They may have thought they were walking under a ladder all year, but now Penrith are on top of it.
The NRL has a new competition leader for the first time this year after the Panthers stunned St George Illawarra with a near-flawless defensive performance in their 28-2 win on Saturday.
The league heavyweights traded punches early in a high-quality opening 40 minutes at a sold-out Panthers Stadium before the home side took over in a comprehensive second half.
Star halves duo Nathan Cleary and James Maloney shone on the back of a forward pack that dominated their highly-rated counterparts in front of their biggest home crowd in eight years.
Panthers coach Anthony Griffin labelled their performance as their most complete in a season where they have had to deal with possibly the worst injury toll in the league.
They are still without starters Dylan Edwards, Josh Mansour, Waqa Blake and captain Peter Wallace.
“I just liked the way our whole team handled the occasion. It was a big game and we’d been building up nicely over the last few weeks,” Griffin said.
“Obviously there was a lot of good things in attack and defence in the game but just our energy and our desire to keep coming at that type of game, I thought it was really good.”
The victory lifts the Panthers equal with the Dragons on both competition points (18) and points differential (+109); however, they move into top spot on percentages.
They have also now kept their tryline intact for their past 163 minutes of football.
Having only tasted victory against one current top eight side so far this season, the Panthers had identified their clash against the Dragons as a major test of their premiership credentials.
“This win tonight was a real key for us. We set it up and framed it as a big game,” Maloney said.
“You don’t get too many opportunities to see how you perform in the pressure-cooker of a big-game situation and I think our boys handled it a treat tonight.”
Dragons coach Paul McGregor, whose side had led the competition for the opening 11 rounds of the season, said they were simply outclassed in the second half.
“They were very much more dominant, their line speed was good. They were more physical than we were, they dominated field position,” he said.
“The halves played over the advantage line, engaged the line well and were just too good on the night.”
DP Schaefer
Guest
Dragons been delivering a false dawn, a bit overrated. They have had good wins but amongst the things you need to have a chance in this comp, there is the required lift when big games are on the line. Dragons blew a lead, probably about 4 Origin spots and brownie points over a main competitor. This was the wrong game to lose so badly.
3_Hats SSTID 2014
Roar Rookie
That is true, everyone loses now and then. I think the Panthers won today on the fringe and also out wide!
Matt
Guest
kk, they play in Canberra two days after Origin. Whoever makes the team won 't be travelling back from Melbourne, instead going straight to Canberra. All recovery, no training. I wouldn't call that a lucky draw.
Ron
Guest
@Matt Well said!
Paul
Roar Guru
and the Panthers have been beaten by beaten pretty easily by the Bulldogs and the Cowboys. I suspect Penrith's played its grand final in May. Penrith gets to pay the big boys on a regular basis in the second half of the season. We'll see just how good these guys are when they don't play so many sides in the bottom half of the draw
kk
Guest
"How goes the pack, goes the premiership" was a favourite saying.
Forty Twenty
Guest
It's funny how dominant packs can appear untouchable at times like the Dragons have and then get totally dominated. It happened to the Roosters a few years back in the finals when the Bunnies gave them a real touch up. I suppose we find the real worth of a pack when the opponents really give it to them.
3_Hats SSTID 2014
Roar Rookie
The March to May Premiers are Gooooooooone I expect the Drags will drop significantly down the Ladder before the Finals! Lost to all 3-fellow Top 4 teams to the tune of 72 to 24 Well done to the Panthers.
kk
Guest
Normally, a 28-2 scoreboard would not rank as one of the best of the season to date. The Panthers held me enthralled for the whole 4,800 seconds on our LG. Come Riley's TOTW, I would not be surprised to see a goodly number of Panthers listed. This was a Dragon hunt and the Panthers were hungry, circling their prey so that there was no escape. The Panthers feasted for eighty minutes non stop. Happy cats indeed. Without detracting one iota from this magnificent exhibition of power and skill, 'Hook' should send 'Sticky' a slab of his favourite brew for the contributing residual his team of Vikings inflicted on Mary's boys hard won points at Mudgee. I expect Penrith to have several players in O1. As luck would have it the Panthers have a bye in Round 13. Play on.
Matt
Guest
Panthers play it tough but fair, while a host of other teams rely heavily on falling down to win penalties. Pretty unkind to say Penrith have stolen anything. They are rightfully where they are at the moment.