Panther Stamps

In modern clubs, loyalty systems are everywhere.

Members accumulate points through gaming, dining and entertainment spending, redeeming them for meals, prizes, discounts or benefits through sophisticated computerised systems linked to membership cards and databases.

Security surrounding gaming operations was often basic, particularly in smaller or rapidly growing clubs where staffing and oversight systems struggled to keep pace with expansion.

Long before those systems became standard across the club industry, Panthers experimented with an early version of the same idea.

It was called Panther Stamps.

Introduced in 1972, the scheme rewarded patrons — with bonus stamps that could later be exchanged for prizes and trophies. While simple by modern standards, the concept reflected a surprisingly advanced understanding of customer loyalty, repeat visitation and member engagement

The Panthers Annual Report for 1972 described the program as:

“one of the most outstanding successes we have ever had.”

The scheme had officially commenced on 10 July 1972 after several months of delay caused by what the club described as “security and administrative problems involved.”

Even at this early stage, Panthers recognised that a rewards system required careful operational controls, stock management and accounting procedures.

Within less than six months:

and prizes worth approximately $22,000 at cost price had been distributed.
members had collected more than 150,000 stamps
over 90,000 had already been redeemed

The prizes ranged from trophies and sporting awards through to toys and household items. The report noted that demand became particularly intense in the weeks before Christmas, with thousands of dollars’ worth of toys redeemed by members.

Importantly, Panthers did not present the scheme simply as generosity or entertainment.

Club management acknowledged that while the program carried significant administrative costs — including staffing, storage, stationery and prize purchasing — they believed the increased engagement from members more than justified the expense.

In effect, Panthers had identified an idea that would later become central to the modern club and gaming industries: reward loyalty, encourage repeat visitation, and strengthen the relationship between the member and the venue.

The system also demonstrated the increasingly sophisticated operational mindset developing within Panthers during the early 1970s. By this period, the club was not merely expanding physically — it was experimenting with new forms of marketing, patron engagement and gaming promotion that were relatively advanced for the time.

Although Panther Stamps relied on physical booklets and manual administration rather than computers and swipe cards, the underlying principle was remarkably familiar to modern readers.

Today’s digital loyalty programs — with their points systems, rewards catalogues and member incentives — are built upon many of the same ideas.

While modest by modern standards, Panther Stamps reflected the growing importance of structured member engagement within the evolving licensed club industry of the period.

Panther Stamps were simply an early analogue version of that future.

Related Themes

Financial Management · Growth

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The Walls Come Down

Part 10 of 70 — Original Chapter: Chapter 5: Building Basics – Business Principles and Property

This article forms part of the serialised republication of Panthers, Passion & Politics – The Roger Cowan Years.

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Clubland in the fifties and sixties was overwhelmingly a male domain — more a bastion than a business.

When Roger Cowan arrived, the ‘Long Bar’ extended the length of the building, and it was for men only. There was also the Sports Lounge, with its dartboards and pool tables. It too was restricted to men.

As in most clubs and hotels in those days there was The Ladies Lounge. This small room was the only place in the entire club where women — or couples — could go. It had poker machines and couches but didn’t have its own bar. The women were served by stewards from the other bars. In those very early days of the women’s liberation movement, the room had acquired the unflattering nickname, the ‘sow pen’.

Women were only admitted to the club as associate members. Full membership was restricted to men. Keith Rhind, who was a young director at the time, recalls:

One of Roger’s early pushes against the Board was to allow women into the bar, but there was a lot of resistance. One of the directors at the time was Lou Brown. Lou was real old school, a man’s man, and he used to growl, “Women! They’re like white ants. Once you let ‘em in, you’ll never get rid of ‘em”.

Contemporary attitudes within the licensed club industry could still be remarkably conservative. A 1971 Sydney Morning Herald article captured some of the prevailing assumptions of the era:

Read the full article: PDF

Bryn Miller also remembers that time.

Cowan had analysed the figures — the men’s bar took up 80 per cent of the space but only brought in 20 per cent of the revenue.

By 9 o’clock at night, there might be only three people in the men’s bar and the ladies area would be full to overflowing to the point that some couples would just leave and go to the RSL.

