The Penrith Panthers tilt at a five-peat is alive following a 24-8 win over the New Zealand Warriors in the first elimination final at Go Media Stadium.
It was a tense opening to our first elimination final with the Panthers being ill-disciplined throughout the opening quarter. Tanah Boyd eventually made the visitors pay, knocking over a penalty goal to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Both packs of forwards were dominating one another. The difference was the kicking game of one Nathan Cleary. Several forced dropouts and game changing plays to turn the clogs highlighted the opening 40. The halfback once again turned provider with a terrific pass to Isaiah Papali'i who came on with a point to prove, charging across to score and make it 6-2. The scores would remain the same at the break, but a Boyd linebreak gave the Warriors some hope heading to the sheds.
The Panthers started with more energy with ball in hand and got their reward. A dummy half dart by Brad Schneider fooled the Warriors defenders and got the ball to the line. Despite crys of double movement, the try was awarded by Grant Atkins and confirmed by the Bunker.
Off the back of a poorly waited Cleary kick, the Warriors marched down field and got on the scoreboard. A well timed pass from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad found a rampaging Leka Halasima who beat the desperate tackle of Dylan Edwards to score for the home side.
The game changed just past the hour mark. Despite a great defensive set from the Warriors, a Nathan Cleary clearing kick was allowed to bounce by DWZ. Luke Garner won the race to it and threw a forward pass (missed by the officials) to Blaize Talagi who toed forward. To'o got to the ball first, unloaded to McLean and that was the moment that changed this final.
Penrith sealed the match with under 10 to play as the Warriors threw the footy around. A loose catch by Halasima was scooped up by To'o who sprints the best part of 60 metres to score and send the Warriors packing out of the finals.
For the Panthers, they will take on the Bulldogs next weekend before a big crowd at Accor Stadium. Meanwhile, the Warriors season will come to an end after a season that promised so much. The injury to Luke Metcalf in Round 17 was a significant turning point and it appears they never fully recovered, but there's optimism in Wahs nation.