Penrith’s season on the line as Corey Norman inspires Eels to victory

PENRITH coach Anthony Griffin says he’s ‘filthy’ with his side’s loss after a Corey Norman masterclass led the Eels to victory in the western Sydney derby.

Corey Norman starred for the Eels. pic Mark Evans

PENRITH’S season — which promised so much — is now at breaking point after a Corey Norman masterclass spurred the Eels to victory in the western Sydney derby yesterday.

Norman scored two tries and laid on another as the Eels looked to have found the performances which replicated their blistering start to the season in front of 14,071 people at ANZ Stadium.

Parramatta have won their past two games after a four-game losing streak.

Their cross-town rivals, however, are a shadow of the side which started the season as the competition frontrunners.

The six-point margin flattered the Panthers.

Penrith have slumped to their fourth consecutive loss and have won just two of their opening six games.

Corey Norman starred for the Eels against the Panthers. pic Mark Evans

Panthers coach Anthony Griffin is confident he can turn his side’s run of woes around, he just does not know when that will be. Their victories have come against the lowly ranked Newcastle and Tigers. As they lose touch with any hope of a top-four finish, the Panthers now head to play the in-form Broncos in Brisbane on Thursday night fighting to stay in touch with the top eight.

They can garner some inspiration from how they recovered this time last year, where they had won just one more game before finishing strongly to finish the regular season in sixth.

“There was a lot of hype,” Griffin said of the team’s premiership favouritism tag.

“We didn’t start the hype. It was on the way we finished last year. We are fairly a young side. We are learning tough lessons at the moment.

“That’s the bottom line. We will be better in the future.

“When that is I can’t guarantee you. I don’t buy into (the hype) too much. I know there was a lot of hype there.

The Eels celebrate a Semi Radradra try. pic Mark Evans

“At the moment it’s tough, when it will be right it’ll be right. I’m filthy about losing every week. We need to be patient with some of the people we have here at the moment.”

Their form slide has also thrown Matt Moylan’s NSW position into doubt.

Moylan had been earmarked to partner James Maloney in the halves but his mixed start to the year — including a recent disciplinary demotion to reserve grade — could cost him a Blues jersey. The Eels showed more intent and their forwards overpowered a star-studded Penrith pack.

The Panthers were given a pre-game shake-up with the returning Bryce Cartwright replacing Te Maire Martin at five-eighth and Tyrone Peachey starting on the bench.

But the Eels’ victory came at a cost with makeshift five-eighth Brad Takairangi not returning after halftime with a knee injury which the club expects to sideline him for about six weeks.

Norman had his first try after four minute and his cross field kick provided winger Semi Radradra with his sixth try of the year in the final play of the first half. Norman pounced on a Clint Gutherson kick to have the Eels leading 18-0. early in the second stanza.

Kenny Edwards was forced to play in the halves. pic Mark Evans

But Parramatta struggled to find the same rhythm in attack with Takairangi sidelined. Kenny Edwards was forced to play in the halves. “We just didn’t play smart,” coach Brad Arthur said of the second half.

“We played real dumb. The effort was outstanding. The collision was really good. I don’t think our intent dropped, we just didn’t play smart.”

Penrith scored through Peta Hiku in the 56th minute and a 77th-minute try to Corey ­Harawira-Naera gave the ­Panthers a sniff but mistakes in the final few minutes ruined their charge.

PARRAMATTA 18 (C Norman 2 S Radradra tries C Gutherson 3 goals) bt PENRITH 12 (C Harawira-Naera P Hiku tries N Cleary 2 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Gavin Badger, Jon Stone. Crowd: 14,071.