Penrith’s season has a pulse after their State of Origin stars inspired a gritty 18-10 defeat of Parramatta that hoists the Panthers from the bottom of the NRL ladder.
After a wayward performance that left him replaced as NSW’s goal-kicker, Nathan Cleary nailed the sideline conversion that put the Panthers up by two points with 20 minutes to play on Sunday.
His NSW teammate Dylan Edwards then sent a looping pass to another Blue in Brian To’o, who crossed for the try that sealed victory as the final five minutes approached.
The gritty win lifts the Panthers to 14th on the ladder, with the four-time reigning premiers now only three points out of the top eight at the halfway point of the regular season.
They’ll need to claim eight of their remaining 12 games to finish with a 50 per cent winning record, and have five games against the current top four on the run home.
Still, the Panthers showed their potential on Sunday, tightening up the goal-line defence that has been a big issue this year.
The Eels had the better of long stretches of the game, but their only two tries came down the left side early in each half, with Dylan Brown important in the lead-up of both.
Cleary struggled for rhythm with his boot close to the line early on, but had his fingerprints on the Panthers’ first two tries, first swinging left to help put Casey McLean over.
The Panthers were on their way to regaining the lead when McLean, who has spent time in reserve grade this year, put boot to ball for a classy kick that led to Thomas Jenkins’ try.
A Cleary 40/20 kick helped the Panthers on to the front foot in the final 10 minutes, before Edwards and To’o combined to seal the Panthers’ first win at CommBank Stadium since adopting it as their home ground this year.
