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 completion of the season, WR Robert Stroupe announced his retirement. The whole Lions organization thanks Robert for his service and commitment to the organization and wishes him all the best in the next phase of their life.

The Lions have waived RB Leonel Burke, FB Dennis Smith, LG Dirk Shafter, LG Javier Gambrel, LG Eddie Estimate, LG Iko-chan Kamonohashi, C Paul Keillor, RG John Ward, RT Jim Gunter, RT Christopher Wilson, LDE Mack Truck and FS Gerald Pendelton.

The Lions have also designated LDE Leroy Johnson, DT Paul Payne, TE Jerry Moore, WR Raul Orr, SLB Thomas Rawson, DT Michael Frank, CB Earl Chamberland and K Jeffrey Paz for release from their contracts. These players will be free to sign contracts with other teams immediately.

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

The new season is upon us and with the normal off-season things like the draft and free agency done and dusted for another season, it’s only that time when we show off the new schedule for your Penrith Lions. Will it be better than a 5-11 season, or will the team fall even further backwards. We have four preseason games and sixteen weeks of the regular season to find out.

Come on, stop stalling. The opening month of games are...?
It could have been much worse based on the divisions we have to play this season, but we seem to have been lucky, facing only two teams who made the postseason last year, that being our first up game against High River, and Week 4 at home against the Derry Mean Machine. In between that we face off against Nottingham and the Compton Catastrophe, who were finally bought and moved from Gravesend (no more Corpses for the FB West).

So, a team relocation. Must mean fun for our division this year?
Sort of. Compton are the only new faces in the division, and while we don’t get the honour of being their first divisional matchup of the season, we are right in the middle of their opening road trip, so a chance to try and peg back the ledger against them. We will then be able to settle into the season before facing North York at home in Week 8, followed by the return fixture against Compton. Following a little break, we then get an away trip to Kentucky to face the Florence Fools in Week 12, before finishing up the season with a double header, away to North York before welcoming the Fools to our home in Week 16.

Did we get any bad road trips this season?
Actually, no. The most we have is two games in a row away from The Lions Den, the good news is that we managed to secure a four-game home stand in Weeks 2 through to 5, where we will face Compton, Nottingham, Derry and Los Angeles. We were also lucky to have managed to nab a home game in Week 16 to close out the season for the second straight season, so expect some enjoyment at The Lions Den this season. For those wondering, bobble head night will be Week 8 against the Wildcats.

So, how does the preseason look for the Lions this time around?
We managed to get an alright preseason schedule, this weekend we head off to face the Reasonable Lengths, a team we have only faced once before, but we will get a good look at them as we will also face them in Week 10 (both games at their home ground). We also managed to get a chance to look at the Mean Machine, as they will be our final preseason opponent (and again in Week 4, both at The Lions Den). In between those games, we have a home matchup against the Star City Slamhounds and then a matchup against another newly relocated team, the Pozzallo Sicilian Slicers, formerly the Maastricht Violent Vermin.

The final month of football, what does it look like?
We play two games away from home and two games at home, alternating and with a good spread. Week 13 will see the fourth edition of the Australia Bowl as we head off to the Adelaide Hills to face off against Echunga, hoping to finally nab the trophy off them for the first time. We then head home for a matchup against Cheesy Philly, a team who will also be looking to keep their perfect record against us that way. We then head off for that double divisional showdown, firstly against the North York Wildcats, before wrapping up the regular season with a finale against the Florence Fools.

Another preseason down, and the Lions finished it off not with a roar, but a whimper, another 2-2 preseason record and the hopes of many die-hard fans are just wondering when the dark days and bad results will end, and when the team will start winning again. As other teams around them look to be improving, the wonder of when this will get around to the Lions franchise has almost become the laughing stock of the winter meetings and the ongoing discussions as to the future of this franchise.

The Lions head into 2028 off the back of a poor 5-11 season, marked not only by five straight losses to finish, but with one of the poorest records to boot, managing a lowly 151 points, the worst mark for the team in it’s short history, and the second straight season with less than 200 points to show for whatever the season actually was for them. A defence that gave up 263 points (an average of 16.43 points per game), seventh worst in the league, and over 100 points worse than the 2026 season. It was a season to forget for the Lions, but they somehow stuck it out and return with another attempt at making it back to the postseason for the first time since 2025.

