The Panthers are fuming over claims that they made a formal complaint to the NRL over the scheduling of their preliminary final.
A Daily Telegraph report stated the club complained to the NRL after it scheduled the Panthers to play on Saturday night, October 17, while the Melbourne Storm play the night before against the Sydney Roosters or Canberra Raiders.
Teams playing on Friday have more recovery time while Penrith has the shorter turnaround from the preliminary final to the grand final on October 25, should they qualify.
The report claimed the club took its concerns to the NRL because they felt as minor premiers and first team through to the preliminary final, they deserved to be playing in the first qualifier on Friday.
Penrith Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher refuted the claims in a statement this morning.
"We are extremely disappointed with the misleading headlines and social media posts that have been published by The Daily Telegraph in regards to the scheduling of our preliminary final," Fletcher said.
"At no stage did Panthers lodge a formal complaint with the NRL in regards to finals scheduling.
"In normal discussions with the NRL, the club indicated a preference to play the preliminary final on Friday 16 October.
"The NRL subsequently explained their reasons for the game being played on Saturday 17 October.
"That was the end of the discussion, we accepted the decision of the NRL and no complaint was made."
The NRL says decisions about specific scheduling are made annually and are based on giving all teams even turnaround times.
Since 2012, the year the current finals format was implemented, the minor premiers have played four times on Friday night and four times on Saturday night in their respective grand final qualifiers.
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/penrith-panthers-reject-claims-formal-complaint-preliminary-final/46c9a523-8fca-4c30-85a1-f7d215df9bc3
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