Panthers pummel rotten Roosters

The Penrith Panthers have destroyed a disappointing Sydney Roosters side with a strong 48-6 victory in front of 8,515 fans on a wet night at CUA Stadium.

The Roosters side emerged with plenty of personnel changes as coach Brad Fittler continues to look for a way out of their slump, but it made little difference as they continually made things difficult for themselves with plenty of unforced errors and a lack of direction on attack. The Panthers took advantage of all their early ball with the opening try to Frank Pritchard after 14 minutes, but the Roosters were able to hit back shortly afterwards when a spilled bomb gave them a try to level the scores.

From that point on, it was all the Panthers. They scored a further three tries leading in to half time, including a double to young five-eighth Wade Graham, which opened up a commanding 22-6 lead for the home side.

A heavy downpour threatened to turn the second half into a forward slogfest but the Panthers had other ideas. An early try to boom centre Michael Jennings ensured the Roosters spirits would be broken and from that point on they continued to keep their foot firmly on the throat of their rivals. Even the precautionary resting of Luke Lewis, who had another strong performance, couldn