Speaking after the final preseason game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez, now into his fourth season with the franchise, was talking up the positives of the season and how they are approaching the opening to the regular season next weekend:-

“Everyone has worked hard, we made it difficult on purpose during training camp and the preseason and made sure that we have a roster that can build on from previous seasons. We know it’s been tough; we aren’t stupid when it comes to that, but we have pushed ourselves to be better than we were last season and better than we were last game, and even on the last play. I don’t want people here on the roster who don’t want to be here, who don’t want to play for the badge, who don’t want to play for this community. I want players who are ready to leave it all out on the field week in and week out. That’s how we are approaching not only this upcoming game against High River, but how we are approaching this whole season.”

The assignment doesn’t get any more difficult than facing off against the High River Rangers, a team that is on the up and up, even with their relocation last season, they managed another wildcard spot in the postseason to go with a third 10-6 season in the last four seasons, off the back of a solid 14 touchdown season from quarterback Terry Im, and while that was a down year for him, he still managed to throw on average longer than he did in the previous five seasons (6.60 yards per attempt). He also managed to keep the interceptions down, only throwing 9 of them, compared to Lions quarterback Joe Chacon who pretty much forgot how to throw, managing only 6 touchdowns to 16 interceptions, and 65 sacks to boot, his worst season on record.

The Lions offence has seen in the offseason some tweaks, if you can call it that, with a lot of the offensive line returning, and a few new faces, most notably John Decaro, rookie quarterback from Arizona State who looks likely to be the heir apparent to Chacon when the Lions either decide to release him, or he retires. Alongside running back Dallas Serra, who managed 92 yards across the preseason, rookie tight ends Matthew Dobbins and George Dugan, and even rookie tackles Tyler Jones and Daniel Moffatt, the Lions have begun the slow process of renewing and rebuilding the offense, something that is sorely needed, whether it begins to gel right away is another question in itself.

The defence, despite a poor season, did see some positive highlights, most notably defensive end Paul George smashing the league record for sacks in a season, with the mark now at 27, and seeing both safety Dwayne Tabor and linebacker John Matthews manage over 100 tackles each for the team, the future looks a lot brighter for the defence. Add into that first round selection Tony Threatt, the defense of the Lions could be a key to keeping them in more games and could also be the stepping stone to getting the Lions out of the cellar.

If the Lions are to make something of this season, even in Week 1, they need to get off to a solid start and a strong start against teams like High River. If the Lions can get off to a good start, bring up the points total on the scoreboard and bring back the defence that we saw seasons previously, moving on from last season, then they can really push teams like High River to the end of the game, but if they struggle and let High River pull away early, it could be a difficult game and a difficult season.

Game Prediction: Could be a tough season, but the Lions may surprise a few. Just not today, Rangers to win by 7.

The Lions began with a roar, pulling out to a 6-0 lead early on in the game, but came home without any passion or fight, going down to the High River Rangers 20-6 to drop their sixth straight game and the questions have all but begun as to the future of the franchise. The questions also are more on quarterback Joe Chacon, another four sacks, four interceptions and a lack of touchdowns have some wondering whether or not he is worth playing as the starter, or if the team need to already move on and play John Decaro. Despite a stronger run game, 51 yards from Dallas Serra and William Cole, the issue has to be the rest of the offence, giving up 100+ yards to Johnny Touchdown, along with two touchdowns from the 208 passing yards thrown by Steven Burris, who seems to be the new number one for the Rangers.

The positive signs again came from the defence, 12 tackles from Miguel Logan, the clear leader on defence and 10 from Vincent Lopez, as well as another two sacks from defensive end Paul George. The defence was able to hold out as much and despite the 20 unanswered points, they were able to hold the Rangers to an average of 15.5 yards per drive, including three straight drives that pushed the Rangers backwards (for comparison, the Lions averaged 15.4 yards per drive in the game).

