 [21 Jul 07] L 20-38 v Dragons (H). [SR] 
[View] Round 20 [27 Jul 07] L 30-34 v Raiders (A). [SR] 
[View] Round 23 [19 Aug 07] W 46-12 v Knights (A). [BE] 
[View] Round 24 [25 Aug 07] W 28-22 v Roosters (A). [BE] 
[View] Round 25 [01 Sep 07] L 20-24 v Warriors (H). [BE] 
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2007 International Test Matches

New Zealand Kiwis 
1 games; [View] Bundaberg Rum Test [20 Apr 07] L 6-30 v Australia (A). [SR] 
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2006 Tri-Nations Test Series

New Zealand Kiwis 
2 games; [View] Tri-Nations Match 1 [14 Oct 06] L 18-30 v Australia (H). [SR]
[View] Tri-Nations Match 2 [21 Oct 06] L 15-20 v Australia (A). [SR]
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2006 NRL Telstra Premiership

Penrith Panthers 
20 games; 4 tries, 16 points. 
		 [View] Round 1 [11 Mar 06] W 24-22 v Bulldogs (A). [SR]
[View] Round 2 [19 Mar 06] W 13-12 v Dragons (A). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t (52nd)
[View] Round 4 [01 Apr 06] L 20-21 v Raiders (A). [SR]
[View] Round 5 [09 Apr 06] W 44-18 v Eels (A). [SR]
[View] Round 6 [15 Apr 06] L 18-40 v Storm (H). [SR]
[View] Round 9 [06 May 06] L 6-22 v Cowboys (A). [SR]
[View] Round 10 [14 May 06] W 32-20 v Rabbitohs (H). [SR]
[View] Round 11 [19 May 06] W 30-20 v Eels (H). [SR]
[View] Round 12 [28 May 06] L 16-17 v Storm (A). [SR]
[View] Round 13 [04 Jun 06] L 22-29 v Sea Eagles (H). [SR]
[View] Round 14 [10 Jun 06] L 10-20 v Dragons (H). [SR]
[View] Round 16 [24 Jun 06] W 24-20 v Tigers (H). [SR]
[View] Round 19 [15 Jul 06] W 17-8 v Cowboys (H). [SR]
[View] Round 20 [23 Jul 06] L 30-32 v Sea Eagles (A). [SR]
[View] Round 21 [29 Jul 06] W 36-6 v Warriors (H). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 22 [06 Aug 06] L 26-32 v Rabbitohs (A). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 23 [12 Aug 06] L 20-40 v Roosters (H). [SR]
[View] Round 24 [19 Aug 06] W 32-28 v Sharks (A). [SR]
[View] Round 25 [26 Aug 06] L 4-40 v Knights (A). [SR]
[View] Round 26 [03 Sep 06] L 22-30 v Bulldogs (H). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
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2005 Tri-Nations Test Series

New Zealand Kiwis 
1 games; [View] Tri-Nations Match 2 [21 Oct 05] L 26-28 v Australia (H). [BE]
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2005 NRL Telstra Premiership

Penrith Panthers 
5 games; 1 tries, 4 points. 
		 [View] Round 1 [12 Mar 05] L 14-20 v Sharks (A). [SR]
  Judiciary: Contrary Conduct, Grade 1 Guilty, 0 matches
[View] Round 2 [20 Mar 05] L 20-28 v Roosters (H). [SR]
[View] Round 3 [26 Mar 05] W 18-8 v Dragons (H). [SR]
[View] Round 4 [01 Apr 05] L 16-26 v Eels (A). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t (72nd)
[View] Round 5 [08 Apr 05] W 36-16 v Storm (H). [SR]
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2004 NRL Telstra Premiership

Penrith Panthers 
1 games; 1 tries, 4 points. 
		 [View] Round 2 [19 Mar 04] W 34-18 v Raiders (A). [SR] 4 Pts; 1t
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Puletua, Tony

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