Penrith on a collision course for greatness after gritty prelim victory

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Penrith Panthers v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

The Penrith Panthers are into their fifth successive grand final after a 26-6 win in the second preliminary final over a brave and gallant Cronulla Sharks at Accor Stadium.

It was a tense start as both sides jostled for field position and momentum in the slippery conditions. The Panthers got on the board first inside the opening ten minutes as Toby Rudolf was pinned for tripping Jarome Luai. Nathan Cleary added the penalty goal to give the undisputed champs a 2-0 lead.

Cronulla wouldn't let that get them down as Braydon Trindall carried on from last week's performance with a great kick to get the Sharks out of trouble. The near 40/20 was saved brilliantly by Dyl Edwards and Sunia Turuva. Penrith weren't themselves in the wet coniditions and were making un-Penrith like plays. An out of play penalty saw Cronulla level the scores at 2-2.

Cronulla had the first try-scoring chance but the Bunker ruled Ronaldo Mulitalo had lost the ball forward. From the ensuing set, Nathan Cleary early in the tackle count kicked from inside the 40 and found the mark for his fifteenth 40/20 of his career. In the following set, a crash ball from the Penrith pivot found Paul Alamoti who scored to give the Panthers a six point lead midway through the first half. Just before the half-time break, a late shot from Siosifa Talakai gave Penrith a further two points to make it 10-2 at the break.

The second half was a tense affair as both sides had chances to score but defensively, both sides were up for it. Penrith thought they broke the stalemate as Turuva burrowed his way to the line. However, the Bunker correctly ruled that Talakai was obstructed. Cronulla capitalised as Sione Katoa crossed for a spectacular try in the corner to keep the Sharks in touch.

Penrith however, showed their championship qualities and crossed for two tries in successive sets following a Cronulla error. It looked like the play would be dead and buried. It came to Cleary, he booted it to an unmarked Brian To'o and Penrith wrestled through the chaos to retake the lead. Off the next set, a break up field saw the Panthers in prime field position before a Cleary cutout ball to Alamoti for his second.

As the game came to a close, a scare went through Penrith as Cleary appeared to aggrevate his shoulder injury, he came from the field late but it doesn't look like an injury that will see him miss next weekend. Luai stood up late to seal the game for the Panthers as a clever grubber saw  Liam Martin dive over to seal Penrith's spot in their fifth successive grand final.