That was the message Penrith Panthers captain Luke Lewis gave to the public when his team touched down at Port Macquarie airport yesterday.

The Panthers will play the Newcastle Knights at Regional Sports Stadium in a trial match on Saturday night and the Penrith skipper said his team weren’t just in town to finalise its NRL preparations.

Promotion was also high on the agenda.

“It’s 50/50 really. We’ve got the Penrith club up here and our fans which we love coming up and seeing, but we also get to spend more time together as a team and play the game we love at the end of the week,” Lewis said.

“We’ve been coming up here for a couple of years now and last year was outstanding.

“The team catches up with fans before blowing a few

cobwebs out later in the week as we start to get ready for the year.

“We also get to see the kids that aren’t able to see the games as much as the

people in Sydney.”

Lewis admitted he was taken aback at the amount of Panthers supporters there was on the Mid-North Coast.

“I remember the first time I came up here and I didn’t realise how many Penrith fans were here,” he said.

“It’s always good to get up here and see our Port Macquarie fans.

“It’s not just Penrith fans though; it’s about all the rugby league supporters.

“Port Macquarie is a big supporter of rugby league which is what I’ve noticed during the last few years.

“It doesn’t matter what team they support, they come down and watch their footy.”

The mountain men from Sydney’s west looked relaxed when they stepped off the plane as they prepare to gear up for a hectic week of rugby league.

But Lewis said his team was happy to be camped by the beach for five nights.

“It’s always good to spend some time near the salt water where the waves are crashing down,” he said.

“It’s quite relaxing and there’s a few boys here that love to have a surf and hopefully they’ll get to do that.”

Penrith will be training at Regional Sports Stadium on Friday at 9.45am.

More on the Panthers and the Knights in Friday’s Port News.