Edwards saves the day for Penrith.
Kick successful. 16-10!
Ball spilt out the back, Cook found Walker who got it onto Johnston who found Mitchell before finding Isaiah Tass who kicked ahead and won the race to the football.
Bit of push and shove
Game slowly coming towards a climax.
Murray puts it down.
Wrong sort of impact from Blake Taaffe. Poor bloke waits 73 minutes and puts it down.
Tass is cut down by Crichton. Learned from some of the best.
Challenge unsuccessful.
Challenge from Penrith - for ruck interference.
Souths hang on. Still a 12 pt game with 10 to go.
Lachlan Ilias kicks it out on the full.
The streak of 26 straight for Trell comes to an end.
South Sydney hit back with just under 15 minutes to go. Michael Chee Kam did well to get the pass away to Latrell before getting it onto Cody Walker before finding Alex Johnston to score.
Soni Luke comes from the ground.
PENALTY SOUTHS: Inside 10m.
Nothing going right for Souths here tonight.
PENALTY SOUTHS: High tackle by Moses Leota.
Tago delivers the worst tap on of 2023*
Thompson puts it down...
Souths trying to get into this contest here, but they can't break through at the moment.
Yeo loses it on play 5.
Penrith force a repeat set.
No good.
Brian To'o goes into score in the right corner. Lovely pass from Cleary and finds Crichton who gets the 2 v 1 and To'o scored.
PENALTY PENRITH: High shot on Edwards.
Last tackle DISASTER
PENALTY PENRITH: Ruck interference.
Back kicking, Cleary converts.
PENALTY PANTHERS: Latrell's dropout fails to break the plane.
Cook went for the 1 v 1 strip but failed to retain the ball.
Cartwright to his feet too quickly.
Thompson puts it down.
Sadly, a fan has racially abused Latrell Mitchell going to the sheds and has been ejected.
Back underway for the second half. Cleary has returned.
Crichton converts. Penrith 10 leading Souths 0
Cleary is coming off. I repeat Cleary is COMING OFF
This is a try for the moment. Luke Garner went to offload and it looked it like was lost. Jarome Luai played to the whistle and kicked ahead. Izack Tago wins the race to the ball.
This has been a frantic opening 40.
Garner loses it.
PENALTY PENRITH - HOLDING DOWN
Soni Luke for HIA and Matt Eisenhuth in the game.
Challenge successful
Challenge Souths - ruling was strip.
Walker loses it... there is a LOT of feeling here.
Cleary is just short of a 40/20.
They couldn't hang on after sustained Penrith pressure. It was a great pass from Isaah Yeo to find Luke Garner to crash over to score... The decision is under review and is OVERTURNED. BIG TACKLE from Latrell.
You have a feeling Souths just have to weather the storm.
PENALTY PENRITH: Scrum offside.
Thompson can't handle the short dropout.
Penrith force a repeat set.
Strong kick return from Sunia Turuva and Jed Cartwright hangs on too long.
Mitch Kenny has passed his HIA.
Souths hang on again. Crichton smashed by Tass.
Mitchell went for a 20/40, well picked off by Dylan Edwards.
Souths survive.
SIX MORE PENRITH - Flop against Daniel Suluka-Fifita.
Chee Kam puts it down.
Souths on the attack.
Third error from Martin.
Challenge successful. I don't know on that one.
Captain's Challenge Penrith - ruling is stripped out.
SIX MORE SOUTHS
PENALTY SOUTHS: Jarome Luai holding down.
Kenny comes now. Penrith fans happy with Soni Luke's injection.
Time off - Mitch Kenny is a bit wobbly. Wouldn't be surprised if the ISB replaces him.
Martin loses it trying to offload.
Early change for Demetriou - Moale OFF, Shaq Mitchell ON
PENALTY PENRITH: Inside 10m
A player to watch tonight is Luke Garner. He had a suspect match last week, and with Hosking impressing many at the club. He could be a casualty with a poor performance.
Very vocal crowd on this Thursday night.
Latrell taken on the last. Good start, poor finish to that set.
PENALTY SOUTHS: Offside against Luai.
Penrith complete their set after points going 99 metres (including the kick). But they concede the penalty.
No good from Cleary.
WHAT A TRY! A great kick from Cleary was batted back by Tago, juggled by Leota who got it onto Fisher-Harris who flicked it out the back to Kenny who found Crichton who dives in the corner.
Good metres in this set from Penrith.
NO TRY - Liam Martin knocks on.
VIDEO REF: Atkins has NO TRY confirming a knock on from Liam Martin.
OFF WE GO! Souths to receive the first use of the footy
Grant Atkins is the referee. Phil Henderson and Chris Sutton are the TJ's. Chris Butler in the functioning bunker at Redfern.
League Unlimited's NRL coverage continues with Round 2 action between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Both sides come into this match in contrasting fortunes, Penrith went down narrowly to Brisbane, while Souths toughed it out to win 27-18 over the Sharks. Tonight is about revenge for Souths, after they were eliminated from last year's finals series. Let's talk teams now. Penrith kept the faith but expect to see more minutes for Soni Luke on the pine. Lindsay Smith is 18th man. For Souths, Davvy Moale starts up front with Daniel Suluka-Fifita on the pine. Kickoff at the top of the hour.
Referees & scorers:
Referee: Grant Atkins
Touch Judges: Phil Henderson, Chris Sutton
Video Referee: Chris Butler
Penrith Panthers (16)
Tries: Brian To'o, Stephen Crichton, Izack Tago
Goals: Nathan Cleary 1/3, Stephen Crichton 1/1
South Sydney Rabbitohs (10)
Tries: Alex Johnston, Isaiah Tass
Goals: Latrell Mitchell 1/2