Resilient South Sydney hold off an improved Penrith in 22-18 victory

The Panthers couldn’t send Phil Gould out a winner but there was plenty to like about their character and tenacity as a late fightback fell just short of toppling high-flying Souths.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 26: Corey Allan of the Rabbitohs scores a try during the round 7 NRL match between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Panthers Stadium on April 26, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

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A win on Friday night would have been the perfect antidote to yet another week punctuated by headlines coming out of Penrith.

Outgoing Panthers supremo Gus Gould received a warm reception, even a standing ovation from sections of the crowd when his face was beamed onto the big screen before kick-off.

But the side he helped to build from the ground up wasn’t able to send him out a winner, instead the Panthers slumped to their fifth loss of the year.

South Sydney survived a late surge from the home side to earn a 22-18 victory at the foot of the mountains.

A barnstorming run from Panthers back rower Viliame Kikau put his side within touching distance with only six minutes of the clock.

It was an improved performance from Cleary and Maloney. AAP Image/Craig Golding.

But a courageous defensive effort by Wayne Bennett’s men was enough to deliver the Redfern club its sixth win for the season.

Despite the loss Panther coach Ivan Cleary was positive in his assessment of his side’s showing.

“Tonight was our best performance, we looked likely but couldn’t take our chances. We had rhythm tonight. Credit to South Sydney they were able to come up with some big defence time after time,” he said.

NSW HALVES BATTLE

Blues coach Brad Fittler didn’t hold back early this year when talking about the lack of cohesion between his Blues halves pairing. Fittler accused them of looking like they’d never played a game of football together.

Amid talk that Sydney Roosters’ five-eighth Luke Keary is edging closer to a Blues berth, this effort from the two may have earned them a reprieve.

“This is the best they have played together and given early ball to their centres… it’s the best I’ve seen this year,” Fittler said.

The Panthers played some of their best footy of the year. AAP Image/Craig Golding.

PANTHERS ATTACK

While Fittler was complimentary on the improvement in Maloney and Cleary, he was less impressed with the attack of Ivan Cleary’s men in general.

The Panthers have been playing a more structured brand of football in 2019 and former league legend Fittler isn’t a fan.

“They are more dangerous when they playing off the quick play the ball. They don’t do the set-up plays as well as some of the other clubs,” Fittler said.

“All their set-up work is done through their halves so they don’t look as dangerous. They need to load up their set-up plays a bit better and not be so predictable.”

Strong defence made the difference for Souths. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images.

SPARK FROM HOOKER

But despite their ‘predictability’ there were clear signs improvements, especially when hooker Wayde Egan demanded the ball.

“The way Wayde played tonight changed the way we attacked… it’s the first time we had that consistent approach from dummy-half over the advantage line,” Cleary said.

“Wayde is only young, he’s still finding his feet and still trying to work out when he can do his own thing and when he should give it to the halves. He backed himself tonight and will be only good for him and us.”

GOAL LINE DEFENCE

It took the Panthers 29 tackles in South Sydney’s red zone and 45 minutes to crack the Rabbitohs line.

Penrith threw everything they could at the Rabbitohs but still couldn’t crack them, solidifying the Redfern club as one of the defensive benchmarks of the competition.

The Bunnies have conceded the third fewest points so far this year. And it wasn’t hard to see why, the game was littered with some impressive one-on-one decisive tackles from the new captain Sam Burgess, fullback Alex Johnston and Turner.

“It wasn’t too bad. We’ve been working on it and they were pretty good tonight under a lot of pressure,” Bennett said.

SOUTH SYDNEY 22 (C Allan D Gagai K Turner C Walker tries A Reynolds 3 goals) bt PENRITH 18 (V Kikau J Maloney D Watene-Zelezniak tries N Cleary 3 goals) at Panthers Stadium. Referee: Ashley Klein, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski. Crowd: 14,931

Originally published as Resilient South Sydney hold off an improved Penrith in 22-18 victory