We really should have bought a lottery ticket at the start of the year if someone had said that heading into Week 16, the Lions, who started the season 0-4 would be actually fighting for a divisional title, and their second straight for a fact. Nobody ever predicted this, nobody thought it was possible, but we are here now with the Lions, sitting at 8-7 and with an outside chance to be crowned divisional champions.

That being said, the result is mostly out of Penrith’s hands, they 100% need results to go their way if it is to happen, but the rewards are there. For any of this to matter, the Lions absolutely need to defeat the Harnosand Harbourmasters and then see the Florence Fools lose their matchup (against Cheesy Philly) as well as North York drop their game against Hong Kong. If that happens, Penrith win the division with the same record they had last season, 9-7. If Penrith lose, it’s all over regardless of results (Penrith have the worst divisional record and would lose a tiebreaker against Florence). The last one is a win by Florence and Penrith would put Penrith into the postseason as the final wildcard team (losing the tiebreaker for the 6th seed to Nice).

All of this has happened in a division that seemingly doesn’t want to crown it’s champion after the Lions defeated the North York Wildcats for the second time in three weeks, with a solid 23-13 victory, and for a team that the Lions previously (North York were up to last year in Tillamook) had a 3-5 head-to-head record against, this now squares the ledger back up and gives the Lions their only two divisional wins of the season. For a team possibly heading to the postseason, it would potentially be the worst divisional record for a postseason team since 2024 with the Hong Kong Kings (ended the season at 10-6, lost in the conference title game to the then-Zombies).

The Lions seemed to ignore the outside noise about their postseason credentials, coming out with a solid touchdown to open the second quarter, after a lacklustre first 15 minutes, having been forced into a missed field goal and three straight punts, but an interception by Eugene Perry, who was able to take it back 46 yards, made the setup for the touchdown (Chacon to Lockett for 4 yards) that much simpler and allowed the Lions to get away with the game, despite a late comeback in the fourth quarter from the Wildcats through a Hydrothermal Benediction touchdown, his third of the season on the ground, the Lions iced the game with a couple of nice field goals from Jeffery Paz to give them a well deserved victory and their third straight this season, the second time they have done that this season and will look to make it four straight and their first final week victory since 2025.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was not interested in talking about the postseason, he was focussed solely on the victory today and what it means for the team moving into Week 16 and how they are approaching it:-

“We are pleased with the victory today, the team played brilliantly out there today, there is a good feeling in the locker room at the moment. We will keep doing what we have done all season, going back and looking at the game film, seeing where we were weak and where we were strong and making sure we deliver a better product on the field next week than we did this week. The guys know what the stories are going to be this week, and so do I, I won’t lie, it has crossed my mind but we have already sat down and said that our focus is on this next game against Harnosand and that it is, postseason is not our focus, our sole focus is on winning the next game.”

The Lions, as mentioned earlier, face off against the 7-8 Harnosand Harbourmasters with destiny both in and out of their hands as they face off for the first time since Week 4 of the 2023 season, with the Lions looking to even the score after a 3-0 defeat back then. Harnosand themselves eliminated from postseason contention this week, will looking to be the party poopers as they effectively control the destiny of the Lions, but with an 8-win season already, they have made their own history, their new season win record and while it will be a fifth straight year without postseason football for them, they can ruin the party for the Lions with another victory. For a team that earlier in the season averaged 14 points per game across the opening month, they have averaged 6.25 points in the last four, the wheels having fallen off very quickly for a team that looked like making it to the postseason, but one win in their last six matches, it just isn’t meant to be.

On the flipside, the Lions will be looking out for a defence that has limited opponents in those six matches to an average of only 16.1 points per game, the Lions offense only just lower than that at 15.3 ppg. The Lions are also poor when it comes to away games, managing only three victories away from home this season, and seven across the last two seasons (overall, they are 14-25 in away games in team history). They will also have to manage the game on the ground without running back William Cole who this week was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury that has ruled him out at least until preseason next season. Doctors confirming that he has broken his foot in two places and will be in for surgery tomorrow. With the run game seemingly non-existent this season, the Lions being the only team in the whole league without a single rushing touchdown this season, they will need to rely again as they have this back half of the season on the likes of quarterback Joe Chacon and his receivers who have apparently come into a new phase this second half of the season.

