Penrith Panthers under fire for showing a ‘lack of respect’ towards the New Zealand Warriors

The Warriors have responded after a former NRL forward called out the Panthers for their ‘embarrassing’ behaviour for mocking the New Zealand club on social media.

The Panthers beat New Zealand in the first week of the NRL finals. Picture: Getty Images

Penrith CEO Matt Cameron has apologised to his New Zealand counterpart, Cameron George, after a video on the club’s social media accounts appeared to poke fun at the popular ‘Up the Wahs’ catch cry.

George told this masthead that Cameron reached out on Sunday morning to assure the Warriors no offence was intended by the post - which showed Penrith players celebrating their 32-6 win to audio of a fan made song called ‘Up the Pahs’.

“He rang me first thing this morning to apologise and said it wasn’t out of disrespect, and it has been corrected on his end,” George said.

“They are such a professional club, so to Matty Cameron, Brian Fletcher, to everyone at the club, we don’t take it as disrespect. We’ve moved on.

“They thought it was a bit of fun, and I guess some people have taken it the wrong way.

The social media post in question.

“I really appreciate that Matt Cameron made sure to get a hold of me and apologised on behalf of the club that if we’ve taken it disrespectfully, that it wasn’t meant to be that way, and for us it wasn’t taken that way.”

The ‘Up the Wahs’ phrase has taken New Zealand by storm as the Warriors emerged as a genuine title contender in 2023.

Last week, a Panthers fan created a song called ‘Up the Pahs’, which went viral on TikTok. That audio was then used by the club to vision of Penrith players celebrating Sunday’s win.

The lyrics to the viral song were: “Up the Pahs! We’re going for a three-peat, we’re turning up the heat. We’re never panicked, we have Nathan Cleary. Shaun Johnson out the game on Saturday, it’s an oh no, therefore five tries on Brian To’o. Up the Pahs. Up the Pahs, up the Pahs.”

But with the Warriors being this year’s feel-good story, league fans were quick to call out Penrith with many believing it was a show of disrespect to their week one finals opponent.

Former Raiders and Dragons forward Joel Thompson took aim at the back-to-back premiers, slamming the social media post for a lack of sportsmanship.

“Don’t think I’m a hater, I’m a fan of the talent this side have BUT wtf is happening here. Embarrassing,” the 234-game veteran said on Twitter.

Don’t think I’m a hater, I’m a fan of the talent this side have BUT wtf is happening here.. Embarrassing.

Lack of respect and poor sportsmanship was not what Rugby League was built on. https://t.co/VkZ57IF3Bv

— Joel Thompson (@joel_thompson12) September 9, 2023

“Lack of respect and poor sportsmanship was not what Rugby League was built on.”

The Panthers removed the controversial post on Twitter and the club’s Instagram and TikTok accounts on Sunday morning.

It’s not the first time Penrith celebrations have drawn the ire of rugby league fans. Panthers stars were labelled as arrogant after last year’s grand final celebrations after beating bitter western Sydney rivals Parramatta.

Speaking at a fan day the morning after the title win forward James Fisher-Harris caused a stir after declaring: “I just want to say: Parra are our sons. Right here, right now, that‘s just a fact.”

The Panthers’ win over the Warriors has earned the back-to-back premiers a spot in the preliminary finals where they will take on the winner from week two clash between Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters.

Originally published as Penrith Panthers under fire for showing a ‘lack of respect’ towards the New Zealand Warriors