of Royce Simmons' 2nd try of the game sealed the win for the Panthers. The Phil Gould coached Panthers never fell below 4th on the ladder for the season (Round 2) and never lost the competition lead after regaining it following Round 14 of the 22 round season. From Round 14 the Panthers only loss of the season was a 14–12 away loss to Cronulla-Sutherland in Round 20. During the season he was selected at fullback for NSW in Games I and III of the 1991 State of Origin series, only missing Game II at the Sydney Football Stadium through injury. Despite his good form for Penrith and NSW and the absence of Gary Belcher through injury, Alexander was overlooked for the first test of mid-season Trans-Tasman Test series against New Zealand in favour of boom Brisbane and Qld fullback Paul Hauff, while he also missed selection in the final two games when selectors chose Andrew Ettingshausen. With Origin halfbacks Ricky Stuart and Allan Langer also in good form (Langer played) and Des Hasler in the team as a utility reserve, Alexander was only considered a chance of playing fullback in the tests. Following the Panthers Grand Final win over Canberra, Alexander was selected for Australia's 5 game tour to Papua New Guinea but withdrew through injury. He recovered from injury in time to lead the Panthers to England in October for the 1991 World Club Challenge, which was lost to Wigan 21–4 at the Anfield Stadium. 1992 was a year of huge expectation for Alexander and the reigning premiers Penrith. Whilst the Panthers form was up and down at the beginning of the season, Alexander was named as captain and fullback of the City Origin side, ahead of incumbent NSW captain Benny Elias. This led to Alexander being the favourite to take over the Blues captaincy for that year's State of Origin series against Queensland. However, a knee injury lead to Alexander being withdrawn from the match, and Country Origin captain Laurie Daley would go on to successfully captain the NSW side to a 2–1 series win, with Alexander missing all three games due to his knee injury. Selectors stuck with Stuart at half and Ettingshausen at the back. Ben Alexander's death On 21 June 1992, his younger brother and fellow Panthers teammate Ben Alexander was killed in a car accident. The tragic loss of the younger Alexander had