This was especially so on Saturday night — traditionally the time for couples to have a night out – or on big trading nights like New Year’s Eve.

The revenue figures were common knowledge, but the men were very possessive of their space, and this certainly carried through to most of the directors.

Roger used to wander around every night, often quite late, keeping an eye on things. One late Thursday night after the trots at the local showground, he and a duty manager were watching a couple of men. One had big pockets inside his coat, the other was keeping watch while he cleaned out the drawers. They caught them and went to their car which was full of calico bags filled with ten and twenty cent pieces.

Kevin McGrath recalls how this played out in practice,

When a football game was on, it was stand aside or be swept up in the rush.

On game days they would pull the shutters down in the men’s bar so that the drinkers would go over the road to the game. After the game was finished, they would pour dozens and dozens of half schooners and have them lined up. There would be a mad rush from the football ground as hundreds of thirsty fans descended on the bar.The schooners were filled and the shutters went up. If you only wanted a middy — or perish the thought, a scotch — you just had to wait.

Cowan later said the changes were not a conscious move to overcome discrimination, but simply, a commercial reality.

We were trying to make ourselves more popular. We had to be all the time working out what was needed and then responding. The demand at the time was for much bigger accommodation for mixed company. We were squeezing them into one tiny corner of the club, where they were uncomfortable. There was no space, people were pushing and shoving each other, and often there would be fights in there.

I always thought that to run a club, or any business, you have to give the people what they want. At that time, it was being run for the convenience of a fairly small group of men who wanted to protect it for themselves.

The real shift came one New Year’s Eve — Cowan had convinced the Board to do a one-off and allow women into the Long Bar.

The Board finally relented, at first creating a small, partitioned area of the bar where women could go. “Roger persisted, and they were eventually persuaded to have a proper mixed bar, and the sales increased dramatically”, says Rhind.

“It took women a while to really want to go in there,” Miller says, “because that whole male bastion thing was all so entrenched. But the barriers were starting to come down.”

As those barriers began to shift, the club was changing not just who it welcomed, but what it offered — and how people experienced it.

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← Part 9 · All Parts · Part 11 →

Commentary and Contributions

Wires, Magnets and Monitoring

During the 1960s and 1970s, poker machine operations were still relatively primitive by modern standards. Machines were largely mechanical, heavily cash-based and vulnerable to manipulation.

Across the NSW club industry, stories circulated of patrons using wires, magnets, lead discs being used as coins, and other improvised devices in attempts to interfere with machine mechanisms or influence payouts.

Security surrounding gaming operations was often basic, particularly in smaller or rapidly growing clubs where staffing and oversight systems struggled to keep pace with expansion.

At the same time, the sheer volume of coins moving through gaming rooms created operational difficulties of its own. Machines required constant clearing, counting and refilling. Cash handling was labour intensive and exposed clubs to risks ranging from simple human error to outright theft.

These problems were not unique to Panthers. They reflected broader challenges facing the club industry as poker machine revenue expanded rapidly during this period.

For administrators such as Roger Cowan, such vulnerabilities highlighted the need for tighter operational systems and greater technological oversight. At Panthers, this gradually led to innovations in surveillance, accounting controls, machine monitoring and broader administrative systems designed to improve both security and efficiency.

Part of Cowan’s reputation within the club industry stemmed from his willingness to embrace technology earlier than many contemporaries. What later became sophisticated electronic monitoring and integrated management systems began, in part, as practical responses to very immediate operational problems.

The issue was not simply dishonesty. It was scale.

As clubs grew larger and gaming operations expanded, informal methods that may once have worked in smaller suburban venues became increasingly inadequate. Stronger systems, better monitoring and more professional management structures became essential to running modern licensed clubs.

Seen in that light, the technological innovations discussed in Part 9 were not merely about efficiency or modernisation. They were also responses to a rapidly changing gaming environment in which security, accountability and operational control had become central concerns for the industry.

Related Themes

Financial Management · Growth

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Eliminating Scams with Innovation and Systems

Part 9 of 70 — Original Chapter: Chapter 5: Building Basics – Business Principles and Property

This article forms part of the serialised republication of Panthers, Passion & Politics – The Roger Cowan Years.

