Souths ambush Panthers in first half rampage

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South Sydney Rabbitohs v Penrith Panthers

A ruthless 28 point first half set the South Sydney Rabbitohs up for success with a 10 point upset win over the Penrith Panthers at Accor Stadium,

Souths were ruthless from the outset and opened the scoring after six minutes. Off the back of early possession, Souths fire the first shot courtesy of a clever Cody Walker grubber and a flying Keaon Koloamatangi gets to the ball first to score the first try of the contest.

Penrith suffered a cruel blow when Scott Sorensen was concussed off the kickoff and left the game and didn't return. Things got worse when they conceded a second four minutes later.  Off the back of a Daine Laurie error, some terrific shape from Walker and Jye Gray allowed them to combine with Jack Wighton to put Alex Johnston over in the corner. In Johnston's return, he hurt his shoulder and battled bravely until half-time.

Penrith got into the arm-wrestle and claimed a try midway through the half but the Bunker denied it courtesy of a Liam Martin knock on. Souths got their margin out to 12 when Liam Henry was pinned for an unnecessary shot on Jamie Humphries after he kicked the ball. Penrith's right edge defence were torn apart once more thanks to a crash ball from Peter Mamouzelos which saw Koloamatangi target young Trent Toelau and the Rabbitohs were running riot.

Three minutes later, Penrith fans were considering calling the SES and reporting 17 missing players when they allowed Davvy Moale to crash through some feeble defence to make it 24-0. Right on the break, Gray crashed over from dummy half and the Panthers trailed by their biggest half-time gap since 2018.

It took 47 minutes and Souths to forget how to hold the football to start the second half, but Penrith opened their account thanks to a great catch and pass from Jack Cole. From there, Liam Martin crashed over to score and the Panthers had a pulse. Nine minutes later, Brad Schneider (who came into the game for an injured Trent Toelau (knee)) showed his terrific footwork and evasion to get over to make it a 16 point game.

Their was a contentious moment midway through the second half as the Panthers mounted a comeback when Moses Leota was ruled to have lost the ball as he reached out to score. Replays suggested that the Bunker errored as Leota appeared to have had sufficient downward pressure on the ball. The rest of the second half left a lot to be desired as Souths grinded their way to victory.

Penrith had the last laugh when Cole crossed in garbage time to make it a 10 point game, capitalising on the sin binning of hooker Peter Mamouzelos. The Panthers have some injury concerns with Sorensen (concussion protocols), To'o (hamstring) and Toelau (knee) in doubt for their home game against North Queensland.