Mighty effort in Melbourne falls short

A brave Panthers side suffered a narrow 30-24 loss to Melbourne Storm in a Thursday night thriller at AAMI Park.

After losing Nathan Cleary to injury inside 10 minutes and falling to an early 14-0 deficit, the Panthers clawed their way back in a gripping grand final rematch.

Paul Alamoti’s two tries late in the first half brought the Panthers back to life, before Casey McLean snatched an unlikely lead from the dominant Storm side. The hosts proved too strong in the end, despite a late double from Brian To’o which kept the Panthers in the contest until full-time.

The loss of Nathan Cleary put the Panthers on the backfoot early. The Penrith co-captain suffered a category one head injury after a nasty collision with Jahrome Hughes, ruling him out of the match inside 10 minutes.

Blaize Talagi came from the bench to replace Cleary and make his club debut as Panther No. 828. He and Jack Cole formed a new-look halves combination, showing great poise and promise in the absence of a senior playmaker.

Tom Jenkins made his first Panthers appearance in over 18 months after rejoining the club in pre-season, and performed admirably at fullback with both Dylan Edwards and Daine Laurie injured.

Post-game, Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary and co-captain Isaah Yeo praised the performance and character shown by the young team in trying circumstances.

The Storm started strongly, opening their account within five minutes through Grant Anderson at the end of a backline shift. Nick Meaney’s conversion made it an early 6-0 lead.

A poor Panthers start turned disastrous in the 8th minute, as Nathan Cleary was forced off with a game-ending head injury.

After Cleary left the field, the Storm put the Panthers under siege. The hosts scored almost immediately through Eli Katoa, before a conversion and penalty goal put the Storm ahead 14-0 after 20 minutes.

The match seemed to be slipping out of the Panthers control, but young halves Jack Cole and Blaize Talagi showed great composure to steer their team back into the contest.

A rare attacking opportunity came up trumps as the Panthers swung the ball right, where the slick work of Tom Jenkins and Izack Tago sent Paul Alamoti over on the wing.

Alamoti assumed goal-kicking duties in the absence of Cleary, but failed to land his first conversion attempt from out wide.

The Panthers quickly returned to the Storm red zone, and roared to life with their second try.

Once again, Paul Alamoti provided the finishing touch to the terrific work of Tago and Jenkins, with Jack Cole and Mitch Kenny pulling the strings. Alamoti nailed his kick from the sideline, closing the gap to 14-10 at half-time.

The Panthers picked up where they left off in the second stanza, and hit an unlikely lead in the 45th minute.

The Panthers staged a scrum play to perfection on the Storm try line, as the deception of Blaize Talagi and trickery of Mitch Kenny sent Casey McLean over the stripe. Alamoti added the extras, putting the Panthers ahead 16-14.

However, the advantage was short-lived. The Storm regained the lead through a flying Xavier Coates before Tyran Wishart touched down out wide.

The Panthers trailed by eight points with 12 minutes to play, but would not lay down.

Their class continued to shine through, as the clever work of Isaah Yeo and Lindsay Smith created space on the Panthers left edge for Brian To’o to dive over. Alamoti could not convert from the sideline, leaving the Panthers behind 24-20.

The Panthers first error of the second half came at a costly time, allowing the Storm to deliver the killer blow through Ryan Papenhuyzen in the 72nd minute.

Still, the Panthers refused to give in.

The mountain men kept themselves in the contest as another shift to the left wing sent To’o in for a second try in the 75th minute, but the Storm held on for the win.

Despite the result, the gallant Panthers can take plenty of positives into their Round 4 clash with South Sydney Rabbitohs at Accor Stadium.