Penrith Park
Sat Aug 4, 7:30pm
LOSS 16-32
Irvine was 18th man. The Penrith Panthers have defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs 32 points to 16 at CUA Stadium in Penrith tonight (Saturday) in front of 10,845 fans. The Panthers won on the back of clever running from hooker Luke Priddis, a smart kicking game from Craig Gower and Peter Wallace, and weight of possession. The Rabbitohs fought the whole way but couldn't control the ball at key times, particularly in the second half. Two of the game's young up-and-coming stars in Fetuli Talanoa and Michael Jennings scored doubles. The Rabbitohs didn't start the game as planned, getting caught in the in-goal from the opening kick off. From the ensuing set, the Rabbitohs held out the Panthers in their now trademark way on their own line. The Rabbitohs struck first with winger Fetuli Talanoa scoring in the fourth minute. Roy Asotasi ran a run-around play with John Sutton on the left, drawing the defence and creating some space for Talanoa down the left hand flank. Talanoa carried two defenders over the line and scored a 'benefit of the doubt' try in the corner. Nathan Merritt's conversion attempt from the touchline hit the posts for a four-point lead early. The Rabbitohs held the Panthers out again on their own line in the 15th minute and two minutes later former Panther Ben Rogers crossed for the Rabbitohs. He beat three defenders from 10 metres out, spinning out of the tackle of rookie fullback Jarrod Sammut to score. Merritt converted to give the visitors a 10-nil lead after 20 minutes. The Rabbitohs' defence held strong again in the 26th minute, repelling three raids on their line, but the strength of halfback Craig Gower got the Panthers their first points in the 30th minute when he crossed on the right hand side of the field. Sammut converted to take the scoreline to 10-6 in favour of the red and greens. The Panthers struck again four minutes later through Kiwi international Frank Pritchard. Sammut offloaded to Pritchard who stormed through to score, levelling the scores at 10-all. The Rabbitohs fell asleep in the final 15 minutes of the half when they seemed to be cruising. Roy Asotasi was making good metres and getting quick play-the-balls, with Ben Rogers, Dean Widders and Eddie Paea all looking dangerous in attack. Issac Luke and Asotasi were strong in defence for the Rabbitohs. For the Panthers, returning hooker Luke Priddis and Gower were running the show, with Pritchard making metres out wide. The Rabbitohs bombed a chance to score in the 42nd minute after Rogers made a long break from deep in his own half. The ball was spilled and the opportunity lost. The Panthers then bombed a chance of their own in the 46th minute with some poor handling. Talanoa scored his second try of the night with an 85 metre intercept try. Talanoa snapped up the looping Peter Wallace pass and raced the distance, saluting the judges 10 metres out from the line with his hand in the air. Merritt converted from in front to give the Rabbitohs six-point advantage. The Panthers struck back immediately through Matthew Cross who scored to right of the posts. Sammut converted to level the scores at 16 with 26 minutes left in the game. The Panthers hit the lead for the first time when Michael Jennings scored in the 60th minute off a loose Wallace cross field kick. Sammut missed the conversion giving the home side a four point lead, 20-16. In the 61st minute, both Shannon Hegarty and Shannan McPherson looked to be put on report for a lifting tackle on Mark O'Halloran. Jennings crossed again in the 64th minute when Nigel Vagana raced out of the line looking for an intercept. Sammut converted to give the Panthers a 10-point lead with just 15 minutes left on the clock. Hooker Issac Luke crossed the line for the Rabbitohs in the 78th minute with the video referee deliberating for several minutes before denying the try, ruling it was knocked on over the line. Maurice Blair crossed in the final minute with Jarrod Sammut converting, giving the Panthers their sixth win of the season. The Rabbitohs made too many errors and didn't amass enough possession to be able seal the game. Dropped balls at key times cost them, despite having the Panthers on the back foot quite a few times during the match. The Panthers made the most of their second-half opportunities and it paid dividends.