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With control of both clubs established, attention turned to strengthening the systems that underpinned the operation.

Taking responsibility for both clubs gave Cowan far greater control over the finances. As the club began to show consistent profits, attention turned to planning improvements.

A significant part of the club’s early success in 1966 involved attacking the internal and external scams that were rife in the club industry at the time, particularly around gaming machines.¹

Kevin McGrath, who worked in the club’s poker machine area during the 1970s, late recalled an early scam highlighting the brazenness of the scams operating within clubs at the time:

There was one syndicate that had worked out how to set up a jackpot on the Inca machines. They were laughing at us and getting a lot of jackpots. We knew it was not possible to get that many jackpots, but nobody knew how they were doing it.

By watching them, we worked out that you could see into the machine at the side, and, using a thin piece of steel, line up the bolts. So, we cut strips of cardboard and stuck them to the machines so that you couldn’t see inside.

The group walked in while we were doing it and they were very angry. One guy marched straight up to me and said, “What are you doing with my machine – you can’t do that!”

Max Connors remembers how serious these people were about what they were doing.

Some would get an imprint from the lock of the machine and make their own key.

Roger used to wander around every night, often quite late, keeping an eye on things. One late Thursday night after the trots at the local showground, he and a duty manager were watching a couple of men. One had big pockets inside his coat, the other was keeping watch while he cleaned out the drawers. They caught them and went to their car which was full of calico bags filled with ten and twenty cent pieces.

On another occasion, club management worked with the Liquor Administration Board² on investigations of a scam by a group of the Club’s poker machine attendants who were later charged by police.

Over the next few years, Cowan introduced measures in the poker machine area to try to eliminate theft, and to streamline the process, both for staff and players. One of these was a conveyor belt. The coins would drop onto the belt and move along to a central bin, saving attendants from having to clear out individual machines and carry heavy coins.

Bryn Miller, later CEO of Merrylands RSL club, also worked in the Penrith club’s poker machine area at the time. He says the conveyor system predated the widespread use of nylon bearings, so everything had to be greased. Often the coins would come out covered in black grease. But he says it was a novel way of handling money, and it made it so much easier for the staff.

Miller recalls that Cowan was always open to new ideas and would do everything he could to put them into practice. He believed the club was probably the first to introduce computers into the club industry. A particular system called Feeney Electronics³, introduced in the early 70s, met with mixed reaction from staff and directors.

This was an absolutely brilliant system so far ahead of its time. The poker machines had small electrodes on their reels, and when they lined up for a jackpot, it recorded in a computer system. This transmitted the details onto television monitors around the club. The supervisors on the floor could see the machine number, and the jackpot details. We would go straight there, check it and pay it.

It was state of the art stuff, unbelievable for the time — most clubs didn’t even have a computer. Colour television was only just around.

To put this into perspective, Penrith Council installed its first in-house computers in 1977. It was a system that used dumb terminals. Council got its first PCs in 1984, when the typing pool was replaced by a few word processors on secretaries’ desks.

Phil Bennett was an inspector with the Liquor Administration Board in the Feeney years. He agreed that the system was 15 years ahead of its time. He said it was innovative and visionary, but it came too early to get any useful information from the Liquor Administration Board’s point of view.

Although the system did not evolve the way it was envisioned, it delivered valuable information that supported other areas of the business.

Cowan later conceded that he may have convinced the Board to persist with Feeney longer than he should have. Had it succeeded, it would have been a major breakthrough. There was nothing like it anywhere in the world at the time⁴, and the commercial potential was significant. Ultimately it cost the club around $1 million.

Barry Hubbard said many on the board saw it as throwing good money after bad.

Bryn Miller saw it differently

It was one of the very important innovations. It took ten or fifteen years for the industry to even start working on it again. And at least twenty years for the systems to actually come out and be operating properly. It would be impossible to estimate the value of the savings we made because of the system.

Cowan also introduced a further innovation to Panthers members.Members were able to collect Panther Stamps; the club had a large gift room, and stamps could be used to purchase items. This was, of course, the forerunner of the incentive schemes operated by many clubs.⁵ But it was very likely the first.

