Peter Wallace’s NSW Cup team piled on 10 tries to one, defeating Western Suburbs Magpies 56-6 in a one-sided battle at BlueBet Stadium on Saturday.
Daeon Amituanai claimed a hat-trick, while Isaiah Iongi and Thomas Jenkins bagged doubles to hand the Magpies their biggest loss of the 2022 season.
A beautiful play created by James Roberts opened the Magpies’ account in the 10th minute after the centre was put through a hole in the Panthers defensive line.
Roberts sprinted 20 metres before kick through for lock Jacob Liddle. The ball looked almost certain to trickle over the dead ball line, but Liddle got his hand to it, claiming the four points. Zane Camroux kicked the conversion from medium-range to give the Magpies a six-point advantage.
Soon after Isaiah Iongi made a crucial one-on-one tackle to force the visitors into taking their third line dropout of the game. Iongi’s efforts paid dividends later in the set, when a textbook left to right attacking play saw Preston Riki crash over the try-line. Kurt Falls kicked his first of seven conversions for the afternoon to level the scores.
A magnificent cut-out ball from Iongi found Daeon Amituanai unmarked on the left edge, giving the winger a chance to cross in the corner. Falls converted the try from the sideline to put the home side ahead by six.
Charlie Staines broke through the away side’s defence straight after, gaining significant metres to put Penrith in dominant field position. Later in the set, Thomas Jenkins charged at the line, reaching out to score his 17th try of the season. Falls slotted the conversion from the far-left edge, pushing the Panthers out to a 12-point lead.
In the 33rd minute, Panthers hooker Soni Luke sent Mavrik Geyer over the line for a four-pointer with a no-look pass from dummy half. Falls kicked the conversion from in front to extend the margin.
HALF-TIME: PANTHERS 24 – MAGPIES 6
The Panthers carried their try-scoring momentum into the second half with J’maine Hopgood and Falls combining in the 43rd minute to give Iongi the opportunity to claim his first four-pointer of the match. Falls kicked his fifth conversion of the day to put the home side 24 points ahead.
Amituanai crossed for a double five minutes later, when Jenkins and Iongi spread the ball to the left. Double marked, the winger had plenty of work to do but somehow found a way to ground the ball. Falls added the extras from touch to increase Penrith’s lead to 30.
Nine minutes later Amituanai claimed a hat-trick. A kick from Falls was picked up by Jenkins and given to Ativalu Lisati who delivered a cut-out ball into the hands of the unmarked winger. Falls missed the conversion, keeping the score at 40-6.
In the 61st minute, Iongi scored his second try of the half, sprinting through the scattered Magpies defensive line to put the ball down. Falls added the two-points from a difficult angle to make the difference 40 points.
Jenkins grabbed his second four-pointer as he notched up the half-century picking up a precise kick from Falls in the 70th minute edging. Falls missed his first conversion of the afternoon from wide out.
Staines chimed into the play late in the game and sent Jack Cole through a yawning gap with a great slight of hand. Cole converted his own try for the third consecutive week to give Penrith a 50-point victory.
FULL-TIME: PANTHERS 56 – MAGPIES 6
