South Sydney Rabbitohs v Penrith Panthers: Five things we learned, SuperCoach scores and analysis

Penrith players struggled without big guns Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards, but one Panthers star still managed the best score on the park. Here’s five things we learned from Thursday night’s footy.

The Rabbitohs emerged as victors after running riot in the first half against the defending premiers Penrith.

Here’s five things we learned from the game.

Scroll down to see all the action from the live blog.

Jack Cole is worth his cost

A second half dominance from Panthers Five-Eighth Jack Cole saw him finish with the most points on the park with 94. Cole finished with a try to his name but also had four tackle breaks, one line break, line break assist and try assist.

A tail of two halves

It was all the Rabbitohs in the first half as they piled on 28 points to nothing for the Panthers, leaving the premiers shell shocked and stunned NRL fans watching. But it would be the only time they scored anything as the Rabbitohs went scoreless in the second half and the Panthers counter punched early to close the gap but it wasn’t enough to finished 28-16 at the end of the final siren.

Nervous injury wait

Coaches will be wondering what sort of changes they will need to make next week as the injuries fell continuously throughout tonight’s match. Rabbitohs’ Alex Johnston will have scans to determine how serious his shoulder injury is while the Panthers will have Brian To’o (hamstring), Trent Toelau (knee) and Scott Sorensen (concussion) added to their ever growing injury list.

Peter pleases again

He was doing so well, but cheapie favourite Peter Mamouzelos had to go and get a sin bin in the final minute to make his score look slightly less impressive. Despite this, 69 points is nothing to be too upset about, surpassing his breakeven and pleasing his 27% ownership, so long as you didn’t bench him.

Panthers struggle without big guns

No Nathan Cleary, no Dylan Edwards, no point investing in Penrith players. The Panthers were clunky all evening, only finding the line in the second half as the Rabbitohs matched their levels of sloppiness. If the keys spine players aren’t in the side, I wouldn’t be loading up on their other assets.