Being different and leading the way was part of the Cowan psyche. Another Penrith first in poker machines was an increase to the jackpots. The standard jackpots paid on 5, 10 and 20 cent machines were 5, 10 and 20 dollars. The club increased this to 6, 12 and 24 dollars. By today’s standards, that extra $4 may not seem much, but with the average wage around that time about $60, it was a real bonus for the players.

But improving systems was only part of the challenge. The broader question was who the club was being built for — and that would require a different kind of change.

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The mechanical operations of poker machines in those days made them an easy target. See Beyond the Book: Wires, Magnets and Monitoring ↩︎
The Liquor Administration Board (LAB) was the NSW regulatory authority responsible for the oversight of licensed clubs and gaming operations. It later became the Department of Gaming and Racing, and now is the Liquor & Gaming NSW.
↩︎
Feeney Electronics developed an early electronic poker machine monitoring system that attempted to centralise jackpot and machine data – a concept well ahead of industry practice. See Beyond the Book: Feeney Electronics — Ahead of its Time
↩︎
Electronic monitoring systems were emerging internationally during this period, several interviewees believed the Penrith system was unusually advanced.
↩︎
Trading stamp reward systems were common in Australian retailing during the 1960s and 1970s. Penrith Rugby League Club adapted the concept into a club-based loyalty and reward program. See Beyond the Book: Panther Stamps. ↩︎

← Part 8 · All Parts · Part 10 →

Commentary and Contributions

Removing the Football Club Secretary and Treasurer

The removal of Merv Cartwright (Secretary) and Ron Partridge (Treasurer) from their respective roles with the Penrith District Rugby League Football Club occurred against the backdrop of a broader and more complex set of issues than is immediately apparent in the main narrative.

While Cartwright became the central public focus of the dispute, the Board’s concerns also extended to the financial administration of the football club more broadly, including the role of Treasurer Ron Partridge.

Contemporaneous Board papers and meeting records from the period indicate a growing concern among Directors regarding both the financial management of the Club’s football operations and the processes by which financial commitments were being made.

At the centre of these concerns was the relationship between the Licensed Club — which generated the revenue — and the District Rugby League Club, which was responsible for football operations. While this arrangement had supported the Club’s early growth, it also created a structural tension: financial responsibility and operational control were not always aligned.

By the late 1960s, the Board had become increasingly uneasy that commitments were being entered into without sufficient oversight, and in some cases without formal authority. This was not framed as a single incident, but as a pattern that had developed over time.

Internal analysis presented to the Board suggested that the Club’s financial position was more fragile than it appeared. Liabilities associated with player payments, bonuses and sign-on fees were, in the Board’s view, not being fully or consistently reflected in financial reporting. When assessed against normal operating income, there was concern that the Club could not meet its existing commitments without significant restraint.

These concerns were reinforced by a pattern of escalating expenditure. Board discussions from the period refer to sharp increases in allocations to football operations, alongside uncertainty as to how those figures had been determined. Directors questioned both the reliability of the budgeting process and the basis upon which commitments had been made.

In response, the Board moved to assert clearer control over financial decision-making. Proposals and subsequent resolutions emphasised that:

no contracts or financial commitments were to be entered into without explicit Board approval;
committees operating within the football structure were to act within clearly defined limits;
and all funds were to be subject to centralised oversight and reporting.

These measures were not presented as routine administrative adjustments, but as necessary steps to address what was seen as a deteriorating financial and governance position.

At the time the NSW Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) was responsible for the debts of all District Clubs — and should Penrith Rugby League Club Ltd (Licensed Club) stop funding the Penrith District Rugby League Football Club (District Club), the Board was confident it would not prevent the District Club from operating. It could, however, trigger intervention by the NSWRFL as administrators of the Penrith District Club.

Within this context, the recommendation to cease funding unless Secretary Merv Cartwright and Treasurer Ron Partridge resigned can be understood not as an isolated or sudden decision, but as the culmination of these concerns. This was not an easy decision for the Board, a fact reflected in the final paragraph of the Board Resolution.