6-0
10-0
10-6
10-10
10-16
10-20
10-26
10-32
Talanoa 2, Rogers tries
Merritt 2 from 3 goals
Crowd 10,845
Referee G.Badger
Penalities 6-6
Scrums 7-8
Min Tac Pe MT LB HU DR m Er OL K
Merritt 80 4 - 4 - 10 - 72 1 1 1
Talanoa 80 6 - 1 1 8 2 142 2 - -
Vagana 80 19 - 5 1 6 1 69 - - -
Hegarty 80 14 2 2 - 11 8 79 4 1 -
Mellor 80 4 - 3 1 8 5 103 3 - -
Rogers 80 26 1 1 1 7 - 93 1 1 2
Paea 62 10 - 5 - 1 - 11 - - 5
Cusack(c) 55 30 - 1 - 12 - 89 - 1 -
Luke 54 20 1 2 - 8 5 68 2 - 1
Asotasi(c) 70 39 - 2 - 13 - 100 2 - -
Sutton 59 22 - - - 7 - 41 - 2 -
Faalogo 51 23 - 2 - 11 - 73 1 1 -
Widders 70 24 - 1 - 10 1 93 - 1 -
Stuart 46 26 - - - 9 - 72 - - -
McPherson 38 20 1 1 1 8 - 65 1 1 -
Geddes 29 23 - 1 - 7 - 43 1 - -
Irvine 26 16 - 2 - 1 1 12 - - 1
TOTAL 326 5 33 5 18 9 10
Completion Rate - 18/33
Other FG Matches
34-22 Tels Parramatta b Bulldogs
20-4 Newc St-Geo-Ill b Newcastle
30-14 Carr Gold Coast b Wests-Tig
28-22 Town Nth Qld b Canberra
31-31 SFS Sydney d Warriors
21-8 Lang Manly b Broncos
17-16 Ende Melbourne b Cronulla
W D L B Diff PT
MELBOURNE 17 0 3 1 +262 36
MANLY 16 0 4 1 +210 34
PARRAMATTA 12 0 8 1 +59 26
NTH QLD 11 0 9 1 -107 24
WARRIORS 10 1 9 1 +111 23
BRISBANE 10 0 10 1 +79 22
BULLDOGS 10 0 10 1 +36 22
WESTS-TIG 10 0 10 1 +10 22
Souths 9 0 11 1 -18 20
Gold Coast 9 0 11 1 -70 20
Sydney 8 1 11 1 -173 19
St Geo-Ill 8 0 12 1 -62 18
Canberra 8 0 12 1 -63 18
Newcastle 8 0 12 1 -208 18
Cronulla 7 0 13 1 +34 16
Penrith 6 0 14 1 -100 14
Judiciary News
Rabbitohs centre Shannon Hegarty has been charged by the NRL match committee following seven of the eight games played in round 21. Hegarty was charged with a grade one dangerous throw for his tackle on Panthers interchange centre Mark O’Halloran in the 61st minute of Penrith’s 32-16 win over the Rabbitohs at CUA Stadium on Saturday night. The offence carries a base penalty of 125 points and has incurred a 20 per cent loading because the former Kangaroo has a non-similar offence in the last two years. Hegarty also has 56 carry over points to be added if he is found guilty of the offence. With an early plea Hegarty will earn 112 points from this charge which means he will miss a week through suspension (100 points = a one week suspension). If he fights the charge and is found guilty he will receive 150 points. South Sydney will decide tomorrow whether to accept or fight the charge.
Reserve Grade - NSW Premier League - Round 21
v Penrith, Penrith Park, 5:35pm
WIN 56-30
In spectacular style the North Sydney ‘Flair Bears’ have defeated top side Penrith 56 to 30. On a cool night at CUA Stadium, the talent of Joe Williams, David Peachey and Jeremy Smith combined to produce the Bears flashiest performance yet. “If you had seen them at training on Wednesday & Friday night you would have had your house on them” claimed Coach Wayne Lambkin “On Friday night after about 20 minutes I said this is way over the top let’s not waist this let’s put it away and go home – tonight they came out did the same thing!” The first 10 minutes saw Norths park themselves in the Panthers half. After continued pressure Joe Williams sent Troy Boston in to open the scoring with a cutout pass. But Penrith returned serve and converted 6-4. Joe then found the energized and newly retuned Eddy Pettybourne on the fly in the direction of the try line and he was happy to take another 4 points early for his team. Joey converted and the Bears were 10-6 in front. Joe was in the hunt again when he found the equally hungry Jeremy Smith who scored. Joe converted to make it 16-6. However the Panthers, who were a much improved side from when the two clubs last meet narrowed the gap 2 minutes to half time with a converted try to give Norths a 16-12 lead. A rampaging Buddy Gordon scored next for the Bears. Then a magical cutout pass by Joey sent The Peach in for his try. Joey converted. The Panthers however were not about to give in and scored 3 consecutive tries to take the lead 30-26. In fine form Jeremy Smith put up a high kick that David Peachey caught mid air and as smooth as glass, flick passed to the ever present Reece Simmonds to score and make it 32-30 to Norths, as the players and supporters could sense something special was in the wind. And was it ever. In the last 10 minutes a succession of spectacular tries entertained the crowd with the Norths forwards off loading at will as the Bears relived their Friday night training session! Ben Lowe drew the Penrith defense and off loaded to Reece Simmonds who dodged the line and found a gap for Conrad Ta’akimoeaka to score. Then Joe Williams scored 2 successive tries. Michael Greenfield made a break and offered the ball to the North Sydney backline. Joey finished with the pill and found a gap for Conrad who in turn passed back inside to Joey to score. Soon after Conrad returned the favor when David Peachey shot a well judged pass through to Conrad who found a gap for his starring team mate to score. As if the audience had not been entertained enough the Bears finished on the highest & flashiest note yet - Jardine Bobongie offloaded to Jeremy Smith who put in a chip kick found by David Peachey. The Peach made another sweet flick pass to Joe Williams who also hit the spot with a pass to Beau Champion to score. Joe Williams continues to improve his kicking and passing skills and together with Jeremy Smith was superb in directing the side round the park. In one early sequence of play, Joey kicked through and although after the kick he was knocked down by Penrith, he managed to regain the ball and had made 40 metres in doing so. Jardine Bobongie was a standout at hooker. Working non-stop and continuously testing the Penrith defense. Conrad Ta’akimoeaka, Ryan Verlinden, Michael Greenfield & Eddie Pettybourne created space and off loaded at will.
