Penrith Emus future in John I Dent Cup in doubt

The Emus were defeated 111-17 by Vikings last Saturday, just two weeks after a 99-17 loss to Gungahlin.

The results come on the back of a winless 2022 campaign, their first season in the John I Dent Cup.

The situation is even more dire in second grade, Penrith no longer participating in the competition after breaching the number of forfeits allowed in a year.

After travelling to Canberra in round one, the Emus reserve grade side forfeited their next three away games to trigger their exit.

As a result, Uni-Norths will only send a first grade team to Penrith on Saturday and the second grade side has been awarded a 28-0 victory.

The Emus were accepted into the ACT competition in 2022 after their forced exit from Sydney's Shute Shield.

ACT & Southern NSW Rugby Union officials were already in discussions over how to navigate a path forward, however the recent results have accelerated the urgency of the issue.

While the senior men's teams have struggled, there is a glimmer of hope in the distance. The Emus colts played finals last year and has been competitive this season. The women's side has also won two games and pushed Vikings all the way last week.

There is a desire across ACT rugby to help rugby in Penrith continue to grow and to build the club back up to a competitive team. Whether Canberra is the best competition for that to happen is the subject of debate.

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Vikings president Brendan Allardyce said there was not much joy from his players after they reached triple figures last week.

"I don't think anyone enjoys getting into triple figures," Allardyce said. "We try to be as accurate and professional as we can be, no matter who's in front of us.

"We feel a bit sorry for Penrith. We've heard stories of players being cherry picked by other Shute Shield clubs so it's hard to retain players.

"From our players' perspective, last Saturday was about getting the job done but they feel for them. We had great hopes Penrith would be more competitive this year than last year."

The toll of travelling three hours to Canberra every second week has weighed down on the Emus and the club's performances on the road have struggled as a result.

Player depth has been tested for away games, with many players available for home games but unable to commit to the trip to the ACT.

As a result, Penrith have tested teams at home, but even at their best they remain a level below the rest of the John I Dent teams.

Uni-Norths will make the trip to Sydney this weekend confident of returning with a bonus-point victory.

The Owls are flying high after a resounding 43-15 win over Queanbeyan last Saturday and coach Lachie Creighton believes his team has turned a corner.

He is not, however, travelling to Sydney complacent and has spent the week reminding his players of the importance of not taking Penrith lightly.

"It's my first experience up there," Creighton said. "The guys went OK up there last year. We're trying to build and master what we're trying to do for the second part of the season. It will be a physical fixture, no doubt, so we'll have to embrace that.

"It's been a challenging year for Penrith but I'd like to see them continue in the competition. Getting a home fixture, I hope they'll be able to put a good team together. It's what we need, we don't need weeks off, we need to be playing footy to get better."

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