Penrith Panthers 28–20 New Zealand Warriors — Preliminary Final, 2003 NRL Finals Series
28 Sep 2003 · Telstra Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW · Attendance: 43,174
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2003 NRL finals series: Penrith Panthers 28–20 New Zealand Warriors, at Telstra Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW on 28 Sep 2003.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found for this fixture.
Scorers
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Galuvao; Girdler; Lewis; Priddis; Wesser Goals: Girdler (4/5 conversions) |
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Swann; Toopi; Villasanti; Webb Goals: Webb (2/4 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Penrith Panthers | New Zealand Warriors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhys Wesser | Fullback | Brent Webb | 1 |
| 2 | Luke Lewis | Wing | Henry Fa'afili | 2 |
| 3 | Ryan Girdler | Centre | Vinnie Anderson | 3 |
| 4 | Paul Whatuira | Centre | Clinton Toopi | 4 |
| 5 | Luke Rooney | Wing | Francis Meli | 5 |
| 6 | Preston Campbell | Five-Eighth | Thomas Leuluai | 6 |
| 7 | Craig Gower (c) | Halfback | Stacey Jones | 7 |
| 8 | Joel Clinton | Prop | Jerry Seuseu | 8 |
| 9 | Luke Priddis | Hooker | Monty Betham (c) | 9 |
| 10 | Martin Lang | Prop | Richard Villasanti | 10 |
| 11 | Joe Galuvao | Second Row | Logan Swann | 11 |
| 12 | Tony Puletua | Second Row | Awen Guttenbeil | 12 |
| 13 | Scott Sattler | Lock | Sione Faumuina | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ben Ross | Motu Tony | 14 | |
| 15 | Trent Waterhouse | Ali Lauiti'iti | 15 | |
| 16 | Shane Rodney | Wairangi Koopu | 17 | |
| 17 | Luke Swain | Iafeta Palea'aesina | 20 | |
| John Lang | Coach | Daniel Anderson | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Tim Mander |
Match report
Level 10-10 at halftime, Penrith pulled away in the second half against a gallant Warriors outfit that had knocked out Canberra a week earlier. Five different try-scorers reflected Penrith's all-round attacking spread that finals series; the win sent the minor premiers to their first Grand Final since 1991.