South Sydney Rabbitohs pull off stunning upset over Penrith Panthers

The Sydney Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers were expected to play out a high scoring shootout but it was far from it in Townsville.

The Rabbitohs pulled off a massive win. Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have pulled off a stunning 16-10 win over the Penrith Panthers in Townsville in what was a defensive battle in their qualifying final on Saturday night.

The Rabbitohs and the Panthers are the second and fifth best attacking teams in the competition respectively but played out a defensive slog of a match.

Souths’ season tally of 775 points this season is also the club record, which is saying something for a foundation club.

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But it was defence that won the day as the Rabbitohs ground out a famous win to earn a week off.

The Rabbitohs will be waiting in week three of the finals to play the winner of the Roosters and Sea Eagles clash next week, while the Panthers will have to regroup against the winner of the Eels and Knights elimination final on Sunday, with the prize a match up with the all-conquering Melbourne Storm in the preliminary final.

Souths have shaken up the comp. Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

It means the expected Grand Final of the Storm and Panthers can’t be the season decider.

“This has opened up one side of the draw,” Cooper Cronk said on Fox League. “For a long part of this season, it’s been a two-horse race, Melbourne and Penrith.

“Souths have a rails run into a Grand Final with Wayne Bennett in his last year, Adam Reynolds moving on — this finals series has just got turned on its head.”

The Panthers and Rabbitohs had a dramatic war of words erupt on Friday as Wayne Bennett questioned whether Penrith were illegally protecting Nathan Cleary.

It spilled onto the field as there was clearly no love lost between the clubs in a fiery affair.

The Panthers opened the scoring through a brilliant Nathan Cleary banana grubber allowed a piece of Paul Momirovski magic as he knocked the ball back for Stephen Crichton to score.

It was about all that went right for the Panthers though with Souths hitting the lead when Cody Walker scored in the 24th minute.

The Panthers now have to go through the Storm. Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Two penalty goals for Cleary and one for Reynolds ensured the teams went to the break at 10-all.

Souths then hit the lead early in the second when a communication breakdown between defenders saw Matt Burton jam in and leave a two-on-one overlap for South Sydney’s Jaxson Paulo to score.

It was the diference as a penalty goal opened it up to six-point win as Penrith couldn’t get over the line as the Rabbitohs defence held strong.