Undermanned Panthers stun Warriors in statement win

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Warriors v Penrith Panthers

The Penrith Panthers, without their Origin stars, produced their most complete performance of the year to upset the high-flying Warriors 28-18 on Saturday and send a warning shot to the rest of the NRL.

It is worth pointing out that the Warriors were also without Kurt Capewell and Mitch Barnett, while they also lost Marata Niukore (concussion) and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (ankle) by halftime. 

Luke Metcalf also struggled through a leg issue and clearly wasn't himself, only running the ball once in the second half for nine metres.

But even before those injury setbacks, Penrith was already well in the fight and even after the Warriors scored first in the second half, the understrength Panthers only grew further resolved.

It was a stark contrast to the last time the Panthers were without their Origin stars, when they found themselves on the wrong end of a 24-0 halftime score line against the Knights in Bathurst.

This time around, Penrith's forward pack in particular made a statement early which made it obvious this was going to be a very different result.

Moses Leota, going up against former teammate James Fisher-Harris, looked like he was taking the running battle personally with an inspired performance.

Leota had 10 runs for 85 metres in his first stint, setting the tone for what was a high-intensity opening from the Panthers, who eventually capitalised on their field position to take a 4-0 lead after 18 minutes.

Penrith had 62 per cent of the ball at that point with 15 tackles in the Warriors' 20 compared to just three for the home side.

There was a chance the Panthers could have fallen into the trap of being frustrated into mistakes by a relentless Warriors defence, but they eventually broke the down as a sizzling step from Casey McLean put Thomas Jenkins over. 

But just as the Panthers took the lead, the Warriors hit right back as a side-stepping Roger Tuivasa-Sheck drew a penalty which marched the home side up the field - and they were quick to take advantage. 

On this occasion, Metcalf put it into the air as Izack Tago couldn't handle the bomb, spilling it straight into the bread basket of Jackson Ford.

The Panthers then had to weather the storm as the Warriors turned up the pressure and while Penrith had showed the right intent in attack, the challenge was to replicate that without the ball.

And unlike that Newcastle game, the Panthers looked far more committed and in-sync as a defensive unit. 

That eventually led to more points as beautiful ball-playing from Talagi put Scott Sorensen over in the 36th minute as Penrith capitalised on a Warriors' right edge defence that without Watene-Zelezniak.

The Warriors winger was down receiving treatment and had to be helped from the field, later being ruled out with what looked a potentially serious ankle injury. 

It left the halftime score at 8-6 in Penrith's favour, with Paul Alamoti missing both conversions from the sideline.

There could have been far more points but both fullbacks Daine Laurie and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad came up with huge one-on-one tackles on their own line to deny what were otherwise certain tries.

It was an exceptionally high quality first half and the Panthers picked up where they left off in the second half, almost scoring off their opening set.

As they had all game, the Warriors scrambled brilliantly and were rewarded for that effort as a Matt Eisenhuth error soon after gifted them a full set on the Penrith line.

Metcalf then put Jacob Laban over as the home side took a 12-8 lead.

It would have been easy for the Panthers, having already put up a better effort than against the Knights, to just let the game slip away from them as the Warriors started to get the upper-hand.

Instead, Penrith's line speed defending that first Warriors set after points spoke volumes as Sorensen came up with a crucial one-on-one tackle as Wayde Egan dummied and threatened to split the Panthers defence.

Sorensen then scored his second try of the game as he came down with a Brad Schneider kick, putting Penrith back ahead 14-12.

Defence led to attack a few minutes later as Tom Jenkins stuck out a hand to stop what would have been a Warriors try and then sprinted away to put the Panthers in scoring territory. 

Schneider then played it perfectly, shaping to go short to draw the defence in before going out the back to Talagi for the try.

The Panthers eventually iced the win as Nicoll-Klokstad let the last-tackle kick bounce, only for it to go over his head as Alamoti pounced to put Penrith ahead 26-12.

Penrith later added a penalty goal before Moala Graham-Taufa raced away for his first NRL try to give the sold-out Go Media Stadium crowd a reason to cheer.

The Panthers play the Bulldogs next week in a blockbuster Thursday night clash while the Warriors travel to Brisbane to face the Broncos.