Panthers blitz tackle-shy Tigers

Penrith survived another spirited Wests Tigers comeback to make it back-to-back NRL wins with a 42-22 victory at CUA Stadium on Saturday night.

Defence took a back seat in the tryathon, the Panthers turning a 22-all scoreline
with 11 minutes remaining into an easy win with three tries in the final eight
minutes.
It spoiled a dramatic comeback by the Tigers which was sparked by some brilliant
dummy half work by Robbie Farah, who looked like he had given the Tigers all the
momentum as he got the visitors back in the contest.
But utility Rhys Hanbury - who came on after Tim Moltzen dislocated an elbow in the
first minute - ruined a good night when he gifted the Panthers a penalty which broke
the deadlock and opened the floodgates.
The early signs weren't good for the Tigers with Penrith fullback Lachlan Coote
taking the kick-off and sparking a stunning burst which ended with Brad Tighe being
pulled down a metre short of the line.
It only served to delay the inevitable, Luke Lewis strolling through some
non-existent defence for a 6-0 lead after five minutes.
Penrith were beating the clock when Jarrod Sammut reeled in a Lewis chip for a 12-0
lead, the Tigers down two tries to nil after ten minutes for the second week in a
row.
But just like last week, the Tigers came storming back, and again it was Benji
Marshall leading the show, the Kiwi sneaking down a short blindside before his
grubber infield eventually found a rampaging Keith Galloway who carried three
players over the tryline.
Michael Gordon extended Penrith's lead with a simple penalty, but a spilled ball by
Frank Puletua from the restart gave the Tigers an invitation they could not ignore
with Hanbury scoring his first of the night on the back of a Farah grubber.
Former Tiger Shane Elford botched a easy opportunity when he lost the ball over the
line, but when Trent Waterhouse was given a saloon passage by Farah, who let
Waterhouse go after being called offside by referee Ben Cummins the Panthers were on
the board again with the former NSW Origin backrower finding a flying Michael
Jennings in support.
Down 22-12 at the break, the Tigers had to score first if they were to be any
chance, and it looked like being the case when Dene Halatau planted the ball under
the posts only for the referee to belatedly, but correctly, rule a forward pass from
Todd Payten in the lead-up.
It didn't matter though as Farah went to work, two scintillating dummy half runs
leading to tries for Hanbury and Taniela Tuiaki, the latter using the Tongan
sidestep to run over the top of the much smaller Lachlan Coote, Marshall's missed
sideline conversion leaving the scores tied at 22-all.