Are the Panthers back on the prowl?
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MATCH CENTRE: Eels v Panthers, scores, stats, live blog
That’ll be the question playing on the minds of Canberra, Canterbury, Melbourne, and the Warriors, as Penrith overcame the absences of Brian To’o, Dylan Edwards, and Liam Martin to beat Parramatta 32-10 at CommBank Stadium.
Despite losing four of their opening five games of the season, the defending premiers are back on track and now sit just five competition points behind the fourth-placed Warriors.
It’s been 30 years since a team outside the top four won the premiership, but with the artillery at their disposal, it would come as no surprise if Ivan Cleary’s men bucked this trend.
Penrith were far from perfect on Sunday afternoon and were outplayed by the 15th-placed Eels for most of the first half. However, a 40th-minute try to emerging winger Thomas Jenkins gave them an unlikely 12-10 lead at the break, and from that point they were in full control.
Panthers ease past Eels for 5th in a row | 02:45
Izack Tago was the man of the moment, scoring a fine individual try to put the visitors ahead 18-10 after 55 minutes, before throwing a deft offload to set up a 50-metre try for Paul Alamoti eight minutes later.
That came after Zac Lomax blew a certain try in a brutal 12-point swing for the Eels.
Despite coming from the bench, Nathan Cleary was also strong, banishing the memories of last Wednesday’s Origin loss with the match-sealing try nine minutes out from fulltime.
Errors and Questionable Tactics Kill Eels
Ultimately, the Eels were the architects of their own downfall. Tries to Kitione Kautoga and Zac Lomax had them ahead 10-6 after 33 minutes, but Jenkins’ after-the-siren try seemed to take the wind out of their sails. Jason Ryles’ inexplicable decision to shift Kiwi five-eighth Dylan Brown to starting hooker seemed to stifle their attack, while mid-season signing Tallyn Da Silva failed to have an impact after replacing Brown in the 31st minute. All up, the Knights-bound star managed just 35 minutes on the field.
“[Brown at hooker] is absolutely pointless unless he’s going to run from dummy-half,” exclaimed Fox Sports analyst Michael Ennis.
Brown started at hooker but played just under 40 minutes in the game, with Fox League’s Andrew Voss declaring in commentary that such limited playing time for Parramatta’s dynamic playmaker “beggars belief”.
Parra’s dismal 20 handling errors wouldn’t have helped their cause, either.
‘Fire in the belly! Cleary chats Origin | 09:14
Lomax Flounders in Defence
If Cleary bounced back well from his Origin disappointment, his NSW teammate Zac Lomax certainly did not. Sure, he scored a neat try to put the Eels ahead in the first half, but this was cancelled out by two diabolical missed tackles that led directly to Panthers tries.
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