Roosters Fall at the Foot of the Mountains

Penrith piggybacked into their attacking half in the eighth minute with a penalty kick for touch after the Roosters were caught inside 10 metres. Storming towards the try-line, Nathan Cleary supplied James Fisher-Harris an inside ball, sending the front rower straight through the Roosters defence. The New Zealand International found Scott Sorensen in support for the opening four-pointer, with Cleary converting the try to give the hosts a six-point advantage. 

Injected into the game in the 16th minute, Matt Lodge ignited the Roosters attack with a strong run towards the try line. Sending the ball to the left edge, the Tricolours seemed imminent to score through an overlap, only to be troubled by another handling error. 

Opportunistic attack from the Panthers afforded them another point-scoring opportunity six minutes later as Sorensen made his way through the Roosters defence. Tyrone Peachey raced towards the back rower, collecting a pass before offloading to Dylan Edwards who grounded the ball behind the posts. Cleary added the extras, doubling Penrith's advantage. 

Quick hands from Billy Smith sent Corey Allan flying down the sideline in the 26th minute before the winger found skipper James Tedesco with an inside ball. The Red, White and Blue played the ball from left to right before a chip-kick from Joseph Manu set Jaxson Paulo up for a one-on-one challenge in the corner, but the play was unsuccessful.  

Luai exploited the Roosters' scattered defence to send Sorensen straight through for a double four minutes before halftime. Cleary kicked the conversion to extend the Panthers lead to 18. 

On the resuming play, the Penrith five-eighth created another point-scoring opportunity, this time for Peachey who darted through the defence and headed straight towards the stripe. The captain made no mistake with the conversion from in-front, giving the hosts a 24-point advantage on the stroke of half-time. 

The Roosters challenged a knock-on call against Billy Smith five minutes into the second half, but the Bunker upheld the on-field decision, deeming the centre knocked the ball forward in the air. 

With the Panthers back on the attack, the Bondi Wall stood tall, absorbing immense pressure in defence as the mountain men maintained possession in their attacking half for five repeat sets. 

Penrith found the first points of the half in a scrappy attacking effort that resulted in a cross-field kick from lock Isaah Yeo that found Brian To'o alone on the right wing. Cleary added the two points from touch, making the score 30-0. 

Desperate attack from the Roosters resulted in a 64th minute try to Allan, who was the recipient of a back-handed pass from Billy Smith. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii failed to convert from touch, leaving the score at 30-4. 

A textbook left-edge play from the Panthers saw winger Sunia Turuva dive over in the corner, adding another four points to his team's tally. Cleary slotted the conversion from touch to make it 36-4.

Two tries in the final ten minutes added insult to injury, with Luai and Peachey claiming back-to-back four-pointers. Cleary kicked both conversions to make it a perfect night on the boot. 

Sydney Roosters 4 (Corey Allan try) def by Penrith Panthers 48 (Scott Sorensen 2, Dylan Edwards, Tyrone Peachey 2, Brian To'o, Sunia Turuva, Jarome Luai tries, Nathan Cleary 8 goals)