King Cleary rules the Roost as Panthers power to Prelim

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Penrith Panthers v Sydney Roosters

The defending premiers have advanced to their fifth consecutive preliminary final, after defeating the Roosters by 30-10 in their final game at BlueBet Stadium tonight.

Skipper Nathan Cleary was magnificent on return from injury, setting up three tries in an absolute masterclass from the two-time Clive Churchill Medalist, with the Panthers sending a message to the rest of the competition that a fourth consecutive premiership is on the cards.

Penrith simply flew out of the blocks racing in four first half tries to leave the Roosters floundering and despite the Roosters fighting back early in the second half, the home side were never really threatened. The win sees as the men in black advance to one win away from another Grand Final with confidence sky high at the foot of the mountains.

Penrith came into the match as the finals specialists and they made the Roosters pay for an early error, when Brian To'o charged over for the first try of the night following a slick backline movement led by Yeo and Cleary.

Cleary was at it again minutes later, when his kick on the last took a deflection off the post and into the arms of Izack Tago for his sides second try in just 12 minutes.

The Panthers charges were relentless, as they again marched up field and off the back of a repeat set they had their third try as Jarome Luai stepped inside off his left foot to crash over to extend the lead to 16-0.

Penrith had the Tricolours at sixes and sevens quite literally as Luai and Cleary continued to pin the Roosters in goal and then they scored again when Mitch Kenny produced a neat pass from dummy half for Luke Garner to muscle over to score.

The Tricolours were desperately clinging on and they almost lost Luke Keary to the Sin Bin for a jersey pull on Liam Henry who was chasing a kick. Keary stayed on the field despite the home fans chants and Penrith elected to take the penalty on offer and go to the break with a dominant 24-0 lead.

The Roosters needed to score first in the second half to have any hope of advancing to next week and they did exactly that, as James Tedesco put Joseph Suaalii in some space to score.

The visitors then had back-to-back tries, when rookie half Sandon Smith produced a nice ball to Tedesco who barged his way over the line to narrow the scoreline to 24-10 in the opening 10 minutes of the half.

The Roosters continued to chance their arm out wide through the likes of Joey Manu and Domonic Young but Penrith managed to scramble and turn them away time after time.

Penrith then iced the game with eight minutes remaining, when man of the match Cleary produced a deft kick at the line for Luke Garner to score his second try of the night to take a commanding 30-10 lead and earn a week off next week.

The Roosters season will now go on the line, as they face the winner of Sunday's elimination final between Canterbury-Bankstown and Manly-Warringah in what will be an absolute blockbuster in Sydney next weekend.