The Panthers suffered a 36-16 loss to Newcastle in the NSW Cup on Sunday, but celebrated a number of special milestones.
With the NRL team ravaged by injuries, suspension and Origin absences, NSW Cup coach Ben Harden was forced to field a new-look team at BEST Hub, Rooty Hill on Sunday.
NSW Cup Highlights: Round 12
Most notably, Riley Price made his return from a nine-month layoff after suffering season-ending ACL and shoulder injuries last year. The young forward played 32 minutes from the bench, for a return of 82 run metres and 13 tackles.
Meanwhile, three players were promoted from the Jersey Flegg side to make their NSW Cup debuts: Puotoa Hotere-Papalii, Sialetili Faeamani and Zakuari Clarke.
With a stack of players unavailable, Jack Cole was shifted to the unfamiliar fullback role in a new-look Panthers team.
Despite their setbacks, the Panthers produced a competitive performance with Newcastle not sealing the win until the latter stages.
Match Report
Courtesy of Stewart Moses, NSWRL
Penrith’s push for a top three spot in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup has taken a significant blow with the eleventh-placed Newcastle Knights recording a well-deserved 36-16 upset win at Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub on Sunday afternoon.
The Knights were led superbly by experienced half Jackson Hastings, who had a hand in four of his team’s six tries.
A Penrith error deep inside their own 20 the Knights opened the scoring when a quick shift left catching the Panthers defence short for numbers with Hastings and halves partner Haami Loza instrumental in sending centre Wilson De Courcey over out wide to give the visitors a 4-0 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
Back-to-back penalties from the kick-off enabled the Knights to extend the lead to ten soon after when Hastings laid on a peach of a pass for a rampaging prop Cody Hopwood to storm onto and score next to the posts from close range.
Off the back of a penalty the home side opened their accounts way through the first half when quick hands enabled Jersey Flegg teammates and NSW Cup debutants Faeamani Sitellati and Poutoa Hotere-Papalii to combine for the latter to score in the north west corner and with Trent Toelau’s successful sideline conversion, the Panthers were back in the game trailing 10-6.
Penrith made it back-to-back tries of their own when Toelau had the presence of mind to go down the blindside on halfway and found back rower Riley Wake steaming onto the pass, with the Panther showing a surprising burst of speed to score a 45m try next to the posts to put the Panthers 12-10 in front on 23 minutes.
Repeat penalties allowed the Knights to level the scores 12 a piece courtesy of Connor Votano’s penalty goal from 20m out after 29 minutes.
With the Panthers enjoying several sets inside the Knights 20, a loose pass from five-eighth Zac Lamont turned the game on its head when Knights centre Riley Jones swooped on the pass to run 90 metres to score next to the posts to put Newcastle back in front 18-12 - five minutes out from the main break.
A long-range play between Hastings and Votano early in the second half, allowed the Knights to score on the last tackle, when Hastings directed play to go from one side of the field to the other where the Knights had too many numbers for the scrambling Panthers defence to handle, allowing De Courcey to score his second try of the afternoon to give the visitors the biggest lead of the game thus far, 24-12 after 48 minutes.
Like the first half, the Knights soon had a second try early in the second half when Jones matched the efforts of his centre counterpart De Courcey, to score his second try of the afternoon and with Votano converting from out wide, the visitors suddenly had a commanding 30-12 lead.
The Panthers edged the gap back to 14 when Hotere-Papalii’s finished off a slick backline movement to score in the south east corner, his second try of the afternoon in the 61st minute.
But the Knights put the game beyond Penrith’s reach when a sweeping backline movement put winger Sosaia Latu over in the north west corner in the 68th minute that saw the visitors runout convincing 36-16 winners.
Talking Points
- Penrith won the earlier clash this year 26-12 in Round 3, but today’s side was barely recognisable for this clash with the Panthers forced to debut three Jersey Flegg players - Puotoa Hotere-Papalii (wing) Sialetili Faeamani (centre) Zakuari Clarke (bench second row) as well as play regular half, Jack Cole to play at fullback for the first time at this level, as Origin and injuries tested the depth of the Panthers.
- Two forwards - Knights’ Wil Sullivan and Penrith’s Falefa Letoi were put on report for seperate first half incidents while Penrith’s John Sagaga was also placed on report for a second half incident.
- The Knights also overcame the loss of prop Cody Hopwood (HIA) in their 36-16 victory, just Newcastle’s third of the season.
Key Moment
With the scores locked up 12-all late in the first half and Penrith deep on the attack inside the Knights’ 20 for several sets, the game turned on its head when Zac Lamont’s loose pass was swooped upon by Newcastle centre Riley Jones, whose 90m effort gave the Knights lead they would never relinquish.
What's next?
The Panthers will be looking to bounce back from this week’s loss when they take on traditional foes, the high-flying Parramatta Eels at CommBank Stadium next Sunday while the Knights will head back to Sydney when they face the St George Illawarra Dragons at Jubilee Stadium.
