A disappointing second half performance has seen the Penrith Panthers fall to their third consecutive defeat to finish the Jersey Flegg regular season, 26-14 against the Parramatta Eels at BlueBet Stadium.
The result means that the Panthers will finish fourth and will need to win four straight games in order to retain their title, beginning with either the Eels or Melbourne Storm next weekend.
Despite the end result, it was the Panthers got off to a blistering start, forcing two goal line drop outs and earning three penalties before Joseph Nohra broke through to score the opening try in the seventh minute. Timothy Sielaff-Burns converted for an early 6-0 lead.
A penalty for obstruction while deep on the attack came back to hurt the Panthers minutes later as the Eels used the field position to their advantage, crossing in the left-hand corner through Ethyn Martin.
Another penalty put the Panthers deep on the attack again in the 20th minute, where Riley Wake crossed moments after coming onto the field, putting the Panthers ahead 10-4.
Back-to-back penalties put the Eels back into attacking range in the 25th minute, with Ethan Sanders dummying and diving in to score. He converted to lock the scores up at 10-all.
The Panthers took the lead back shortly before half time, when Liam Ison found Sielaff-Burns in the corner with a glorious cut out pass. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful, leaving the Panthers with a 14-10 lead at the break.
They came close extending their lead shortly after the resumption, with several strong defensive plays putting them in excellent field position. Ryley Smith attempted to link with Sielaff-Burns down the short side, but his pass was low and the winger couldn’t pick it up.
It ended up being the Eels who took first points in the second half when Sanders scored his second solo try in the 47th minute. He converted again, giving the visitors their first lead of the afternoon.
The Eels finally broke the trend of teams trading tries in the 58th minute when William Latu went over out wide. Sanders again converted near the left sideline, putting the Eels ahead 22-14.
The Panthers began to fall away after that. Martin scored his second in the left-hand corner, extending the margin to 26-14, before coming close to a third shortly after.
In a sign of their frustration, any hopes of a late comeback were eviscerated when they conceded a penalty for dissent after Smith was held up over the line in the final minutes.
