Source : the age
Jack Cogger has been good tonight as Nathan Cleary’s replacement at halfback but he gets a tackle badly wrong now, rushing out of the line and attempting to put a shot on Ashton Ward – but he hits him hard and high. That’s on report, and Cogger is sent to the sin bin.
Souths have a good chance of a consolation try in these final minutes with a one-man advantage, and they capitalise fairly quickly, a left-side shift resulting in Cody Walker holding up a pass beautifully for Latrell Siegwalt to slide over.
Panthers 36, Rabbitohs 14 with three minutes left
Tom Jenkins is a genuine star now, isn’t he? The Panthers go left with some sharp passing to put Jenkins into space on the left, and he slips out of one tackle, powers to the line, then bumps off Jye Gray to complete hit hat-trick.
He gives the crowd an arrow try celebration (there have been several of those tonight, in tribute to Jai Arrow), and now has a stunning 25 tries for the season, in round 18.
Paul Alamoti kicks another sideline conversion – he’s giving the absent Nathan Cleary a run for his money as a goal-kicker tonight – and the league leaders are officially in cruise control.
Panthers 36, Rabbitohs 10 with 8 minutes left
Another Panthers raid comes to a halt when Jack Wighton is pinged for a high tackle on Scott Sorensen, and Penrith get another fresh set on Souths’ line. This time they crash through, Paul Alamoti running into traffic and offloading to Billy Phillips who slips between a couple of defenders to score.
The Panthers won’t be losing it from here.
Panthers 30, Rabbitohs 10 with 11 minutes left
The chaos continues, this time at the other end. Ashton Ward puts up a bomb from inside his own half, Dylan Edwards and the Panthers allow the ball to bounce, it shoots off in the direction of Latrell Siegwalt, who grabs it and throws a pass to an unmarked Cody Walker who runs away to score.
But wait! The Bunker has taken another look and spotted Siegwalt was offside from the kick, and this one is disallowed.
Panthers 24, Rabbitohs 10 with 15 minutes left
The Dayne Jennings highlight reel continues, this time the rookie winger making a desperate last-ditch tackle to deny Liam Henry a try a metre short of South Sydney’s line.
The game calms down for a few minutes as Souths get back into the grind, before Tevita Tatola catches Jack Cole with a nasty-looking high tackle and is put on report. (Cole bounces straight back up and appears to be fine.)
Penrith go through the hands to the left, with the ball going all the way to Tom Jenkins – who cuts back inside with an angled run. He charges straight at Keaon Koloamatangi and Jennings, somehow gets an arm free to plant the ball down, and … drops it over the line? The on-field referee rules it a try, but surely the bunker will take a few looks at this.
It’s very, very close. There’s also a hint of a possible double movement. The bunker rules he didn’t lose control of the ball, and gives it as a try. A bit controversial, that one, but another excellent effort from Jenkins, and another double, and he’s up to 24 tries for the season.
Panthers 24, Rabbitohs 10 with 20 minutes left
Incredible stuff from Tom Jenkins, who has transformed himself from a journeyman winger to a genuine star in the past few seasons. He runs infield and chases down a Jack Cogger kick, jumps for it, catches it, then does superbly to hold off Jack Wighton with his right arm and dive over and plant the ball down with his left in the corner.
Paul Alimoti kicks a sideline conversion and Penrith lead by eight.
Panthers 18, Rabbitohs 10 with 30 minutes left
The final 40 minutes begins as Souths kick things off, and Penrith are quickly on the attack via an Edward Kosi error. Rabbitohs bench forward Liam Le Blanc produces a crunching ball-and-all tackle on Lindsay Smith, picking up the Penrith lock and dumping him on his back. But the Panthers continue their attack anyway, Dylan Edwards forcing a dropout with a smart grubber into the in-goal.
The next set ends with Jack Cogger bombing towards Tom Jenkins’ wing, but Souths rookie Dayne Jennings soars high to bring it down. He’s having a great game.
But another Souths error, this time from Jack Wighton, turns possession over to Penrith again. They bomb towards Jenkins and Jennings once more, the referee rules Jennings has knocked on – but Souths successfully use a captain’s challenge as the bunker spots Jennings caught the ball in his in-goal. The Rabbitohs get a 20-metre tap instead.
Panthers 12, Rabbitohs 10 with 34 minutes left
