Panthers annihilate Warriors

Round 21
Penrith Panthers 36 v New Zealand Warriors 6
at CUA Stadium Penrith
Referee: Tony Archer

Match Summary:
The Panthers have extinguished the New Zealand Warriors last hopes of making the finals by defeating them 36?6 at CUA Stadium.

Starting well in the first half, the Warriors looked like they would really take it to the 11th placed Penrith team, but their second half performance was dismal. They dropped a lot of ball, made wrong decisions (especially on the last tackle) and executed most plays poorly.

The home side on the other hand looked like the Panthers team of old, with impressive runs from the forwards and great ball handling from the backs. Their defence was also effective, making some of the Warriors players frustrated.

Five-eighth Preston Campbell played an important part in his side?s victory, kicking 6 from 7 conversions and setting up a few tries. But the star of the night was Rhys Wesser who bagged a hat trick and played a first-class game at fullback.

The ultimate downfall for the Warriors was the amount of mistakes and poor decisions they made. 52 missed tackles and 12 errors is something that Ivan Cleary would be disappointed with.

Ruben Wiki may find himself in some trouble with the judiciary this week after a dangerous high tackle that put Joel Clinton on the ground. Matthew Cross may also be in some hot water after placing his hands between a player?s legs. Craig Stapleton is also expected to be out for at least 2 ? 3 weeks with an injury.

The Panthers will hope to gain a further two points next week when they take on the Souths at Telstra Stadium and the Warriors will hope to redeem themselves against the Sharks back in New Zealand.

Scorers:
Penrith Panthers: 36
Tries: Tony Puletua, Luke Rooney, Rhys Wesser(3), Matthew Cross
Goals: Preston Campbell 6/7
New Zealand Warriors: 6
Tries: Manu Vatuvei
Goals: Tony Martin 1/1

By the Clock:
The Penrith Panthers host the New Zealand Warriors at CUA Stadium tonight in what should be an exciting encounter. Both teams are outside the top eight but are mathematically in contention for a finals spot, so a win tonight is a must.

No changes for the Penrith Panthers but Brent Webb drops out for the Warriors and Cooper Vuna comes in to the side. Michael Luck also moves from the bench to the run on squad.

We have great conditions for a football match tonight. It's warm and there's only a slight breeze.

KICKOFF - The Panthers get play under way off Preston Campbell's boot.

2 min: NEWS Warriors on the attack now 10m out from the Panthers line after a mistake from Wesser.

4 min: TRY New Zealand Warriors
Vatuevi scores off a cross field bomb from Rovelli. Martin converts.
Warriors 6-0

6 min: NEWS Ruban Wiki penalised for being off-side at marker. Panthers now have some momentum.

7 min: NEWS Preston Campbell takes an intercept close to the Panthers line, crosses half-way, but has no support. Panthers recieve a penalty.

11 min: NEWS Gower looks for a 40/20 but kicks the ball out on the full. Warriors now have the ball inside the Panthers half.

20 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
Tony Puletua crosses the line after a switch ball from Gower. Campbell's kick is successful.
6 all.

24 min: NEWS Warriors have the scrum-feed after Matthew Cross loses the ball carelessly.

26 min: NEWS Grant Rovelli puts a grubber kick in through to Wesser who knocks on. Warriors now attacking the Panthers line.

31 min: NEWS Priddis goes to the blind side from dummy-half on the last tackle and it finds Rooney. Rooney puts a kick into the Warriors in-goal and secures a repeat set of six.

32 min: NO TRY Video referee Phil Cooley denies Michael Gordan a try and rules a goal line drop-out.

33 min: NEWS Simon Mannering recieves a shocking pass from George Gatis and knocks on giving the Panthers a chance close to the Warriors line.

36 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
Luke Priddis puts a grubber kick in out of acting-half towards the goal posts and Wesser dives on the ball and scores. Campbell adds the extras.
Panthers 12-6

HALF TIME STATS

PENALTIES: PEN 3 WARR 2
TACKLES: PEN 135 WARR 179
MISS TACKLES: PEN 7 WARR 27
ERRORS: PEN 7 WARR 5
POSSESION: PEN 54% WARR 46%
COMPLETIONS: PEN 14/19 WARR 13/18

KICKOFF - Warriors get us underway in the second half.

45 min: PENALTY GOAL Penrith Panthers
Campbell converts from right in front after Koopu was penalised for taking Campbell out.
Panthers 14-6

47 min: NEWS The Warriors almost looked like scoring after making good metres and ending up close to the try line but it was not to be as Mannering, after almost heading in to touch, passes the ball to Campbell.

50 min: NEWS Priddis gets smashed by Wiki. He eventually finds his feet and play resumes.

52 min: NEWS Gower is denied a chance at catching a bomb by Anderson and the Panthers recieve a penalty.

53 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
After spreading the ball through the hands out to Gordan, the winger busts through two tackles and finds Wesser who crosses the white line. Campbell puts a further two points on the board.
Panthers 20-6

56 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
Lee Hookey hands off a brilliant pass to Luke Rooney on the wing who manages to stay inside the field of play and ground the ball. Campbell fails to convert from the sideline.
Panthers 24-6

61 min: NEWS Wesser and Ah Van collide after going for a kick. Archer rules a knock on and Warriors get the feed.

63 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
Matthew Cross scores after recieving a cut out pass from Campbell with help from a decoy runner. Campbell doesn't miss.
Panthers 30-6

66 min: TRY Penrith Panthers
Rhys Wesser scores his third for the night after a Priddis pass found Campbell who managed to keep it alive and give a miraculous pass to the try scorer.
Panthers 36-6

70 min: NO TRY New Zealand Warriors
Jerome Ropati was denied a try by the video ref after he was found to be off-side when the ball came off one of his team mates.

73 min: NEWS Joel Clinton has hit the ground after a dangerous high tackle by Ruben Wiki. The tackle is placed on report.

74 min: NO TRY Penrith Panthers
A grubber kick from Gower just crosses the dead ball line before Gordan could ground it.

75 min: NO TRY New Zealand Warriors
The video ref is once again called upon despite the referee being in perfect position. The ball was not grounded and the video ref rules a 20m restart for Penrith.

FULL TIME STATS

ATTENDENCE: 9,725
PENALTIES: PEN 7 WARR 2
TACKLES: PEN 234 WARR 369
MISS TACKLES: PEN 13 WARR 52
ERRORS: PEN 10 WARR 12
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Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Rhys Wesser
2 - Preston Campbell
1 - Luke Priddis
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