Moran was honoured along with Greg Alexander, Royce Simmons and Craig Gower. The announcement was made at the Panthers 50^th anniversary dinner. The four were selected from a list of 12.

Moran told master of ceremonies Phil Gould that he gave himself little chance.

“I thought I’d be the 13^th of the 12,’’ he joked.

Moran joined Penrith for the club’s inaugural year in the then NSWRL first division in 1967. A product of the Zebras Junior League and then Taree United clubs, he represented Country Firsts as a five-eighth in 1966 when he was also named the Manning River Times Sportstar of the Year.

The early years were tough for the Panthers in the big league. Moran, who alternated between five-eighth and centre, recalled a highlight was beating the powerful St George club in Penrith’s debut season.

“They’d won 11 premierships in a row,’’ he said.

The game coincided with the opening of the new grandstand at Penrith Park and there was a crowd of more than 12,000 there. The Panthers won 21-12.

“We celebrated for a week,’’ Moran laughed.

He also became Penrith’s first representative player when named in the City Seconds team to play Country in 1968. He was also the first Panther to wear the sky blue of NSW when he played in the centres against Queensland in 1970.

“In those days there were no such things as camps,’’ he said.

“The team was named on Sunday night, we had our physio on Monday and trained that afternoon. We went to the pub then.

“On Tuesday we played Queensland.’’

Moran was picked for a second match played the following Saturday, but was forced to withdraw.

He was the first Penrith player to notch 100 games with the club, his tally finishing on 121. He scored 83 points. Moran was also named in the centres with Ryan Girdler in Penrith’s 40th anniversary team in 2006, while he is also a member of the Greater Taree Sporting Hall of Fame.

Moran’s younger brother, John, also played first grade for Penrith before switching to Parramatta, where he was a member of the club’s first grand final side in 1976.