Injury toll grows as tenacious Titans fall against Panthers

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Gold Coast Titans v Penrith Panthers

They completed 39 of 41 sets and even that was not enough to see the Gold Coast Titans go close to toppling the defending premiers on Saturday night, going down 40-14 to the Penrith Panthers. 

The Titans made a fast start to both the first and second half, testing out the Panthers with speed on the edges and a strong return from fullback AJ Brimson. 

But there are a few more injury concerns for a Gold Coast side that already has a growing casualty ward, with Phillip Sami (foot) and Jayden Campbell (knee) potentially joining them. 

The Panthers, meanwhile, were without Brian To'o, Scott Sorensen, Mitch Kenny and Izack Tago and at times lacked patience in attack while looking flat in defence.

Coach Ivan Cleary was visibly frustrated at times in Saturday's game but would have been pleased with the way Penrith finished the game, running away with a comfortable 26-point win. 

The victory sees the Panthers jump back into first place ahead of the Broncos on for-and-against, with the struggling Parramatta Eels up next. The Titans, meanwhile, welcome the surging Storm to the Gold Coast.

Complacency was all that was going to stop the Panthers, even if undermanned, from taking down the Titans on Saturday to record their eighth-straight win.

And early signs were not good for Penrith, who lacked the usual defensive intensity we have come to expect from the back-to-back defending premiers.

It was a dream start for NRL debutant Thomas Weaver as he put Klese Haas steaming past Zac Hosking before the speedy second rower then beat Dylan Edwards to score the opening try. 

That came after just two minutes and while it took a bit of time, Penrith eventually started to put a few strong sets together before hitting back in the 15th minute.

On that occasion Nathan Cleary kicked on the last and Stephen Crichton soared above to bat it back for fullback Dylan Edwards. 

There wasn't much the Gold Coast defenders could've done about that try consider Crichton's freakish athleticism in the air, although the same could not be said for Penrith's next four-pointer.

This time it was a simple pass from Jack Cogger to Isaah Yeo, who spun out of a few tackles to score under the posts.

The Panthers had well and truly gained ascendancy by that point and extended the lead in the 35th minute through Tyrone Peachey shortly after Titans centre Aaron Schoupp was sent to the sin bin. 

The Gold Coast squandered a rare chance to respond almost immediately after an error off the kick-off from Spencer Leniu, failing to ground a clever grubber kick from Kruise Leeming.

Penrith's execution, on the other hand, was perfect as the ball went to the right edge and Crichton put in a well-weighted kick for Tom Jenkins in the corner.

Cleary missed the conversion attempt from the sideline, leaving the score at 22-6 heading into the sheds.

The Panthers were gifted a chance to extend the lead early in the second half after a penalty saw the ladder leaders marched up the field, although an error from Liam Martin relieved pressure on the Gold Coast.

Then, like they did in the first half, the Titans opened the better of the two sides as they scored back-to-back tries to flip the script on what had looked an otherwise straightforward result.

First, AJ Brimson put Alofiana Khan-Pereira over for a spectacular finish before a trick play and poor Penrith defence saw David Fifita score after a relatively quiet opening half from the second-rower.

Both attempted conversions from Campbell were unsuccessful, leaving the score at 22-14 in favour of Penrith.

Brimson, who was a constant threat in his first game back from injury, then burst through a gaping hole off a brilliant Jayden Campbell pass to put the Panthers on the ropes again. 

He found Khan-Pereira in space on the wing but Edwards was in cover to save the day for Penrith as he batted a kick from the Titans speedster dead.

The Panthers then regained possession off the dropout and almost scored immediately, only for a desperate effort in defence from Brimson seeing Turuva drop the ball as he went over in the corner.

Struggling for any real spark in attack, Penrith suddenly found it deep inside its own half as Cleary spread it early and sent Crichton sprinting down the sideline. 

Edwards was then backing up in support to score his second of the night before Cleary produced points again moments later, this time putting it in the air for a charging Liam Martin.

Crichton later iced a dominant individual performance with a try of his own to cap off the 40-14 win.