Penrith Panthers

The Sharks burst out of the blocks in Penrith but the reigning premiers reeled them in with 20 unanswered points to win their finals precursor.

maybe I was looking at the wrong thing,” Graham said. it just looked bad didn’t it and (Crichton) is not in a great way,” Cleary said. “The guys are disappointed because we feel like we’ve got more to offer than that. “I’ve just got to do my part and try to get us on the front foot and get us out of yardage.” “All the stuff you’ve got to get out of a footy team to become good at the end of the year, we’ll take a lot of positives out of that but we have to also understand we need to be better and we’ll work on that and get our execution a bit better. Nathan Cleary slotted a penalty on the stroke of halftime and the Panthers then crossed through Dylan Edwards in the first minute of the second half.

With seven Origin players returning from an extended break, the Panthers proved too good for a battling Sharks side that lost no admirers despite defeat at ...

I’m not exactly sure of the interpretations, but it’s clearly contact to the head and it knocks him out. It’s weird that that’s OK, but the mildest of taps are not OK.” And ‘Critta’, he’s not in a great way. It was not lost on Fitzgibbon that call led to the Sharks being forced to defend their line the remainder of the game. He’s in good spirits for what he can remember. “It was a big head clash from what I saw, his arms did come up spectacularly after it, but I thought it was flush contact to the head for me,” Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon said.

Defending premiers Penrith repelled a physical challenge from the Sharks to come away with a 20-10 win at PointsBet Stadium on Saturday night.

Loved our effort, loved the spirit we played with, we were in the contest, we ticked a lot of boxes in that regard tonight but we knew if we were going to get something out of tonight we were going to have to execute, so I'm just a little bit disappointed about that." A magnificent team try brought the Panthers faithful to their feet and fired a shot across the bow of the Sharks as a high-quality contest went to another level. "We executed poorly in the second half and allowed a quality team to control the field position and they don't go away. It wasn't the prettiest of games by us, lacked a bit of cohesion I thought, but totally expected after six weeks where probably half the team were lucky to have done a handful of sessions so it's good to get the win." - Blayke Brailey racked up 59 tackles for the Sharks in another tireless defensive effort. The No.1 gun threw in eight tackle breaks and a try for good measure.

Stephen Crichton required stitches to put his ear back together after a crunching hit from Dale Finucane.

He added that Finucane's evasion of punishment was not a good look. "I don't know if you've seen his ear? "I don't think he knew where he wanted to hit him. Cronulla failed to score again for the rest of the match. "He is just so tenacious Dale Finucane. He has got no respect for his body. He just wanted to hit him.

The Penrith Panthers are flying, can the top four hopefuls, the Cronulla Sharks be just the second team to beat them this year? Join…

You would have to say he will be highly motivated to put memories of a disappointing decider behind him with a solid performance for the Panthers. But this is where the season really starts for the Panthers. It is all well and good to win up until this point, and it sets them up for another premiership tilt. The Sharks last win in Penrith was back in 2018. They get an opportunity to gauge where they are at, and have nothing to lose. The Sharks welcome back Siosifa Talakai in the centres. The Sharks were one of just a few teams to beat the Panthers in the regular season last year, overcoming their Origin affected side to win 19-18, courtesy of a Shaun Johnson field goal. They are sitting pretty at the top of the ladder, but momentum is going to really start to count now and they don’t need to start losing games. The Sharks have virtually set up camp in the top four all year. The Panthers are back at full strength in this one. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5.30pm AEST. The Panthers are just about unstoppable at the moment. But the real test is about to begin.

'The price of success': Cleary gives blessing as Panthers resigned to losing Ciraldo.

Some things you’ll never be ready for and head coaching is probably one of them but some people are more ready than others,” Cleary said. Cleary appears all but resigned to the fact Ciraldo will depart at the end the season, with the Bulldogs widely tipped to secure his services. Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has given his blessing for highly-touted assistant Cameron Ciraldo to leave the club.

Defending premiers Penrith repelled a physical challenge from the Sharks to come away with a 20-10 win at PointsBet Stadium on Saturday night.

Loved our effort, loved the spirit we played with, we were in the contest, we ticked a lot of boxes in that regard tonight but we knew if we were going to get something out of tonight we were going to have to execute, so I'm just a little bit disappointed about that." A magnificent team try brought the Panthers faithful to their feet and fired a shot across the bow of the Sharks as a high-quality contest went to another level. "We executed poorly in the second half and allowed a quality team to control the field position and they don't go away. It wasn't the prettiest of games by us, lacked a bit of cohesion I thought, but totally expected after six weeks where probably half the team were lucky to have done a handful of sessions so it's good to get the win." - Blayke Brailey racked up 59 tackles for the Sharks in another tireless defensive effort. The No.1 gun threw in eight tackle breaks and a try for good measure.