Resource Material^*

The following documents can be seen as PDFs:

Related Material

* Resource material courtesy of The Ausburn Collection

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Major Player: Ken “Poker” Ausburn

Ernest Kenneth “Poker” Ausburn

Foundation Member, Chairman and Long-time Penrith Clubman

Ken “Poker” Ausburn was one of the foundational figures of Penrith Rugby League Club and among the generation of local volunteers who helped transform Panthers from a small district football organisation into a major community institution.

A lifelong Penrith resident, Ausburn served the club across many years as a committee member, director and eventually chairman. Remembered for his humour, warmth and strong community spirit, he became one of the best-known personalities associated with Panthers’ formative decades.

Though he died in 1976 before the club’s later expansion into the entertainment giant it would become, Ausburn remained widely respected within Panthers history as one of the men who helped establish the culture and identity of the early club.

Role in the Narrative

Ken Ausburn appears within the early development period of the Panthers, Passion and Politics narrative — the years in which Panthers evolved from modest local beginnings into an increasingly ambitious football and licensed club organisation.

He represents the generation of volunteers and local administrators who laid the foundations upon which later Panthers success would be built.

Ausburn is closely connected to Panthers’ long campaign for admission to the NSW Rugby League first grade competition, and to the club culture that developed during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. His involvement reflects an era when Panthers depended heavily upon local personalities willing to contribute time, energy and leadership to both football and licensed club activities.

His life and reputation also provide insight into the strong community identity that surrounded Panthers during its formative decades.

Background

Born: 9 February, 1921, Penrith
Died: 6 May, 1976, Penrith

Profession: Boilermaker; long-time employee at the St Marys Munitions Factory

Panthers Roles:
• Foundation member
• Director
• Chairman
• Hon. Secretary Penrith Rugby League Golf Club

Community Involvement:
• Supporter of local sporting and youth activities
• Associate with support for Police Boys Club initiatives.
• Long-time Penrith community volunteer

Recognition by Panthers:
• Life Membership, Penrith Panthers (1964)
• Poker Ausburn Award – for most improved Panthers player (now discontinued).

In 2017 Penrith City Council named Ausburn Reserve — between Nepean St and Annett St, Emu Plains — to honour the contributions to the Penrith region from the Austbun family and specifically “Poker” and his brother, Bob.

Known As: “Poker” — a nickname reportedly derived from the poker face he adopted while telling stories, joking with friends or “spinning a yarn”.

Relevance to Events Described

Ausburn belonged to the generation that guided Panthers through its difficult formative years.

He witnessed — and helped contribute to — the club’s evolution from football played at very basic local facilities to the construction of larger licensed club premises and ultimately the development ambitions that would reshape Panthers in later decades.

Bruce Turner’s Footprints on the Banks of the Nepean reproduces the cover of Ausburn’s copy of the proposal supporting Penrith’s elevation to first grade competition in 1967. Although the full submission itself does not appear to have survived publicly, the surviving cover reflects the determination among local administrators to secure top-level rugby league representation for the growing Penrith district.

Contemporaries consistently remembered Ausburn not simply as an administrator, but as a personality. Family members and friends recalled his humour, generosity and capacity to engage people socially. Those qualities appear repeatedly in recollections of early Panthers culture.

His life was also marked by resilience. Following a serious motor vehicle accident, Ausburn endured long-term injuries and health complications, yet continued working and remained active in club affairs.

When he died unexpectedly in 1976 at the age of 55, Panthers tributes described him as one of the “small band of men who pushed the club onto its feet in the very beginning.”

Legacy

Ken “Poker” Ausburn is remembered as one of the local figures who helped give early Panthers its personality and community identity.

He represented an era when the club relied heavily upon volunteers, local businessmen, tradesmen and sporting enthusiasts whose commitment extended well beyond formal administrative duties.

Although later Panthers history would become associated with major commercial development, political influence and large-scale expansion, figures like Ausburn reflected the grassroots community culture from which the organisation originally emerged.

His reputation for humour, sincerity and loyalty ensured that his contribution remained warmly remembered long after his death.

Related Material

Editorial Note

This profile is presented as contextual background.
Additional material may be introduced as the narrative progresses.

