The Penrith Panthers have defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs 26 points to 22 in front of 10,839 fans at CUA Stadium today (Sunday). A brave second half comeback from Souths wasn’t enough to get over the top of the mountain men, who laid on four first half tries to set the platform for the win.
The Rabbitohs’ line wasn’t breached in the second half, with the Panthers points coming from two penalty goals to Jarrod Sammut, but the Rabbitohs three second half tries weren’t enough to steal the two competition points.
The Rabbitohs trailed at half time 22 points to six, with the Panthers dominating in all areas of the game. The Rabbitohs seemed to be slow off their line in defence and discipline was also a problem, penalties giving the Panthers a leg-up on more than one occasion.
The Panthers led 16-nil after 23 minutes courtesy of two tries to Brad Tighe and one to Maurice Blair. Frank Pritchard terrorised the Rabbitohs’ right-hand-side defence resulting in Tighe’s two scores.
The Rabbitohs struck back in the 31st minute through centre Fetuli Talanoa. Captain David Kidwell tore into the Panthers left-hand-side defence, getting an offload away to Talanoa out of the back of his right hand. Talanoa literally ran over the top of Rhys Wesser to scoot 35 metres to score under the posts. Issac Luke converted to bring the scores back to 16-6 in favour of the home team.
The Panthers scored again five minutes before the break to give them a 16-point lead at half time.
The Rabbitohs struck back straight after half time when hulking five-eighth John Sutton sliced through the defence to score. The ball went right and Sutton burst between Blair and Tighe to charge over. Luke converted to bring the Rabbitohs within 10 points of their opposition.
Jarrod Sammut extended the Panthers lead to 12 through a penalty goal in the 49th minute.
The return of Michael Greenfield to the field in the 55th minute sparked a Rabbitohs revival. South Sydney scored their third try through the skilful front-rower when he took the ball 10 metres in front of the posts, grubber kicked the ball into the right-hand upright and scooped up the loose ball to score under the sticks. George Ndaira converted to bring the Rabbitohs within six with 20 minutes remaining.
Sammut kicked his second penalty goal to extend the home side’s lead to eight with just 15 minutes remaining in the match.
The Rabbitohs scored through second-rower Dean Widders in the 71st minute after some fantastic play from Sutton. The ball came to the right, Sutton took on the line and got his free around behind the defence for a miraculous offload to Widders who scored.
The Rabbitohs couldn’t cross the stripe again to steal the points, but the team never gave up in their quest for their first victory of the season.
Michael Greenfield sparked the Rabbitohs when he returned from injury in the second half. The Rabbitohs were without captain Roy Asotasi for the second stanza leaving them with a reduced bench for the second half. Asotasi suffered a concussion and will be right to play next Sunday afternoon. Hooker Issac Luke looks to have suffered a broken hand with further scans to determine the extent of the damage.
To listen to Assistant Coach Mark Ellison's comments about today's game, click this link: 
EllisonPostMatchPanthersAway
The Rabbitohs will take on the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval next Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
Penrith Panthers 26 (Brad Tighe 2, Maurice Blair, Adam Woolnough tries; Jarrod Sammut 5 goals)
defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 (Fetuli Talanoa, John Sutton, Michael Greenfield, Dean Widders tries; Issac Luke 2, George Ndaira goals).
In the Toyota Cup match, the South Sydney Rabbitohs squandered a 24-6 lead early in the second half to go down to the Penrith Panthers 30 points to 24 at CUA Stadium this afternoon.
The Rabbitohs seemed to have the game well hand, causing the Panthers problems all over the park. But a spirited comeback by the Panthers in the final 15 minutes of the match gave them the six-point victory.
Halfback Chris Sandow was strong for the Rabbitohs, guiding them around the park well with the assistance of number six Eddie Paea.
Penrith Panthers 30 (Wade Graham 2, Chris Ward, Joseph Paulo, Joel Romelo tries; Joseph Paulo 5 goals)
defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 (John Kaifoto, Jason Clark, Trent Trotter, Chris Sandow tries; Chris Sandow 4 goals)