Penrith pound terribly timid Tigers

v BYE

In what was supposed to be a desperate clash for both sides, a whopping 50 missed tackles from the Tigers gifted the Panthers a big 40-10 win to ensure Penrith's finals dream whilst Wests ended their own run towards September in the process in front of over 14,000 fans.

It was a controversial start to the Battle of the West with the Tigers opening the scoring with a suspect pass eventually setting up Josh Addo-Carr in the corner after just 5 minutes. It wouldn't take long, however, for Penrith to respond. Matt Moylan looked to have taken the ball in goal, only for it to be called play on. Luckily so for Penrith fans however, with Moylan linking with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak who would step through poor Tigers defence and put Waqa Blake away for the home side's first in the 10th minute.

The Panthers would then be rewarded by the Bunker with a fortunate but correct call, overturning a Penrith error and instead gifting the home side a full set on the Tigers' line. It would prove to be a recurring theme throughout the first half, with the Tigers defence failing to withstand pressure and Bryce Cartwright would stroll through all too easily.

 A couple of tackle busting runs from Tim Simona and Addo-Carr signalled a possible momentum reversal, yet the Tigers' defence would falter again, this time Isaah Yeo would prove too fast and strong, slicing through a number of defenders to cross out wide. With so much to play for it was very disappointing to witness such a distinct lack of commitment and two minutes later it would be déjà vu. A select pass from Bryce Cartwright would put Reagan-Campbell through for a simple barge over four pointer off his first touch of the ball.

The Tigers would continue to demonstrate lazy dedication in defence and a couple of penalties would see Penrith camp themselves within the Tigers' twenty with a couple of minutes on the clock. And after defending admirably the Tigers' good work would be outdone with Peter Wallace crashing over for a crushing try just before the break to give Penrith a massive 28-4 lead. 

Tonight's visitors would open the second half in a quite promising fashion, with Mitchell Moses threatening early and almost slicing through for a solo try in the 45th minute. But Penrith would kill off any chance of an unlikely comeback with Trent Merrin twisting over the line off a perfectly executed line ball from Wallace.

Rankin's night would continue to deteriorate with the makeshift fullback dropping yet another spiralling bomb. A subsequent penalty to Penrith would see Fisher-Harris reel in a tough ball and grab a deserved try. Both teams would continue to challenge each other's fatigue late before Moses sliced through for a well earned individual try to add to what was a very promising performance from the West Tigers' five-eighth. The Tigers would then challenge Penrith's line late, but some desperate defence would deny Wests late and Mansour would suffer the same fate, going within inches of scoring off a perfectly executed Moylan kick.

They may have wrapped up a Top 8 spot, but Penrith have to refocus when they battle fellow finals hopefuls in the Gold Coast next Saturday afternoon at Cbus Super Stadium. For the Wests Tigers - while their season is effectively over, it mathematically goes on the line when they face the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday afternoon.