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The baby Panthers have done it again, overcoming a raft of Origin outs to record a vital win in their quest for the minor Premiership.
They went the long way around: after taking a 12-0 lead, they were hauled in by a resilient Dolphins side, but rebounded to win 24-14.
Izack Tago was again the star, scoring twice and setting up two more for his winger, Thomas Jenkins. The centre’s elevation from bit part player to one of the form players in the NRL over this Origin period has been astounding.
Without Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o, therre could have been an excuse for Ivan Cleary’s men to slack. There wasn’t an inch of it.
“To get five out of six in that (Origin) period and just lose in golden point in the other one, I am stoked with that. Really happy,” said the coach. “It’s good for us to kick into the run into the finals.”
Wayne Bennett can also reflect on a good performance, even without the result. The manner in which his side stayed in the contest and then fought back speaks to their culture, even if the polish in attack wasn’t always there to make the most of opportunities.
“I could find fault with a lot of things we did today, but I don’t want to,” he said. “I want to recognise the effort that we did put into that game and how we stayed in it.
“Everything we got out there, we had to earn and they don’t make it easy.”
Felise Kaufusi found himself on report again, while Jarrod Wallace may also have a case to answer after inexplicably avoiding the bin in the first half. He caught Spencer Leniu with a high shoulder charge, but referee Todd Smith saw it as reportable but nothing more.
Penrith also had a man sent to the bin, with Jack Cogger sat down for a professional foul, opening the door for the Dolphins comeback. With the halfback missing, Kodi Nikorima scored to close the gap before the break.
Sometimes, we focus too much on who is not playing rather than who is. While this was a Panthers side with more than a few outs, there was still of whole heap of talent in there, way better than even a peak Dolphins side.
Jarome Luai, Dylan Edwards, James Fisher-Harris and Izack Tago would be the best players in the Dolphins side – alright, maybe Tabuai-Fidow – and with them comes not only elite talent, but a supremely honed system that, as has been proven over multiple Origin periods, goes well deeper than the first 17.
Sunia Turuva came in this time last year and has barely left since, and it’s easy to see a similar trajectory for Tom Jenkins when Stephen Crichton, rested today, leaves. Lindsay Smith is in a similar boat should anyone depart the pack.
There’s also the more intangible stuff that comes from winning a lot of football games. Much as there were a few key match-ups that the Panthers’ identified as weak spots – Valynce Te Whare on the wing, for one – the first three tries were more about a team taking a mile when an inch was offered.
Moses Leota got a lucky one off a charge down – the adage of making your own luck was never truer – but the ability to turn Tago’s break into four points, then to do that again when Jenkins outjumped Te Whare, is what the best teams do and others don’t.
Last night, a failing Roosters side had eight line breaks but only scored three, whereas in the first half today, the Panthers had two and scored three.
There’s an element of The Expendables about the Dolphins: the old boys club, always gearing up for one last charge,
There’s plenty of things that will ensure they don’t play the Finals, but it bears repeating how impressive it is that this side has such a concrete identity after such a short period of time.
Penrith can draw upon years of development across multiple grades to give them the understanding of Cleary’s system, and while Redcliffe don’t have that, we they do have are smart, committed players who play for each other.
The expendables metaphor goes further, because almost everyone on their list is someone else’s cast-off.
Blokes like Connolly Lemuelu, Herman Ese’ese and Jamayne Isaako were on their last legs as first graders, staring down a life of reggies or Super League. It’s their last chance saloon.
It’s as if they were born with a siege mentality, and at some point in almost every game, that kicks in.
Today was a bit of a strange example of that. They weren’t really ever behind in the game, but found themselves having conceded three avoidable tries.
In now time-honoured Dolphins fashion, they kept going, accumulated pressure and eventually found their openings.
Ultimately, they lacked the polish to take out the Panthers, and might lament moving Te Whare to a wing, where he was ruthlessly exposed. But, beyond the results, the building blocks of what has made them so good in 2023 were still there.