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Divided Control: The Club and Football

Part 8 of 70 — Original Chapter: Chapter 4: Insolvency to First Division in One Year

This article forms part of the serialised republication of Panthers, Passion & Politics – The Roger Cowan Years.

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The licensed club was going from strength to strength despite ongoing problems between its board and the football committee. This conflict was to plague Cowan for fourteen years. He would tell every board member in those years,

This club is never going to be truly successful until we bring it all together – the club and the football. We have to be totally united.

There had always been two bodies. Merv Cartwright was the first secretary of the football club, while Cowan managed the registered club.¹

Prior to the commencement of the 1967 season, the board of the licensed club had been asked to approve a budget of £40,000 to cover all rugby league-related expenses for the year. At the end of the season, Cartwright informed the committee that he would need £90,000.

The blow-out of more than 100 per cent was a huge impost on a club that was still struggling to establish itself. At that time it was easily the smallest registered club supporting a first grade team. Cowan was furious. So much hard work had been put into making the club profitable and Cartwright appeared to have little regard for budgets and financial controls. He seemed to have the view that there was a bottomless pit of money. Cowan says there were absolutely no controls over the football spending, with money continually wasted on unnecessary things.

When he took the job on the three-month trial, Cowan was confident that if he worked hard for a few months he would be on top of it all and then could take it easy. He was halfway through a university course as an external student of Armidale University. His plan was to get everything sorted out, and once that was done, “I’ll have plenty of time to study and take some time off”.

It did not quite work out that way. At the beginning of 1967, after 16 months of working 7 days a week, Cowan took his first day off since taking on the job. The Cowan family enjoyed a four-day break, driving to Broken Hill and returning via Mildura. The university course was never touched again.

Football expenditure in 1968 again exceeded the budget, and a couple of other problems had arisen with Cartwright during the year.

By 1969, the registered club Board had had enough. The events surrounding the removal of secretary and treasurer —Merv Cartwright and Ron Partrdige — are examined further in Beyond the Book: Removing the Football Club Secretary and Treasurer.

Eventually they called an extraordinary meeting of members. Realising the controversial nature of the event, they invited the mayor, Bill Chapman, to be chairman for the day. The Board’s recommendation was for the licensed club to cease rugby league funding unless Merv Cartwright resigned.²

Directors involved with the club during that period later described Cartwright in mixed but revealing terms.

Merv was an excellent PR man. He had the ability to influence and manipulate people. He did do a lot to build rugby league in the area and was very involved in the campaign for Penrith to join first division.

But he had lots of problems managing the money. Merv was always overspending, and Roger was trying to build a reliable business. That’s where a lot of the friction started.

The issues underlying that recommendation were more complex than this account suggests, particularly in relation to the Club’s financial position and governance arrangements at the time.

Around 1,000 of the club’s 6,000 members attended, with 80 per cent supporting the recommendation.

Cartwright did resign and moves were made to heal the rift between the two boards.

Sydney Morning Herald — Saturday, 20th March 1971

The District Club committee approached Cowan and asked him to take over as Secretary of the football club, a move that surprised him, given the history. The committee members said that they hoped such a move might help build a more co-operative relationship between the two clubs.

Cowan decided to give it a try. The move gave him responsibility for both entities but after less than a year, the frustrations of managing both sides of the organisation while reporting to separate Boards with competing interests proved unworkable. So, Cowan began advocating his policy to unite them under one board and one CEO.

On two separate occasions after his removal as secretary, Cartwright ran foul of the board of the licensed club and had his membership suspended. The board was adamant that he would never be allowed back into the club. This issue remained unresolved for many years, and intensified, particularly when his sons started to show outstanding rugby league skills and were selected to play for the Panthers.

The board received regular written appeals to lift his suspension.

Long-time director Barry Hubbard (1973-85)³ told of the meetings in the years after Cartwright left:

Every AGM, Tom O’Connor, who was on the board at that time, would stand up and ask for the reinstatement of Merv Cartwright’s membership. This would get a very cool reception from the chairman, Ken [Poker] Ausburn, and the ensuing debates were the fieriest I experienced in my whole time on the board. Ausburn and O’Connor would scream at each other across the room, and O’Connor would invariably end the argument with the words, “It is not British justice that Merv Cartwright, who has done so much for rugby league in this area, is barred from this club”.