Game Prediction: Destiny waits for the Lions (again). Think we said that this time last season as well. Let’s just get the win, worry about next week then.

PENRITH, NSW – With the beginning of the new league season, the Penrith Lions have made a series of roster moves to begin building the roster for the upcoming league season.

Following the completion of the season, RT Brian Fernandez, WR Tony Lockett, SLB John Omar, CB Luis Walsh and FB Hans Young have announced the retirements from the game, as well as the retirement of Tight Ends Coach Steven Sanders. The whole Lions organization thanks these fine gentlemen for their service and commitment to the organization and wishes them all the best in the next phase of their lives.

Upon the beginning of the new season, the following players were released by the Lions following the expiration of their contracts. Those players are CB Sun Deng, DT Donald McMahon, LG Steven Robbins, LG David Mallory, LT Dirk Shafter, LT Nathan Peterson, QB Ruben Hankins, RB Caleb Frank, RB Timothy Devine, WR Jeffery Ottman. The Lions also have also notified both WR Jordan Edwards and RG Jon Giesler that they will be released from the remainder of their contracts at the same time.

The Lions thank all of these players for their commitment to the organization and wishes them the best moving forward in their careers.

A brand new season, and a brand new challenge for the Penrith Lions along with some new teams, some old faces and a fresh challenge to try and knock off the new defending champions. The Weekly Roar has been given exclusive and early access to the new season's schedule and what it means for Lions fans.

This season, the opening month has to be better than what we saw last season?
Sadly, it's not going to be an easy month to open the season, and it couldn't get any harder to be honest, with the Lions not only facing the defending champion Les Republicans de Paris, but they have been matched up as the opening kickoff game, with Paris hosting. They will be unveiling the championship banner in front of over 90,000 screaming Parisians. Penrith then head home for an opening three-game stand against the Corpses, followed by another two strong sides in the Soneros and then the Dragons.

No changes to our division, so when are the matches this season?
It's all smooth sailing in the Fail Brigade West this season, with no name changes or location changes, so we will be visiting Florence, Gravesend and North York again this season. Following on from our Week 2 encounter with the Corpses, we will have to wait until Week 9 to head off to play the Wildcats in the first of three straight divisional games, with our return fixture against the Corpses in Week 10, followed by our home match against North York. We will end our divisional campaign with an away fixture to Florence in Week 13 and then welcoming the Fools to our home in Week 15.

At least we avoided any long road trips, right?
Sadly, we didn't (again). We have a four-game road trip between Week 7 (at Cape Town) and Week 10 (at the Corpses), with games against Nottingham and North York in between. This marks the second straight season we have had four straight away games, and our third overall (2024). Sadly for fans, we are 1-7 when faced with a four-game road trip (that solitary win was in 2024, against the Prodigies).

Preseason has to be a good start then, give us some hope?
Not too shabby. We once again will face off against both the Batman Robins (our second straight, and third overall) with us looking to even the ledger with our final hit out before the regular season gets underway. We also face off against the Edlington Anarchy in the second week of preseason, who this season are under new ownership. This will be our sixth meeting with them, with five of them happening in the preseason. We currently lead that head-to-head 3-2 (2-2 in preseason games). Our other two match-ups will see us facing off against the Echunga Echidnas in Week 3, in a rematch of the Australia Cup from last season, and we will be looking to get our hands on that trophy for the first time. The final preseason game, which will be our first will be against the Star City Slamhounds, whom we actually hold an undefeated 3-0 preseason record against them (4-1 overall), so we are facing some tried and tested opponents.

What does the final month look like, do we get to finish the regular season at home this time?
Yes, we do! We finish up at home for the first time since 2025, and actually get a double dose of home games to close out the season. Week 13 sees us head to Florence, with a trip to Stockholm the week after, which closes our road games. Week 15 will see the rematch against Florence, followed by welcoming Cheesy Philly to town, where we will look to get a victory against them in our history.

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions have made a trade with the Hurlingham Herons (previously the Dutch Prodigies) to trade away star tight end Wayne Snyder for additional future draft picks.

The Lions have traded away tight end Wayne Snyder to Hurlingham in exchange for a second-round selection in the 2028 draft, as well as an additional first-round selection in the 2029 draft. This brings to an end the Lions career of the 17th overall selected player in Lions history and now currently leaves only three players from the first twenty selections of the foundation draft still on the Lions roster.

