Rookie Panthers punish lacklustre Warriors

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Penrith Panthers v Warriors

An understrength Penrith bounced back from a woeful performance last week to blitz the Warriors with a runaway second half performance, winning 36-4 at Panthers Stadium.

Plenty of offloads and end-to-end action finally saw points in the 27th minute when Jarome Luai, in his first game in the run on side and just his second NRL game, put on a brilliant step then a brilliant little grubber for Phillips and the young winger regathered and dived over in the left corner. He wasn't able to convert.

Just two minutes later and the rookie Panther half was at it again. Luai ran onto a ball like a seasoned back rower, hit a gap hard after a great step and scored a great try. He converted from right in front.

Three minutes shy of the break and Luai potted a penalty goal but was unable to add another right on halftime.

The Warriors looked even more disjointed upon the resumption. 14 minutes into the second half Kikau got a stunning flick out the back door to Tyrone Philips, who made a great run down the left sideline, drawing Tuivasa-Sheck across before passing back infield to Blake who strolled 15 metres to score a great try. Luai converted.

Five minutes later and the Panthers attacked the left side. Luai switched play, passing to May who then got a nice offload away to Kikau who stepped out of a tackle to score under the posts. Luai again converted.

Penrith were in again just 8 minutes later when Luai stormed onto another pass, stepped around a host of lazy centre defenders before crossing for his second try of the game, which he also converted.

Warriors were then offside from the restart and on the back of the penalty, the Panthers scored again. Merrin looked for an offload for an eternity before getting it away to Watene-Zelezniak, who then drifted right before putting the ball on Harawera-Naera's chest and he barged over for a strong try. Luai converted.

With just five minutes remaining, the Warriors finally got on the board with a soft try on the left edge to Maumalo. Johnson failed to convert.

Next week Penrith host the Sharks in another huge top-eight contest, while the Warriors are in Brisbane to face eighth-placed Brisbane.