Hubbard says the resolution was always beaten, and Ausburn would rule that the matter was resolved and was not to be raised again for the rest of the year. Apart from O’Connor the entire board was against the reinstatement of Cartwright’s membership.

At times, the disputes became highly confrontational, even farcical. In a heated discussion at one of those AGMs, the deputy chairman, Murray Clarke, who was the most vocal critic of Cartwright, was told never to venture into St Marys. If he did, said the speaker, he would never get out alive. It was Clarke who had previously cited Cartwright to appear before the Board after allegedly abusing him and threatening him in public.

The removal of Cartwright was to have ramifications for Cowan far into the future. The two had repeatedly clashed. Cartwright and his supporters blamed Cowan, not the board, for the loss of his membership. It was a festering antagonism that wouldn’t go away. In fact, it was one of the many small pieces in an intricate maze of events that would place Roger Cowan before Ian Temby in June 2004.

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At this time, both football and licensed club operated under the single entity of Penrith District Rugby League Football Club (PDRLFC). Separate committees had oversight of the football and licensed club operations. Penrith Rugby League Club Ltd was established in June 1967 to take responsibility for the registered club. ↩︎
Related Board papers from 1968 and 1969 illustrate the growing conflict between the licensed club board and football administration. These papers are included in full in Beyond the Book: Removing the Football Club Secretary and Treasurer. ↩︎
Barry passed away in 2021, aged 90. ↩︎

← Part 7 · All Parts · Part 9 →

Commentary and Contributions

The Panthers Magazine Arrangement

In February 1966, the Penrith Rugby League Football Club published the first edition of its official members’ journal.

The publication, issued monthly, was introduced at a critical point in the club’s development — as it sought admission to the New South Wales Rugby League First Division.

A central feature of the journal was a column titled From the Secretary’s Desk, written by Roger Cowan in his role as Secretary-Manager. In the opening issue, Cowan outlined club activities, membership growth and upcoming events, and referred to the club’s ambition of securing promotion to First Division.

The magazine was largely written and produced by Cowan and served as a means of communicating with members during the club’s First Division campaign.

In June 1968, Phyro Holdings Pty Ltd was registered, with Roger and Phyllis Cowan as directors. The name itself was derived from their first names — Phy from Phyllis and Ro from Roger.

In the years that followed, responsibility for publishing the club’s magazine — The Panthers Magazine — was transferred to Phyro Holdings under an arrangement approved by the club committee. The structure included conditions relating to profit limits, auditing of accounts and the remuneration deetails of Cowan’s role.

The arrangement formalised the transfer of publication responsibilities from the club to Phyro Holdings, under agreed financial and audit conditions.

The magazine arrangement — and the broader financial relationship between the club and Phyro Holdings — was later subject to scrutiny. Questions raised in subsequent decades focused on governance, transparency and the management of related-party transactions.

The Panthers Magazine became much more than a publication for PRLC members – it was a powerful community voice and was distributed to over 200,000 households in the Penrith Junior Rugby League District – Katoomba to Blacktown.

Those issues are examined in more detail in later sections of this project.

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“We’ve Made It!” — The Decision to Admit Penrith to First Division

On Monday, 4 July 1966, the New South Wales Rugby League confirmed that Penrith and Cronulla would be admitted to the First Grade competition for the 1967 season.

Within the club, the decision was received as a defining moment. The July 1966 edition of the Penrith Rugby League Football Club Journal captured the announcement simply and emphatically on its cover: “We’ve Made It!”

Inside, the accompanying article described the promotion as “the biggest step forward ever taken in any sporting sphere in Penrith” and emphasised that it was the culmination of many years of work by club officials and supporters. It also acknowledged the contribution of civic leaders, including mayor Bill Chapman and town clerk Harold Corr, whose efforts were said to have played a significant role in the final decision.

The sense of achievement within the club is also reflected in later recollections. Coach Leo Trevena described the moment in more understated terms, recalling that when he heard the news, his reaction was immediate and practical: “The bell’s ringing; now the fight’s on.”