Snyder leaves Penrith with 3,262 receiving yards, and 23 touchdowns, a reception rate of 65%, as well as 25 tackles across 4,223 plays in his 77 games for the franchise (53 starts). At least once a season in his five seasons with the Lions, he managed to get two touchdowns, each time this occurred, the Lions came away with the victory in that game. We thank Wanye for all his hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence and his commitment to the franchise since the inception and wish him all the best moving forward in his career.

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Quotes attributed to General Manager Todd Carlton

“We know that this is a sad day for Lions fans, and for the Snyder family. They are part of the furniture here, and we will be forever grateful to Wanye for his contributions over the last five seasons, we know it hasn’t been easy for him, along with so many other players with the fortunes of our franchise, and we know that Wayne and his team had spoken with us about looking at either a trade this off-season or a new contract and we all felt that it was a better outcome for both sides if we explored the trade option, and we are pleased that Hurlingham came to the table and offered what they have given us to acquire his services”

Quotes attributed to Head Coach Roy Rodriguez

“Sad to see Wayne depart, he was a brilliant player to the offense, and I am sure that he will flourish even more with the Herons, they are getting someone who will always strive to achieve the best for the team, every single play. I was only lucky enough to work alongside him for two seasons, but what I saw, let me tell you, he has to be considered for the hall of fame when his career ends.”

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions have made a trade with the Forbidden City Dragons to acquire rookie defensive tackle Allen Brush.

The Penrith Lions have finalized a trade with the Forbidden City Dragons to acquire defensive tackle Allen Brush to bolster the defensive line and provide the Lions with an additional rookie on the roster throughout preseason to evaluate whilst in the midst of a rebuilding of the roster and franchise, following the release of the report from last season outlining the steps the franchise will be taking to achieve their goals moving forward.

Allen Brush, drafted by the Cape Town Rhinos in the seventh-round of the daft was released by the Rhinos following training camp and subsequently picked up off waivers by the Forbidden City Dragons who then immediately offered him to the Lions in exchange for several draft selections. The Lions finally were able to come to an agreement, handing over a fourth-round selection in the 2028 draft to the Dragons.

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Quotes attributed to General Manager Todd Carlton

“Excited to bring Allen into the franchise, he deserves a shot to make it and we will give him the rest of preseason to make that case, as with everyone else on the roster at the moment. Having a good crop of rookies on the roster allows us to get a first-hand sight of their performances and how they are adjusting from the college game to the pros, and we can better evaluate a rookie on our roster than on the opposing team, so we are giving all of them a chance to prove it and stay on the roster. Allen will be no different.”

Quotes attributed to Head Coach Roy Rodriguez

“I like what I see from Allen, he played well at Navy, and we are pleased that Navy have allowed him the chance to play professional football before he commits to serving his country. He will have the same opportunities that all the other rookies have on our roster, and that is a chance to train with us and play in the preseason and to have that chance to make the final 53-man roster. He won’t be treated any differently to any other rookie, regardless that he wasn’t on the roster in our first preseason game, he still has three more chances to impress me and the coaching staff and I look forward to seeing what he can achieve with us”

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions have made their final roster moves ahead of the upcoming regular season.

As part of league requirements, all franchises are required to submit their 53-man roster prior to the opening regular season game. The Penrith Lions have made this submission early, and ahead of the final preseason matchup against the Echunga Echidnas, to allow the coaching staff more time to better evaluate the 53-man roster and finalize the active roster for the opening regular season matchup.

The Lions have released CB Gilles Vierne, SLB Tommy Hubbard, WLB Craig Brinson, FB Steven Alvarado and WLB Oswald Entwhistle. These released players, along with the releasing of CB Joshua Colon, QB Ruben Hankins, DT Harry Dale, C Antonio De Sade, QB William Brown, SLB Michael Converse, LG Eddie Estimate, RB James Ford and LDE Curtis Paul throughout the preseason mean that the Lions head into the regular season with 53 players on the roster.

