Second half sizzle sees Saints put away Panthers

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Penrith Panthers v St George Illawarra Dragons

A remarkable second half from the St George Illawarra Dragons at a wet Bluebet Stadium has seen them down reigning premiers Penrith 22-10 in front of over 12,000 fans.

After a gruelling opening quarter, Penrith troubled the scoreboard first in the 26th minute with Paul Alamoti getting over the line on the left edge.

While unconverted, the 4-0 lead wouldn't sit idle for too long, Jesse McLean capping off an impressive opening half to score out wide himself just before halftime. The hosts retained a 10-0 lead into the sheds.

Whatever Shane Flanagan said in the sheds must have worked though, because the second forty was all Dragons.

Just three minutes after play resumed, Toby Couchman took defenders across the line for the visitors' first and it ended up being a bit of a looming spectre of what was to come.

Just before the 50 minute mark five-eighth Jesse Marschke put a neat grubber through the line for fullback Tyrell Sloan to collect and in the blink of an eye the Dragons went from trailing 10-0 to leading 12-10.

The visitors clung to that two-point lead despite plenty of challenges until a try out wide for Mat Feagai secured a bigger buffer, and the result was ultimately sealed in rainy conditions with about six minutes left, second-rower Raymond Faitala-Mariner going all the way and then some to secure an important win to keep pace with the top eight contending sides.

The loss for Penrith means they won't finish the round on top, but they should have plenty of their State of Origin representatives back next weekend when they host Manly on Sunday afternoon, all of whom were sorely missed tonight. The Dragons will potentially welcome back halfback Ben Hunt from Origin duty next Friday when they host the Wests Tigers in Wollongong.