Penrith victory built on true grit

IT was just a bit of extra muscle and a couple of crucial plays that proved the difference for Penrith in their 16-14 win over Newcastle at McDonald Jones Stadium.

A see-sawing affair that was peppered with penalties and poor handling from both teams meant neither ever took full control when the game really was there for the taking.

Desire, rather than class, handed the Panthers a scrappy victory.

“A gutsy game from both sides,” said Penrith coach Ivan Cleary.

“They didn’t go away either where probably in that second half where we were up 16-8 for a long period of time I just thought if we can score one more we might be able to go on with it but we just couldn’t.”

When Malakai WateneZelezniak leapt over Connor Watson and Shaun KennyDowall to keep the ball alive in goal for Frank Winterstein to touch down late in the first half, he was hungry for the ball.

And it was James Maloney who stepped up in defence. A tackle on Knights fullback Connor Watson and a trysaver on winger Edrick Lee came as the Knights fought to pull back the Panthers’ 16-8 lead.

In these early rounds, it can be the difference between winning and losing.

“That was a huge play, the one on Edrick, and it wasn’t far off the other one too,” Cleary said of Maloney’s tackles.

“We had a couple of big plays tonight. Malakai creating a try just through pure compete in that first half as well.

“We spoke about that. We were pretty disappointed in what we tossed up last week. This time of year your game is not going to be perfect but you feel like you can deliver a bit more compete, I thought we did that.”

The loss of Viliame Kikau just before the start of the season has forced a last-minute reshuffle for the Penrith pack that is still finding its groove.

Reagan Campbell-Gillard now came in mid-way through the first half and played out the game and his impact was felt with 169m.

James Fisher-Harris crashed over for the Panthers’ first try and Isaah Yeo put them in a position to win when he took five defenders across the line with him early in the second half.

Panthers 16 (J Fisher-Harris, F Winterstein, I Yeo tries; N Cleary 2 goals) def Knights 14 (K Ponga 2 tries; K Ponga 3 goals) at McDonald Jones Stadium.