Powerless Panthers stumble in Brisbane

PENRITH’S finals charge has been dealt a blow after going down 24-12 to Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium last night.

The Panthers were seventh on the ladder leading into this game but have slipped to eighth position, leapfrogged by their opposition, the Broncos.

The western Sydney club could find themselves as low as 10th on the ladder depending on other results over the course of the remainder of the round.

“It’s disappointing… it was a game we really needed to win and we’ve just made it harder for ourselves,” Penrith fiveeighth James Maloney said.

The Broncos spent the early exchanges trying to go through the middle of the Panthers and Payne Haas and Tevita Pangai Jr did so with plenty of impact.

Haas clocked 190 metres, made nine tackle busts and a two linebreaks.

In the 73rd minute, the NSW Blues prop put the result beyond doubt with a brilliant solo effort to beat three defenders on his way to the tryline.

“Penrith threw the ball around a lot but we hung tough and we defended our line really well in the end,” Broncos hooker Andrew McCullough said.

“We knew they were going to try and do that, they have some strong outside backs.”

Meanwhile, Gold Coast has been spooked by the boot of Mitchell Moses, falling 36-12 to Parramatta to ensure their season sinks to a new low.

The league’s try-assist leader’s tally grew by three to 29, with a trio of kicks creating the decisive buffer on the Gold Coast as the Eels assured their finals spot with three rounds to play.

The visitors also kept alive their top-four hopes but defeat meant a club-worst eighthconsecutive loss for the Titans all but assured them of their second wooden spoon.

Two Moses bombs and a grubber seemed to have an otherwise improved Titans defence spellbound, with the hosts either spilling their efforts to catch or not attempting at all.