Talking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez saw positives from the defeat and how they will try to bounce back from it heading into Week 2:-

“It’s tough, the guys in there are hurting. We put so much into preseason and training camp, and to come away with a result like this, it hurts a lot. We can see the positives from it, we have a lot to be proud of, and we have a lot that we can and need to work on. No matter what, we didn’t give up, the defence really stepped up and the offense pushed hard to get back into the game. We had some issues that need looking into, and that is where we will take our focus in the week at training. Can’t fault High River on that one, they came back at us and pushed it all the way. That game could have been worse off for us, but we have positives and negatives, and we will keep on fixing the issues week in and week out.”

The Lions now head back home for the first time this season, in a divisional matchup against the newly relocated Compton Catastrophe, a team that they will look for a third straight victory against, but with new owners, new coaching staff and a new outlook for the team that was a 3-13 team, the game will have the feeling of the winner getting that first victory of the season, and getting their divisional matchups off to a good start, while the other will fall to 0-2, and for the Lions, it could be for the second time in three seasons that they have started 0-2. Compton will also look to get their scoring off the ground, going down 13-0 against the Wildcats last week, but with an offense that struggled to manage only 84 yards in the air, and 95 on the ground, it could be a positive for the Lions, who seem to have a hold on what to do, but getting it across the line and on the field is another question.

Penrith head into Week 2 with only a few injuries to worry about, with defensive tackles Clarence Hoff and John Jones being the most worrying, with Jones looking a lot better than he was during preseason and is pushing for a return in approximately a months’ time, following the 4-game home stand for the team, while Hoff may be in line for a return in the next week or two. The only other serious injury is with linebacker Craig Brinson, who suffered a serious ankle injury during the preseason, and will also be looking at returning in 4 weeks’ time, which could be a big boost for a defence that is still on the up and up. The Lions have also signed Gavin Blair back to the active roster, following his release from Cheesy Philly at the end of preseason, and making the subsequent roster move to release safety Francisco Sullivan from the roster. The Lions have also made the tough decision to rest running back William Cole for the game, bringing in Joel Coder to backup with Dallas Serra in the backfield.

Game Prediction: This could be a solid game for the Lions, and we think that they will get the victory, but a small victory. Lions by 3.

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions have made a trade with the Derry Mean Machine, trading pick selections in the 2031 draft as well as a wide receiver.

The Penrith Lions have traded away a 2031 third-round selection to the Derry Mean Machine in exchange for a 2031 fourth-round selection as well as second year wide receiver Chidobe Baconthorpe. The Lions made the trade in the late afternoon yesterday following team selection and have subsequently made further roster moves to accommodate the arrival of Baconthorpe. Despite being drafted in the third round of the 2027 draft, Baconthorpe only made 8 appearances for the Mean Machine across the last two seasons, not starting in any of them, and only managing 39 yards in the preseason, none in a regular season appearance.

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Quotes attributed to General Manager Todd Carlton

“We really felt that we wanted to build a young roster moving forward, not that our veteran players are out the door so to speak, but we wanted to take on the youth aspect of what we are trying to achieve here in the organization, and Chidobe does that for us, he is speedy and has a great set of attributes, especially from what we have seen, and while that might be limited action, we feel that he can be one of the best receivers in our locker room, and with time, we will hopefully see that moving forward. I’m excited to see what he can do this week and into the future for our franchise.”

Quotes attributed to Head Coach Roy Rodriguez

“I think Chidobe’s arrival will bring a spark of energy to the room, we are confident that even with the lack of playing time he got at Derry, that we can be the spark that he needs to kickstart his career, and kickstart some amazing stat lines moving forward. He’s got the energy to come in and want to perform to the highest standards, which is what we want from all of our players, and he comes in and makes the rest of the receivers want to do better as well. He challenges and inspires the rest of the guys to do better and that is the sort of thing we are looking for in all of our players.”

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions have issued the following statement.

The Penrith Lions, in making the trade with the Derry Mean Machine, were over the allowable roster limit as per league rules. This subsequently ensured that we, as a franchise, had to make a corresponding roster move to accommodate Chidobe’s arrival. As a franchise, we made the best decision possible on what roster moves to made.

