Penrith Panthers 28–18 Brisbane Broncos — Qualifying Final, 2003 NRL Finals Series
14 Sep 2003 · Penrith Park, Penrith, NSW · Attendance: 18,534
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2003 NRL finals series: Penrith Panthers 28–18 Brisbane Broncos, at Penrith Park, Penrith, NSW on 14 Sep 2003.
Sourcing caveat: No try-scoring minutes were found for this fixture. Penrith's sourced lineup lists Shannon Donato at #21 in the starting hooker slot (not Luke Priddis, the team's regular hooker, who does not appear in this specific match's sourced lineup) and Trent Waterhouse at #15 in the starting second row — reported exactly as sourced, not corrected to a standard pattern.
Scorers
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Lewis; Lewis; Ross; Girdler; Sattler Goals: Girdler (4/5 conversions) |
| Brisbane Broncos | Tries: Kelly; Kelly; Minto Goals: De Vere (3/4 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Penrith Panthers | Brisbane Broncos | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhys Wesser | Fullback | Darren Lockyer | 1 |
| 2 | Luke Lewis | Wing | Craig Frawley | 2 |
| 3 | Ryan Girdler | Centre | Stuart Kelly | 5 |
| 4 | Paul Whatuira | Centre | Michael De Vere | 4 |
| 5 | Luke Rooney | Wing | Scott Minto | 16 |
| 6 | Preston Campbell | Five-Eighth | Ben Ikin | 6 |
| 7 | Craig Gower (c) | Halfback | Shaun Berrigan | 7 |
| 8 | Joel Clinton | Prop | Shane Webcke | 8 |
| 21 | Shannon Donato | Hooker | Michael Ryan | 9 |
| 10 | Martin Lang | Prop | Corey Parker | 10 |
| 11 | Joe Galuvao | Second Row | Gorden Tallis (c) | 11 |
| 15 | Trent Waterhouse | Second Row | Dane Carlaw | 12 |
| 13 | Scott Sattler | Lock | Tonie Carroll | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Ben Ross | Brad Meyers | 14 | |
| 16 | Luke Swain | Carl Webb | 15 | |
| 17 | Shane Rodney | Scott Prince | 19 | |
| 18 | Colin Ward | Neville Costigan | 21 | |
| John Lang | Coach | Wayne Bennett | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Steve Clark |
Match report
Minor premiers Penrith opened their finals campaign at home, overturning an 18-10 halftime deficit against reigning back-to-back premiers Brisbane. This second-half fightback, led by Luke Lewis's double, set the tone for Penrith's entire finals series, in which they trailed at halftime in three of their four finals yet won every one.