This means that the Lions currently do not have any additional roster spots open, and will need to cut additional players to make room for further additions to the roster throughout the regular season.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step”

It was never meant to be an easy road for the Lions to come back from, another season without postseason football, and coming so close to achieving that goal, but the offseason has been a long and tested road for the franchise, who went through the motions following the release of their internal review into the franchise, which outlined a five-year plan to rebuild and bring the franchise up to the standards that they should be seeing, and with changes aplenty throughout the offseason, the Lions are ready to take on the challenge, but the challenge starts off not with an easy few games, but with most likely the hardest game the team will ever have to face.

Not only are the Lions the first team off the rank to play this regular season, but they are faced with having to come up against the defending world champions in Les Republicains de Paris, and having to stand there on Thursday night and watch as the Parisians unfurl their championship banner and display it proudly at Stade de Saint Canard de Lune, as a reminder of their epic victory last season, and a reminder to the Lions of what they want to achieve one day.

The game could not be of a starker contrast, one franchise at the top of it’s game, strong and competitive and ready to beat down on any opponent, a franchise that last season managed to concede the third least amount of points across the whole league (148, average of 9.25 ppg) and scored the second most points in the league (387, average of 24.19 ppg), compared to a Lions side that has seen a better improvement in their defense over the last couple of seasons and did manage to nab the equal fourth-best defense in the league, conceding only 154 points last season (9.62 ppg), they only managed 190 points throughout the whole season, good enough only for equal 18th in the league and the first time in franchise history that the Lions have failed to reach 200 points in a season.

While many will say that the Lions were simply just a mid-table team, managing a respectable 8-8 season, coming within a single game of what some could say was the great escape and an unlikely divisional title, after starting 0-4 earlier, many Lions fans, and even some in the front office will say that the season was a letdown. One less victory this season than 2025, no postseason football one year removed from a divisional title, and the fact that they started 0-4, where a lot of the expectation was that the Lions would come out of the gates at a rush and likely head back for their four-game home stand with at least two, maybe three victories, but managing their 8 wins by an average margin of 10.2 points, it just felt like a lost season.

Speaking at media days, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was looking toward the future and what this season may mean for the Lions, with many questions about the franchise looking down the barrel of potentially another 0-4 start, with the opening four games they have on the schedule:-

“To be honest, we aren’t looking at Week 4, or what our record is going to be at that point, we are solely focussed on the preseason and Week 1 against the defending champions. I’m sure all the media will clearly give this game to Paris, and why wouldn’t they, they are the defending champions for a good reason, they play strong, they play hard and they know what it takes to win tough games, and what it takes to combine sixteen weeks of football into a postseason run and to come out the other side with the trophy to show for it. We are not coming into their backyard just to be the whipping boys. We have trained hard during OTA’s and training camp, we feel we have a strong roster that will be there play after play and we will fight to the final whistle. The whole locker room is ready for the challenge, and that is how we are viewing the whole season. Not as a whole, but as 16 individual challenges, and there will be on every play, a battle between two players, and every play we will leave it all out there on the field. The results will come with time, we are ready for that”

The Lions come into the first week of the regular season with some returning faces and some new faces, with the offensive line all but new for this season, with the exception of Michael Nelson who returns for the season, alongside last seasons’ draft selection in Ernest Morley who has converted to center during the offseason after not playing much at offensive tackle last season. Joe Chacon again will be under center for the Lions, returning for his fourth season with the team, and will look to again go after that magical 4,000 yard season, having managed 3,700 yards in both of the two previous seasons, but will look to avoid the lacklustre fall in his touchdowns from last season, having managed only 16 touchdowns compared to the 25 interceptions.

The defense has seen a few new faces join the ranks, with rookie sensation Larry Rodriquez coming in, after being drafted in the third round, managing 15 tackles during the preseason, while rookie cornerback Barry Valle, having been drafted by the Lions in the fifth round, managed a respectable 10 tackles across the preseason, look like being solid additions to a defense that seemingly has found it’s mojo over the last season or two, and will look to go one step further and bring down the number of points conceded even further. There was reports over the preseason at teams looking at offering up trades for WLB John Matthews, but those talks seem to have died down, especially following his recent contract extension, alongside defensive stars in CB Eugene Perry and DT Clarence Hoff, all of whom signed long-term deals to stay with the Lions through to the 2032 season.

