The entire Penrith Lions organization is saddened today at the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

For many across the Commonwealth and the world, The Queen has been the only British Monarch they have ever known. The Queen was a steadfast figure through so many moments in history. A remarkable 16 Australian, 12 Canadian, 16 New Zealander, and 15 British Prime Ministers have come and gone, and even 14 US Presidents and 7 Popes, but The Queen has been the one constant.

Over the course of a remarkable seven decades, Her Majesty was a rare and reassuring constant amidst rapid change. Through the noise and turbulence of the years, she embodies and exhibited a timeless decency and enduring calm. Today, we mark the end of the second Elizabethan era.

We all mourn today alongside so many, including her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren today who have lost a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and we share all of our condolences at this great loss today.

May she rest in eternal peace alongside her beloved husband, Prince Phillip, for all eternity.

We aren’t going to dive deep into the game this week, but more to look at how the Lions can make it into the postseason this week.

The Lions lost the chance to wrap the division up and take home the title this season, losing out to the Sharknado 18-6, and handing them the division title. The Lions still have their own destiny in their hands, a win is all they need against Cheesy Philly this week to get into the postseason, most likely as the sixth seed (fifth seed has gone to the Dragons). A win gives the Lions a solid rematch against the Sharknado in the wildcard.

A loss by the Lions, and it throws up a couple of interesting scenarios, all to do with the FB South division. If the Lions lose, and both Los Angeles and Nice win, the Lions are through to the postseason. Simple. The Lions would hold a better conference record and also a head to head tiebreaker against Nice to make it into the postseason. In this scenario, the Lions would most likely take either the sixth or seventh seed (seventh seed would put the Lions up against Les Republicains de Paris).

The Lions also need to be weary of the Porth Emmett Auctioneers, and while the Lions have their victory in Week 14 on their side in this, a win by the Auctioneers against the Dragons (alongside the wins by Los Angeles and Nice) would potentially put a spanner in the works, with four teams with a 10-6 record, and fighting for essentially two places in the postseason. The Week 14 victory could be what gets the Lions across the line, with the final spot anybody’s guess (most likely Los Angeles, with a better divisional record over both the Auctioneers and Baguettes). This would still see the Lions drop to the seventh seed, due to the Earthquake’s victory two weeks ago, but the Lions do hold a better conference record, which could do it, but very unlikely.

When approached with these scenarios, Head Coach James Jennings spoke very quickly about what it all means for the Lions heading into Week 16:

“I’m going to leave all these mathematical equations and scenarios to the analysts and experts. That is the furthest thing from my mind this week. If we make it into the postseason, you are all going to still write that we scraped in and we are just there to make up the numbers, or something like that. Wish I could say more, but I think the league would fine me with the language I wanted to say there. Our focus is on this game, going out there for 60 minutes and playing our brand of football, playing to our strengths, and exploiting whatever weaknesses the opposition show us on the field. If we make it into the postseason, then we deserve to be there and we will be as strong and as hungry to fight for the title as every other team there. If we don’t make it, then we start planning for next season. Simple as that when it comes to me”.

The Lions have welcomed rookie running back John Heath and tight end Steven Cervantes into the squad this week, with the reports that Wayne Snyder has suffered a season-ending leg injury and will be unable to return this season, doctors saying that it wasn’t as bad as first thought, but enough that he went into surgery earlier this week and will immediately begin recovery to be ready for next season. The Lions have rushed back both cornerback Luis Walsh from injury with the cornerback passing his fitness test today, and flying out with the team.

It all comes down to one game, 60 minutes. 60 minutes that will make or break this season. 60 minutes that will determine whether or not the Lions will fight it out for the championship or start planning for next season. The Lions have it all to play for this week, and we hear at “The Weekly Roar” wish them all the best, and hope that they return home with another week to play.

GOOD LUCK LIONS!!!



Game Prediction: Lets all keep our fingers and toes crossed for a Lions victory to make it as simple as possible. Either way, it has been an amazing season.

Despite the loss to Cheesy Philly to round the regular season out, the Lions still booked their ticket to the postseason and what lies in front of them is four tough matchups to take home the championship trophy, starting with the third matchup against the Tillamook Sharknado.