Different Reactions

Beyond the club, the reaction was more measured. Contemporary coverage in the Penrith Press focused on the implications of the decision — including improvements to facilities, increased junior opportunities and the challenge of competing at a higher level — rather than celebration.

The contrast between the club’s own presentation of the moment and the more restrained tone of the local press is notable.

The Sydney Morning Herald also highlighted how narrow the decision had been, including Wentworthville’s unsuccessful attempt to have the matter deferred following the announcement.

Three weeks later, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Alan Clarkson published a more cautious assessment of Penrith’s prospects, while acknowledging the club’s improving financial position and the support provided by the leagues club.

For Penrith, however, the significance was clear. Entry into First Division marked the transition from ambition to reality — and the beginning of a new phase in the club’s development.

Related Themes

Football Club · Growth · Milestones

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The Bid For First Division

Part 7 of 70 — Original Chapter: Chapter 4: Insolvency to First Division in One Year

This article forms part of the serialised republication of Panthers, Passion & Politics – The Roger Cowan Years.

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The financial stability that had recently been established allowed Penrith to pursue something that had previously been out of reach — entry into the NSW Rugby League First Division.

Not long after Cowan took over as CEO¹, the Penrith club had started making a push for one of two new spots that were being created in the First Division of the NSW Rugby League. It appeared that one of those holes had pretty much been filled by Cronulla. And while the credentials of the Penrith team were strong enough to give it a chance, the financial woes of the licensed club had to be overcome. Penrith needed to prove it had the resources to support a first division club. It also had to have sufficient player strength to be competitive.

The main rival for the position was Wentworthville. It was one of the most successful registered clubs in the state, had been the leading club in the Second Division competition for a number of years and was favoured to win the 1966 competition. It was a David and Goliath match up!

Early in 1966, Cowan advised the football committee that the club could confidently forecast a profit. The licensed club committee agreed it would support the bid for a place in the First Division competition. With a bit of extra money, the committee was able to pick up a number of established first grade players.

All stops were pulled out to build local support for the bid.

One of the more deliberate moves was the establishment of a monthly club magazine for members, largely written and produced by Cowan. Its aim was to push the First Division claim and stir up local support.²

Cowan also began to foster ties with Penrith mayor Bill Chapman and the town clerk, Harold Corr, both of whom would play key roles in Penrith’s promotion to first division.

The football committee led by Secretary Merv Cartwright, had worked strongly throughout the campaign.³

Another factor in Penrith’s favour was that Jack Argent, the Parramatta delegate to the New South Wales Rugby League, didn’t want Wentworthville in there, and he was very influential in those days. Roger Cowan s

Halfway through 1966, Penrith was able to prove to the NSW rugby league that it was profitable. Many factors contributed to the success of the bid, but we would never have got into First Division if the club had remained in the financial state it was. It was a narrow decision and we made it by the skin of our teeth. Six months earlier we would have had no chance of showing we could finance it.

Looking back, it seems logical that Penrith would be a better choice than Wentworthville, situated so close to Parramatta and competing for supporters. It was different back then though. Souths, Easts and Balmain were good examples of successful clubs competing in the same areas. The NSWRL showed great foresight in considering the geographical qualifications and Jack Argent made sure they did.

Penrith supporters today can reflect that it was a very close call. Just a couple of votes and Penrith would have remained in Second Division.

The entry of the Penrith Panthers into first grade was a time of great celebration in the young city of Penrith. The team would have mixed fortunes over the next 24 years. They first made the semi-finals in 1985 and won their first premiership in 1991.

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Cowan’s formal title was Secretary-Manager, the standard senior administrative role used by rugby league clubs at the time.
↩︎
The monthjly Club Journal is the precursor to The Panthers Magazine – which later becomes central to a number of governance issues. See Beyond the Book — The Panthers Magazine
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The campaign involved the efforts of many people, including club officials, local supporters and civic leaders such as Penrith mayor Bill Chapman and town clerk Harold Corr. Chapman and Corr were instrumental to the process. ↩︎

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Ernest Kenneth “Poker” Ausburn

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