Penrith Panthers unveil $22m academy that aims to make western Sydney rival Brisbane

PHIL Gould believes it has taken Penrith to play their $22m trump card to make the NRL finally realise how important western Sydney is to rugby league.

Penrith Panthers' new RL academy unveiled

PHIL Gould believes it has taken Penrith to play their $22 million trump card to make the NRL finally realise how important western Sydney is to the future of rugby league.

The Panthers unveiled their state-of-the-art Panthers Rugby League Academy on Wednesday, with Prime Minister — and Sydney Roosters supporter — Malcolm Turnbull even popping up at the foot of the mountains to unveil the state-of-the-art facility.

Gould said there was a real battle going on in the suburbs with the emergence of the GWS Giants and Western Sydney Wanderers, but “we hope this facility puts us right back in the game’’.

Penrith Panthers' new rugby league academy has been unveiled.

In a not-so-subtle swipe at the game’s powerbrokers, Gould added: “The NRL should have a big presence in western Sydney, not just the eastern suburbs.’’

The Panthers claimed the NRL had initially promised to stump up $6 million for the new academy, which features two full fields, a gym — complete with weights branded with the Panthers’ logo — plunge pools and a high-tech video room.

Penrith even met NRL demands to include office space for up to 12 of their support staff, only for the governing body to pull the deal off the table when Penrith refused to sign a 10-year deal to compete in the competition beyond 2018.

The NRL confirmed this, with the deal to be paid off over 10 years, but the Panthers declined to sign up.

The spokesman said the NRL were now looking at how they could become involved in the project.

It was noted ARL Commission chairman John Grant was nowhere to be sighted at the opening, while new NRL CEO Todd Greenberg and two of his senior officials were given a tour a day earlier.

Inside the new Panthers Rugby League Academy.

Gould said of the funding: “It was discussed a number of times, there were promises made, but it all fell over at the eleventh hour.

“I’m very hopeful of resurrecting that. Now that it’s been built, and they’ve been out to inspect it, and they’ve seen what we’ve done and the reasons behind it, perhaps now they’ve got a better understanding of what western Sydney means to the game.

“This facility should have an NRL brand on it, it should be part of the western Sydney game development system and the NRL should have a big presence in western Sydney, not just the eastern suburbs.

“That’s something I tried to put to them five years ago.

“I want to resurrect that assistance and help the NRL grow its presence out here, and have the people of western Sydney feel the NRL cares about them.’’

Players will use the video room to analyse games.

When Gould first arrived at the club, he admitted he was unsure if it was repairable with the spiralling debt. But the new facility has already helped secure big names like Trent Merrin and Peta Hiku.

“Trent probably signed on the dream of this, and he’d only seen this as a sketch on paper,’’ Gould said.

Despite touring clubs all over the globe, Gould said it was the Broncos’ set-up that “resonated the most’’, and “that became our aspiration — to be as big and successful as the Broncos’’.

The Panthers players only had their first tour of the facility, at the back of the Panthers’ club, on Monday, and will now base themselves there permanently.

The Panthers will enjoy enviable gym facilities.

The aim is to make Penrith as big and successful as the Broncos.

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