The Lions seem to have faltered when it matters the most, ending the season on the back of two losses, with a poor 29-12 defeat to Cheesy Philly. While the Lions were able to get the game to 12-10 early in the third quarter, it was in fact the fourth quarter where the Lions just had nothing to show for it, and no answer to Will Smith, with Napoleon Whitmore looking like he had given up. The Lions forced to punt 11 times in the game, and on every single one of their fourth quarter drives. Speaking after the game, Head Coach James Jennings was not a very happy man:

“We just plain gave up there, and I honestly have no idea why. Call it what you will, some will say that we could have easily just rested a bunch of starters, let Philly get a monster victory, and be ready for the postseason, but that is not what we do here, but it seems the players just gave up and didn’t give 100% effort at all in that one. When you give up over 400 total yards in the game, over 80% of that by the quarterback, you don’t deserve to win a game of football, let alone be in the postseason. We just plain sucked and I would be shocked if anybody gave us a slither of hope next week”

The Lions, honestly, were never in this one. The stats read like a horror story for them, 5 first downs to 24, the only silver lining being the touchdown to Frank Bell, to give him his first receiving touchdown of the season, and fourth overall this year. The Lions failed to reach any player over 700 rushing yards, or even 1000 receiving yards, closest was Tony Lockett with 610 yards and 5 touchdowns. Jeffery Paz finished the season with a 76.5% FG percentage, whilst Jeff Robinson ended with 113 punts and over 5,300 yards. Only one defensive player reached 100 tackles, that being Douglas Dunham, and Whitmore ended up with 3,250 yards at 69% pass completion.

Overall, it seemed to be a poor first season for the Lions, despite managing 10 wins, including the biggest win probably ever seen, or to be seen in league history, and two four-game win streaks, but the problem lies that the Lions either win small or win on a tight margin, leaving it very late, or they lose big and get blown out of the water. Worst result being the 17-0 shutout loss to Bohemian, a game many thought they would win easily, and also the 31-14 loss to Star City only a week later.

The Lions will need to bring their “A-game” this week, in a do-or-go home matchup, more like what we saw earlier this season, rather than what has been on display in the last few weeks, or the Sharknado will again run away with this one and the Lions will be left in their dust wondering what is going on. If the receiving group can’t get their act together, if the run game falters once again like it has the last month or so, then the Lions can kiss their chances goodbye early on, but if they can lift their game, lift to the defensive prowess that they have shown early on, and keep the pressure on the Sharknado offense, keep them to very little or no score, then the Lions might have a slim chance. Many bookmakers are not giving the Lions much hope here this week.

The Lions will head into the wildcard game with the same roster that they had last week, with the concerns earlier this week that defensive tackle Andrew Robertson (foot) and defensive end Andrew Ramsey (knee) would be ruled out, however, scans have confirmed that Robertson’s foot issue was not of major concern and despite pulling up early in training, he has said that he will play through whatever pain there is.

Game Prediction: Lets all keep our fingers and toes crossed for a Lions victory to make it as simple as possible. Either way, it has been an amazing season.

It’s time for the Annual “Lion Awards” Ceremony, brought to you by Penrith Mazda Centre. We celebrate the first season for the team and congratulate the whole team, coaching staff and support staff on a brilliant season, and while it didn’t culminate in a league title, everyone is thrilled at the season, getting into the playoffs and almost getting the divisional title.

We start with the Rookie of the Year and out of the fifteen rookies who finished the season with the team, and the countless other rookies who had been part of the team during the season, there was one who shone above all else, and while he finished the season on the bench with a leg injury, he was brilliant across the offensive side of the ball, capping off a brilliant rookie season with 609 yards from 82 receptions, and 4 touchdowns and three tackles to boot. Congratulations to our Rookie of the Year; Wayne Snyder!

The Lions Defensive Player of the Year is someone who played their heart out week after week, he never seemed to stop, always probing for the ball, going after runners and the offensive line and in nearly 1,000 plays across 15 games, he led the team with 101 tackles. It is none other than strong safety Douglas Dunham!

On the other side of the ball, the Lions Offensive Player of the Year really needs no introduction, a playmaker who made it clear that he was well worth the draft pick used to bring him to Penrith and being worth every single dollar that his contract shows. It is none other than our play general, quarterback Napoleon Whitmore, finishing his first season with the team with 3,250 yards (398/577. 69% pass completion) and 18 touchdowns, with a QBR of 80.43.

The Play of the Year was all the way back in Week 1 with cornerback Richard Brown getting a 17-yard touchdown from a blocked punt in the 72-6 demolition of Nice.
https://electrosports.myfootballnow.com/watch/80#13707

The final award is the most prestigious award, it is the Lion Medallion award, presented to the best and fairest player of the whole season. This award is judged by the coaching staff, who are able to vote for any number of players from each game with a score between 10 and 1, with a player able to receive up to 50 points for a game, with the most votes being named the winner.