4-0
4-6
10-6
16-6
16-12
20-12
26-12
26-18
26-24
26-30
32-30
38-30
44-30
56-30
Williams 2, Boston, Pettybourne, Smith, Y.Gordon, Peachey, Simmonds, Ta’akimoeaka, Champion tries
Williams 8 from 10 goals
Final Line Up
T G/A FG
Flbk - Peachey, David 1 - -
Wing - Simmonds, Reece 1 - -
Cntr - Paulson, Germaine - - -
Cntr - Champion, Beau 1 - -
Wing - Boston, Troy 1 - -
5/8 - Williams, Joe 2 8/10 -
Half - Smith, Jeremy 1 - -
Prop - Greenfield, Michael - - -
Hook - Bobongie, Jardine - - -
Prop - Falemaka, Joe - - -
SRow - Gordon, Yileen 1 - -
SRow - Pettybourne, Eddy 1 - -
Lock - Lowe, Ben - - -
Int - Ta'akimoeaka, Conrad 1 - -
Int - Verlinden, Ryan - - -
Int - Nasio, Valu - - -
Int - Wynyard, Dave - - -
10 8/10 -
Other Reserve Grade Matches
24-12 StAu Canterbury b Parramatta
26-18 NISC Newcastle b St Geo-Ill
54-4 Brok Canberra b Manly
19-16 Hens Auckland b Newtown
50-14 Ende Cronulla b Wests
W D L B Diff PT
BULLDOGS 14 0 5 2 +26 32
NEWCASTLE 11 1 6 3 +28 29
BALM-RYDE 10 1 7 3 +23 27
PENRITH 11 0 8 2 +135 26
NORTHS 10 0 8 3 +61 26
CANBERRA 9 0 9 3 +74 24
ST GEO-ILL 9 2 8 2 +44 24
PARRAMATTA 9 1 9 2 +90 23
Cronulla 8 0 10 3 -27 22
Manly 8 1 10 2 -47 21
Auckland 8 0 11 2 -61 20
Newtown 5 2 12 2 -30 16
Wests 5 0 14 2 -320 14
NSWRL Jersey Flegg - Under 20's - Round 21
v Penrith, Penrith Park, 3:45pm
LOSS 6-32
Trotter try Browne goal Other U20 Matches 48-14 StAu Canterbury b Parramatta 28-26 SFS Canberra b Sydney 24-18 Ming Wests b Central Coast 14-10 Ende Balmain b Cronulla 32-22 Brok Norths b Manly
NSWRL Jersey Flegg - Under 20's - Round 13 Catch Up
v Penrith, Marcellen Fields, Wed Aug 8
LOSS 6-22
Ma'afu try
Browne goal
W D L B Diff PT
PENRITH 16 1 2 2 +245 37
CANTERBURY 12 2 4 3 +138 32
PARRAMATTA 13 1 5 2 +214 31
CANBERRA 12 2 5 2 +96 30
BALMAIN 10 2 5 3 +31 28**
NEWCASTLE 9 0 9 3 +80 24
MANLY 9 2 8 2 +26 24
WESTS 7 0 11 3 -33 20
Cronulla 6 1 11 3 -17 19
Souths 7 1 11 2 -98 19
Sydney 6 0 12 2 -162 16**
Norths 4 0 14 3 -244 14
C.Coast 2 0 16 3 -340 10