24 matches: 10 wins, 14 losses
Top point scorer: Preston Campbell – 163 [7 tries, 67 goals, 1 field goal]
Top try scorer: Rhys Wesser – 19
Player of the Year: Rhys Wesser
Stats: themightypanthers.com/season2006.htm
Before the season had even started, coach John Lang was to enter his final season at the Panthers when it was announced that Matthew Elliott would be the new coach from 2007.
With construction works on the western side of the newly named Credit Union Australia Stadium still occurring at the start of the season, the Panthers played away for the first seven rounds, which included one bye and also moving a home game to Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide.
Penrith continued on from their winning form from the end of the 2005 season, winning three of their first four, with their only loss being in golden point to the Raiders in Canberra.
Their homecoming in Round 9 was not a happy one, with a heavy loss to Cronulla being part of a nine match stretch to the second bye in which there were only two wins.
From the Round 16 mark, the Panthers were able to arrest the slide and were able to string together a run in which wins outweighed losses and be one of the teams within striking distance of the top eight, sitting in ninth spot with two rounds remaining. But needing to at the very least win their two final matches, they would lose both and finish twelfth and four points behind eighth spot Parramatta.
Being their 40th season in the top grade, a 17-man Team of Legends was named after the end of the season, which included a number of current squad members.
In the lower grades, the Cougars in their final year of the partnership with St. Marys finished seventh in the Premier League but were eliminated in week 1 of the finals. It was a much better outcome for the Jersey Flegg team, being crowned premiers after defeating Parramatta in the decider.
The Mighty Panthers 