In third place, with 425 votes, was wide receiver Brian Lecuyer.
In second place, with 460 votes, was strong safety Douglas Dunham
With 501 votes, the winner is Napoleon Whitmore.

PENRITH, NSW – The Lions have decided not to offer contracts to RB John Heath, TE Ryan Coley, TE Steven Cervantes, LT Robert Taylor, LDE Robert Cary, DT Ruben Huggins, DT Fernando Houser, DT Nick Collinsworth and CB Christopher Lemon.

The Lions are currently in talks with WLB Robert Jimenez with regards to a new contract following the expiration of his previous contract and no further details will be given at this time.

The Lions have also placed LT William Heston, LG Charley Coleman, RDE James Carrillo, SS David Marrero and FS Brad Bourque on the trade block, with LG Frank Hollomon requesting a trade from the team. We have respected his wishes and will actively look for a trade that best suits the needs of the team and our plans moving forward. Further details about trades that are finalized will be made in due course.

The Lions have already begun work diligently to boost the roster for the upcoming season through both free agency and trades, whilst beginning preparations for the upcoming draft, where the Lions will be picking twenty-third overall, and currently hold six selections.

Following the release of the fixtures for the 2023 Electrosports Football League season, we have all the details on who Penrith are playing where and when...

The Lions begin the first month with two divisional matchups and four straight games at home, which looks to be a juicy prospect for a team that went 7-1 at home last season. The Lions will, however, have to face a three-game road trip straight after Week 4, and will have to face not only six teams that made the postseason last year, but the defending champion Stockholm North Stars in the middle of the season (lucky the game is at our home).

Where do our divisional games fall in the schedule this year?
Well, we play Tillamook in Weeks 12 and again in Week 15 and we hope to get some revenge on them for the wildcard loss last season, whilst we will face the Bullfighters first up in Week 1 and then again in Week 14, and Florence will come to town in Week 2, and we will head to them in Week 11.

How strong or weak is our schedule this year?
We ended up with the 13th strongest schedule in the league (0.514, 130-123-3), which is the 9th hardest in the conference and second easiest in the division, only Florence has an easier schedule in our division.

What other divisions did we get this year as part of the rotation?
We were quite lucky this year, we ended up with the FB East division for our conference rotation (meaning we will face the FB North next season) and we also got given the BC South for the other conference. We will also face the Forbidden City Dragons and Los Angeles Earthquake this season, as they finished 2nd in their respective divisions last season.

Preseason matters! Who are we getting to see play?
Our preseason matchups are going to be as tough as the regular season, we get another game against Edlington, this time in Week 4, whilst also facing Cape Town early (we will see them again in Week 5 of the regular season) and also the Portland Pilots. We will also head off to Maastricht for the first time, facing the team formerly known as the Bohemian Cubs.

Any long road trips, or home games in a row this season?
We were lucky this year, only having two “long” road trips, the first one coming in Week 5 when we head off to Cape Town to face the Rhinos, then off to Newcastle to play the Terriers and then off to Montevideo for another battle with the Screamers. The other one will be in Weeks 11 and 12 when we head off to Florence to see the Fools, followed by our first matchup of the season against Tillamook.

How does the last month look for the Lions?
Two home games and two away games. We start with welcoming Los Angeles to The Lions Den, before setting off for a rematch with Balsicas, then heading home to welcome Tillamook and then the Arrows to round the season off.

What’s the final home game, and our final game of the regular season?
Our final home game is in Week 15, where we will hopefully be able to celebrate a divisional title against Tillamook before we head off to Nottingham to face the Arrows, the second time we will head off to the UK this season.

PENRITH, NSW – As the beginning of the new league season starts, and teams begin their trade talk discussions, free agency scouting and contracts coming in thick and fast, the Lions are focussed on what the upcoming season has to offer as well as now knowing the picks that they’ll be working with for the upcoming draft.

The league announced the official draft order today, which finalized the Lions’ draft selections for the draft, which is due to begin next month.

Penrith currently holds a selection in each of the first five rounds, with the third and fourth-round selections being acquired in trades during the season, and then a seventh-round selection which was acquired in a pick swap with Cheesy Philly, but is tied to the finishing position of the Stockholm North Stars, therefore; the Lions hold the final draft selection at pick number 224, commonly referred to as Mr. Irrelevant.

The Lions will begin preparations for the draft and will look to further bolster their draft selections through trades as free agency begins and will continue in this first stage until the draft next month.