Penrith Panthers win 30-10 over South Sydney Rabbitohs

The Penrith Panthers’ stunning resurgence has continued with a sixth straight win, as the Rabbitohs’ cruel injury curse claimed another two victims in their seventh loss in a row.

Look out, top four contenders – the Panthers are coming!

The defending premiers continued their late-season charge on Friday night by defeating South Sydney 30-10 at CommBank Stadium. It was the Mountain Men’s sixth win on the bounce, and they did it without their inspirational co-captains Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo.

Granted, Ivan Cleary’s men still sit sixth on the table, three points behind the fourth-placed Warriors, but with upcoming games against premiership also-rans the Tigers, Titans, and Knights, their odds of making it five straight premierships are shortening by the day.

Fullback and stand-in skipper Dylan Edwards was superb, scoring two tries, kicking five goals from five attempts, and running for a game-high 292 metres. Nuggety winger Brian To’o likewise kept the Bunnies on the back foot all night with his devastating kick returns. That said, he was rested with 20 minutes to go due to an ongoing leg injury.

“It was solid without being brilliant,” coach Cleary said of his team’s performance.

“I think we left some points out there.

“We lost a bit of intensity at the end of the first half, start of the second, which is a little concerning, but we did sort of fight through that.”

Dylan Edwards was a standout for the Panthers, scoring a whopping 170 SuperCoach points. Picture: Getty Images

The Panthers were never troubled by the injury-ravaged Rabbitohs, who, despite having an even share of possession and making five line breaks, struggled in attack without injured playmakers Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker.

“I thought our effort was tremendous … we just didn’t get a lot of luck,” Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett said.

“We were so brave for so long in the game,” added captain Jack Wighton.

“I’ll take a little bit of ownership … the kicking game at the finish of the sets [wasn’t good].

“That compounds the pressure and that’s when we broke in those little moments.”

Paul Alamoti got the scoring underway in the 12th minute when he regathered a bat back from To’o before chipping for himself. Six minutes later, To’o’s strong kick return enabled Thomas Jenkins to set up Edwards’ first. Edwards then turned provider when he sliced through the heart of the Rabbitohs’ defence to set up Casey McLean in the 36th minute.

Trailing 18-0 at the break, the Rabbitohs started the second term strongly, with Liam Le Blanc crossing in the 43rd minute. However, Penrith quickly reasserted their dominance with Luke Garner’s superb offload setting up Edwards’ second six minutes later.

While the final half-hour of the match was tight, McLean crossed again to make it 30-6 after 75 minutes, while Alex Johnston’s 78th-minute consolation try took him to 207 career touchdowns – just five short of Ken Irvine’s premiership record.

COULD BENNY GET THE SPOON?

South Sydney have now lost seven straight, and with Mitchell, Walker, Cameron Murray, Campbell Graham, and now Keaon Koloamatangi (ankle) and Peter Mamouzelos (concussion) on the injury list, Bennett is now in serious danger of claiming his first wooden spoon.

Should the Titans manage to beat the Tigers on Sunday, they will be level on points with the Rabbitohs.

Originally published as Penrith Panthers win 30-10 over South Sydney Rabbitohs