Their injury crisis has captured another two bodies but Penrith are showing plenty of premiership mettle after edging Canterbury 22-14 and move to second on the NRL ladder.
Fullback Dylan Edwards (shoulder) joined pre-game withdrawal skipper Peter Wallace (neck) as the latest to hit the sideline on Friday as the league’s biggest casualty ward stretched to double digits.
But it wasn’t enough to deter the Panthers from coming back from 10 points down, with halfback and stand-in captain James Maloney again the chief architect in a willing contest.
Maloney continued his stellar form for his new club, having a hand in all three of Penrith’s tries and converting four goals from five attempts to steer them to their sixth win in seven games.
Penrith were down by four with half an hour remaining when Moses Leota powered his way over to steal the lead only for Moses Mbye to level the scores with a penalty goal not long after.
But a Maloney penalty goal in the 59th and an Isaah Yeo try followed eight minutes later before the NSW State of Origin star sealed the victory with another two points.
The defeat means the Bulldogs have lost four of their past five and are mired in 14th spot.
The Edwards and Wallace ailments add to an overflowing casualty ward including Nathan Cleary and Sam McKendry (both knee), Josh Mansour (cheekbone), Waqa Blake (ankle) and Tim Browne (bowel).
Squad members Tyrone May (knee), Tyrone Phillips and Corey Waddell (both pec) are also unavailable.
The home side got the early jump at Panthers Stadium with a penalty goal, only for the contest to swing hastily when Edwards landed awkwardly in a run and was forced out of the game.
His departure allowed the Bulldogs to wreak havoc down Penrith’s reshuffled left edge, twice crossing through Marcelo Montoya and Will Hopoate to take a commanding 12-2 lead.
A late first-half try to Panthers centre Corey Harawira-Naera gave the locals impetus for the second half, setting up one of their bravest wins in recent memory in front of a crowd of 13,765.
A fiery ending finished with a handful of minor scuffles, which included David Klemmer being sin-binned while captain Josh Jackson claimed Trent Merrin threw a punch.
Bulldogs coach Dean Pay admitted frustration is growing in his first year in charge.
“Yeah it was really frustrating. I just thought our first half was OK but the errors in the second half just killed us. We just couldn’t handle their line speed at us. That’s what it come down to,” he said.
Panthers coach Anthony Griffin said it was a good win.
“I thought the Bulldogs were really good tonight. When they got some field position, they were really slick and committed in defence,” he said.
“But to be able to be resilient and turn them away at 12-2 and then get back into the game, I thought it was a real good sign for us as a team.”
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