The Panthers had a successful afternoon in the Junior Reps, claiming two wins and a draw at Mascot Oval.
SG Ball Panthers make it three from three
A late flurry of tries has seen the Penrith Panthers claim their third-straight win to open the SG Ball season, thrashing St George 38-12 on a hot Saturday afternoon at Mascot Oval.
The game was in the balance with Penrith leading 14-12 15 minutes before full time, before they piled on four late tries to claim the comprehensive victory.
The Panthers put themselves under a lot of pressure early, conceding multiple penalties to put St George on the attack. The Dragons took full advantage of the field position, scoring next to the posts in the 5th minute through Loko Pasifiki Tonga to take a 6-0 lead.
It took the Panthers until midway through the first half before they had a decent chance to attack, but they were quick to capitalise when Luke Hanson set up Hudson Brown with a good short ball. Riley Pollard converted from out wide to bring the scores to 6-all.
With momentum on their side, the Panthers began to look better in attack, with only desperate Dragons defence stopping Jenson Tuaoi from scoring late in the half.
A penalty on the siren saw Pollard add an extra two points to give the Panthers an 8-6 lead at the break.
Another deft short ball put Poutua Hotere-Papalii into space, before he found Tuaoi to score under the posts to extend the margin beyond a converted try.
The eight-point lead was short-lived though, with an error off the kick off giving St George perfect field position. Shadi Hammoud outleapt the defence from a kick to cut the margin back to 14-12.
The Panthers quickly hit back when Luron Patea crashed over under the posts from close range, before scoring again in identical fashion five minutes later to push the margin to 26-12.
Well-deserved tries to Hanson and Timothy Seilaff-Burns in the dying minutes extended the lead to 38-12, with Pollard celebrating a perfect afternoon with the boot, kicking seven from seven.
-Lachlan Jeffery
Harrold Matthews Panthers defeat Dragons in exciting contest
The Panthers recorded their second win of the season on Saturday morning, reasserting their reputation as a formidable attacking force with a 28-18 triumph..
Fullback Jaxen Edgar was everywhere in the Panthers victory, while barnstorming props Charbel Kheirallah and Hokafonu Lemoto ensured the Dragons defence was always on the backfoot.
A number of offside penalties by both teams meant the match started as an end-to-end affair.
Finally, in the 11th minute, the Panthers broke the deadlock as Casey Mclean ran a beautiful outside-inside line, beating numerous tackles to sprint 25 metres and score the first points of the match. Conversion by Jacob Kelly successful, 0-6.
Jaxen Edgar continued his strong form and extended the lead in the 16th minute, when he dummied to his outside men and stepped off his right foot to break the line and score his fourth try of the season. Conversion unsuccessful, 0-10.
The Dragons hit back in the 20th minute, when a nice offload allowed Risiate Smythe to muscle his way over under the posts. Conversion successful, 6-10.
The Panthers continued to gift the Dragons attacking opportunities through cheap errors and the defensive line broke again in the 24th minute when the home team put on an attacking move off a scrum and winger Ralph Binge dove over in the right corner. Conversion unsuccessful, 10-10.
Strong defence by the Panthers denied an attacking barrage in the final seconds of the first half, meaning the two teams went into the sheds all locked up.
Strong runs by Cooper Hale and Jacob Kelly marched the Panthers up the field in their first set of the second half.
Two repeat sets allowed the away team to show their attacking prowess and a fantastic short ball from Jaxen Edgar to a rampaging Danny Johnstone gave the Panthers the perfect start to the half. Conversion successful, 10-16.
A nice shift to the right put the Dragons back in the game as Omar Dennaoui crossed in the 40th minute. Conversion unsuccessful, 14-16.
The Panthers took little time to extend their lead as a late offload allowed Jack Attard to streak away, showing excellent acceleration to burn the Dragons defence in the 42nd minute. Conversion successful, 14-22.
The Panthers capitalised on more good field position with a sweeping right-side shift. The ball went through almost every pair of hands in the backline before Marcellus Iakopo dove over to score his team’s fifth try of the day. Beautiful conversion by Jacob Kelly to seal the game, 28-14 with three minutes to play.
The Dragons would go on to score a consolation try as the hooter sounded, but it wouldn’t be enough to affect the outcome, Panthers with their second victory in three games.
-Zach Lee
Tarsha Gale Panthers play out thrilling draw
The Penrith Panthers have and St George Dragons have played out a nail-biting 14-all draw on a hot Saturday afternoon at Mascot Oval.
The Panthers got off to a strong start, dominating the opening ten minutes of the match, but strong St George defence prevented them from scoring.
The good start was undone four minutes after when a penalty gave St George an opportunity to score out wide through Saja Refei.
The Panthers put themselves under more pressure shortly after as errors began to creep into their game, however their defence was strong enough to prevent the Dragons scoring again.
A Dragons error gave the Panthers a chance to go on the attack and they capitalised when Montana McLean saw space behind the markers and raced through to score. Jaida Staben converted the difficult kick to take the lead 6-4.
They turned it into a double blow a set later when Yasmine Baker sliced through to score, giving the Panthers a 10-4 lead at half time.
The Panthers immediately put themselves under pressure to start the second half, making a mistake from the kick off. The Dragons made them pay, with Mele Ketuu crossing out wide to cut the deficit to two.
Under pressure, Montana Clifford took it upon herself to inspire the Panthers with a huge hit to force an error.
McLean was next to come up with a big play, earning a fifth-tackle penalty with a great run from dummy-half.
A shift in the ensuing set saw Bella McEacherm score out wide to push the lead back to a converted try.
An error off a kick again forced the Panthers to defend their own line, however they were unable to stop Taneisha Gray from close range. Saja Refei converted to bring the scores level at 14-all with seven minutes remaining.
Both teams had chances to score in the dying minutes, however desperate goal line defence ensured the points would be shared.
-Lachlan Jeffery
