National Rugby League side Penrith Panthers will "help appease the NSW government's demand for 65 games to be played across its network of major venues," pledging to temporarily shift up to four home matches to a venue such as ANZ Stadium to help secure Sydney's A$1.6B ($1.2B) stadiums upgrade, according to Adam Pengilly of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Widely considered to be "quarantined from the state government's push" to have Sydney clubs fulfill the quota for the "once-in-a-generation funding," the Panthers will provide an "11th-hour headache-easer for the NRL" and Australian Rugby League Commission Chair John Grant. The Panthers and the NRL are reportedly "set to clinch a deal which will see Penrith shift some matches" away from Pepper Stadium to either Olympic Park, Moore Park or Parramatta. League Central had been courting the Tigers, Dragons, Sharks and Sea Eagles to find an extra seven regular season matches -- on top of the two joint venture clubs' "current commitment to playing four games each at ANZ Stadium" -- to reach the 65-game allotment at the city's major venues before Friday's state government deadline. The NRL is including up to six to eight games of premium content -- including finals matches and State of Origin -- in its proposed package. Penrith Exec GM Phil Gould said, "They haven't asked us anything yet, but from our point of view we're prepared to take a couple of games -- maybe three, maybe even four -- if that helps to get the deal done for the state government." Gould was speaking during the opening of the Panthers' "state-of-the-art" A$22M ($17M) academy on Wednesday (SMH, 3/30).