The Lions also have very little on the injury front and seemingly have come through the preseason with little to be worried about on the injuries, with only WR Robert Stroupe and LDE Leroy Johnson the only injury concerns, with doctors giving clearance for Johnson to play this week, while Stroupe will miss the game with an arm injury but is looking likely to return for the home opener next week.

Game Prediction: Tough opening match-up against the defending world champions, couldn’t have asked for a more tougher assignment, and we sadly, have to side with most of the commentary from this week, and throughout preseason (even right after the schedule was released) and say that Paris will come away with the victory, probably by double digits.

The Lions had a lot to manage the expectations and the slim possibility of a victory, but with the 23-14 loss to the defending champion Paris outfit, the Lions came away with what could be a morale victory, a victory in all but the W on the board. The Lions managed to push Paris to the end, being up 14-13 with around 4 minutes to play, but two out of their final three drives managing valuable points, was all that Paris needed. An agonizing seven sacks for Joe Chacon was enough to see the defeat handed to them, but many will take the loss as a win for the Lions.

Compared to last season, the Lions managed something that they have been missing, a rushing touchdown, to take the 14-13 lead in the game, recruit Leonel Burke ran the ball in for the first time since Week 13 of the 2025 season, which showed a clear understanding as to why the Lions brought him in to lead the offense. Despite only a small number of yards, many in the organisation are more than pleased with his efforts, and how the Lions are actually not in as bad a shape as many thought that they would be this season.

The Lions now head into a first-up divisional matchup against the Corpses, a team they have only beaten previously back in 2025, but in the season and a bit since the 48-0 drubbing, a lot has changed, however, quarterback Justin Crabtree is now the new man under center, having come in after going undrafted a few seasons ago, and in that time, he has seen a marked improvement in the Corpses, 16 touchdowns to only 11 interceptions and just over 2,700 yards in that time, seeing the Corpses go from a 3-13 team to 7-9 and almost an upset in taking the division last season. They also have seen a marked improvement in the offense, being only three years removed now from that remarkable 15-1 season and a conference championship berth.

The old Corpses, however, showed up against Florence last week, going down 40-3 to the Fools in their opener, and many wondering if the old Corpses are indeed back and the potential for being just a training run for opponents, with Florence just running riot over the Corpses defense, limiting the offense to a lowly 135 passing yards and 46 yards on the ground, the big result was seeing almost 200 rushing yards from Florence’s Leeroy Jenkins, seventh best in league history, as well as his career best and best game since a Week 1 win against Penrith last season.

If Penrith are going to manage a victory, they will need to take a little inspiration from the victory by Florence as well as the strengths that they saw in the Paris game, the defence looked in better shape and while the offense did struggle at time, including the offensive line, the scoreline could have been much worse for the Lions. Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez also saw the positives in the defeat and what it means for this upcoming game:-

“The result may matter to some, but we aren’t looking at this as a loss, we look at it as a learning experience. Paris are the best for a reason, and they took control when it mattered, and it shows why they are defending champions. They played right through, and we just came up a little short, but we look at it more from the perspective that we did everything out there that we talked about in training camp, the results will come eventually. The players are steadfast in knowing that it is a tough and hard, and a long road to the championship, Paris proved that last season after their defeat the year previously, and we all know that we will get there one day ourselves. We aren’t looking at the negatives of it being a loss, but a positive that we met the challenge, and we pushed Paris to the end of that one”

If the Lions can get through this one, they could be looking at a solid 1-1 record, something that many thought might not happen this season, but could also be at an 0-2 record, however, this early in the season, and with how the season played out last season and with the schedule that the Lions have this season, an 0-2 record may not be the worse thing for a team that really has taken a step backwards to look at the rebuild is going and fixing up a few mistakes from the rebuild in the previous few seasons has been going.

Penrith are looking also in a good spot when it comes to injuries with only Thomas Hartley the lone injured player, he faced a fitness test earlier this week and while he failed, the reports coming out of the Lions is that it was a line-ball decision and rather than risk him, they decided to take the time to let him rest up this week and medical staff are confident that he will return next week to face Zena. The Lions have also welcomed back wide receiver Robert Stroupe this week, with rookie Brent Witkowski omitted from the Week 1 active roster.

Game Prediction: We think the Corpses will bounce back and send the Lions packing back to the locker room with another loss this season, but another close one would be nice.