However, in making these roster moves, we needed to activate running back William Cole to the active roster for the game against the Compton Catastrophe. This was done after the requirement to inform the league office of our upcoming 46-man active roster for the game. The Lions did apply to the league office to submit an amendment to this active roster, which was approved. Running Back William Cole was then activated from the inactive roster to be active for the game against Compton.

We thank the league office for their due diligence and cooperation in this matter.

The Lions got the monkey off their back, getting the first victory of the season, a tough 19-13 victory over the Compton Catastrophe, with the Lions also managing to finally get some offense going with a touchdown to William Cole, who was a late inclusion into the active roster following a trade that the Lions made with the Mean Machine and while the Lions were able to bounce back from an early first quarter touchdown from Justin Crabtree to Jeff Kendall, they were able to bounce back with a couple of field goals from new kicker Orlando Norris and the William Cole touchdown. Cole had a field day, garnering not only the Lions first touchdown of the season to with his 16 receiving yards, but a massive 152 yards on the ground off 19 rushes, a new team record (beating Steven Alvarado’s 133 yards in 2025 and also blitzing the current season record (129 yards by Stockholm’s Tony Blunderbuss)

Despite the solid showing on the scoreboard, the Lions offense struggled, giving up another interception and three sacks on Joe Chacon, already putting Chacon as the second most sacked quarterback through two games this season, and the second most intercepted quarterback as well, and with some stronger opponents coming up for the Lions, those figures could rise very quickly as the Lions go through the next few games.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was happy with the result, but also confident that the progress is there for the team.

“We are pleased of the victory, Compton took us all the way, they pushed us every single play, and they have a good roster that will get better with time, and they are going to be a force in the division. We felt that we almost lost that game, we had some issues that we really need to fix, and we will push ourselves this week in training to make sure that we limit the issues that we can have on the field. If we push ourselves to limit those, then we can really make it a game next week and throughout the season and, even if we win or lose, we can be proud of ourselves”

The Lions now face off against the Nottingham Arrows, a team they have faced five times before and will look to even the score with them, despite not recording a victory since 2023, and will look to avenge the 23-0 loss they suffered last season. The Lions will also be looking for another home victory, extending that record out to nine wins over the last three seasons. Nottingham are themselves looking also for a second straight victory and hopefully scoring more than 9 points, something they have done in their two previous games. Penrith may have a chance at the victory, with an average of 12.5 points per game, while Nottingham have also had their struggles, averaging only 209.5 yards per game in the air, and 54 yards per game on the ground (compared to Penrith who are at 189 yards in the air, and 114 yards on the ground).

The defence for both sides has been what has kept both sides in the fight last week, with Nottingham managing to keep Los Angeles out of the redzone until right on half time, and then smother the offence to seven straight punts at an average of 8.3 yards per drive, led by a 7 tackle game by John Robertson and 6 tackles from Francisco Tozier, while Penrith despite allowing that early touchdown, managed to force Compton into only five drives in the second half of the game, and saw 13 tackles from safety Miguel Logan and 9 tackles from Carlos Broman. This matchup could be a defensive struggle for both sides, they could easily give up loads of points, or this could be an absolute shoot-out with a low scoring affair, maybe even playing out until the final drive of the game. It could easily come down to field goals, or who just happens to get the scoreboard ticking over more often.

Penrith go into the matchup against Nottingham with only a few minor injury concerns, most notably with defensive end Len Price who is likely to miss this week and maybe next week with a turf toe injury, while Clarence Hoff and John Jones have both made solid improvements this week and will likely be returning to some form of light training schedule this week following their respective injuries. The only other concern is with left tackle Bo Cai who suffered a nasty ankle injury and will likely be sidelined for the next month, prompting the Lions to bring in Dijon Atwood as a replacement off the waiver wire. The Lions will also be without Craig Brinson again, with the reports coming out that he may be ready to return in the next three weeks, but there are also reports that he may be looking to terminate his contract with the franchise as early as next week.

Game Prediction: Penrith could get this one, just across the line. A small victory is possible.