The Penrith Panthers continued their unbeaten start to the 2024 season, with a strong 30-10 win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Accor Stadium on Thursday night.
The visitors were able to overcome a five-day turnaround from their trip to New Zealand and 22-22 draw against the Warriors, to record their seventh win of the season.
After a seesawing affair for much of the first half, the first of three Daine Laurie tries scored right on halftime gave the Panthers the momentum they needed to go on with the job in the second half, keeping the defending premiers scoreless throughout the half.
The Panthers offset the loss of key players Jack Cole, Luke Sommerton and Tyrone Peachey with Paul Alamoti and Soni Luke. But the inclusion of Laurie at five-eighth proved the difference, scoring three unanswered tries to keep Penrith at the top of the NSW Cup ladder.
South Sydney opened the scoring early off the back of a penalty which allowed the home side to create numbers on the left edge, resulting in an acrobatic try to winger Carson Kaho in the northwest corner to lead 4-0 after just six minutes.
The Panthers didn’t take long to hit back, benefitting from a penalty to score in the southwest corner through winger Jesse McLean. With Alamoti converting from the sideline, the visitors led 6-4 after 13 minutes.
Penrith continued to dominate possession and were rewarded for their persistence when a quick play-the-ball and fast hands enabled McLean to score his second try, to increase the lead to 12-4 midway through the first half.
South Sydney got themselves back into the contest with some decent possession inside Penrith’s 20 and scored through half Jarrett Subloo, who showed quick presence of mind to hit the line at pace and score next to the posts from close range, to close the gap to 12-10 after 29 minutes.
Just as the Panthers looked likely to take a two-point advantage into the main break, a cross-field kick from half Trent Toelau was spectacularly taken mid-air by Laurie, who landed in the in-goal to score next to the posts and give the visitors breathing space leading 18-10.
Early in the second half, Alamoti looked to replicate his long-range intercept from last week’s NRL appearance but to no avail, dropping the ball despite 80 metres of open territory ahead of him.
The Panthers recovered from that near miss to come up with the play of the game to stretch their lead to 14, the biggest of the match. An offload just inside Souths’ half enabled Laurie to put McLean into space down the left flank, before the winger put in a deft inside kick back to Laurie, who was unmarked to regather and score behind the posts.
The Rabbitohs started to throw the ball about to get back into the contest but a loose carry deep in Panthers’ 20 enabled five-eighth Laurie to go the distance and score underneath the posts to seal Penrith’s seventh win of the season, 30-10.
Talking Points
- After a slow start to the season, Jesse McLean’s first-half double has the seen the winger score five tries in his three games for the Panthers.
- The 30-10 win ensures the Panthers remain the only side yet to lose a game in 2024, maintaining top position on The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup ladder.
- The Panthers held the defending premiers scoreless in the second half, leaving the Rabbitohs with three wins from seven games.
- The win was Penrith’s first over the South Sydney in six games played at Accor Stadium between the two teams.
Key Moment
Key inclusion Daine Laurie was involved in most of the highlights including a leaping catch to score on the stroke of half-time. But that was surpassed with some visionary play in the second half, keeping the ball alive to put McLean into space before the winger had the presence of mind to kick back inside for Laurie to finish what he started.
What's Next?
The Rabbitohs will be looking to regroup next Saturday when they travel across town to Kogarah Oval to take on the St George Illawarra Dragons, while the previous night will see the undefeated Panthers return to BlueBet Stadium to take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Match report courtesy of NSWRL. Written by Stewart Moses.
