CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 32 PENRITH PANTHERS 16
TOM SMITH, Accor Stadium, Thursday

LACHLAN GALVIN outshone Nathan Cleary in his 200th NRL game to lead Canterbury to a shock upset of table-topping Penrith.

The Bulldogs shot to an early 16-nil lead with Panthers centre Casey McLean in the sin-bin for a shoulder charge, before Thomas Jenkins’ second try — his 14th of the season already — levelled the scores early in the second half.

But the Bulldogs tallied 16 unanswered points to secure a surprise win which promises to kickstart their spluttering campaign.

The result spoiled Cleary’s milestone match as well as Penrith’s unbeaten start to 2026. A knee injury to star second-rower Liam Martin compounded the defeat.

With all the focus on the other number seven, Galvin stood tall, posing a constant threat with ball in hand and setting up the two second-half tries.

Back-rowers Jacob Preston and Viliame Kikau were at their potent best, each rewarded with a four-pointer, while unheralded props Max King and Samuel Hughes laid a strong foundation for Galvin to capitalise on.

And they did it without captain Stephen Crichton, who went down with a knee issue in the Good Friday loss to South Sydney.

Bronson Xerri came into the centres and Harry Hayes rejoined the bench following a concussion.

For the Panthers, regular hooker Mitch Kenny returned from suspension, forcing out Freddy Lussick.

It took Kikau just six minutes to get Canterbury on the board. Standing in as skipper for Crichton, the Fijian wrecking ball collected a Matt Burton pass and ripped through the defensive line of his old team-mates.

The Panthers’ start got worse when McLean was punished for hitting King high with a shoulder charge.

The Doggies immediately cashed in on their numerical advantage, when some slick hands by Xerri put Jacob Kiraz into the left corner.

And the upset was well and truly on the cards once Hughes slammed the ball over the stripe with 21 minutes on the clock.

But this superb Panthers side was always going to strike back.

Jenkins kicked off the fightback, turning some neat ball movement by Blaize Talagi and McLean into four points.

Then fullback Dylan Edwards scored a powerful solo try, dancing through the Dogs’ defence off a scrum resulting from a successful captain’s challenge.

Trailing by four points at the break, the Panthers erased their arrears within three minutes of the restart.

The desperate Connor Tracey denied Luke Garner but there was no stopping Jenkins on the end off an incredible cross-field kick by Cleary — a rare highlight on an uncharacteristically off night for the maestro halfback.

However, the rest of the contest was blue and white.

First Galvin sent Preston over with a perfectly timed short ball from close range.

Then after a long period of arm wrestle, Sitili Tupouniua gave Canterbury some vital breathing room, backing up a Preston line break engineered by Galvin.

A pair of penalty goals off Burton’s boot ultimately made sure of the Bulldogs’ impressive win — their third of the year.

Penrith now face a long trip to the tropics to tackle the Dolphins in Darwin, while Canterbury have a huge local derby against the Eels in Parramatta.

GAMESTAR: Lachlan Galvin and Jacob Preston released Sitili Tupouniua with 10 minutes remaining to all but sew up the Bulldogs’ big upset.

GAMEBREAKER: With all the focus on 200-gamer Nathan Cleary, opposite number Lachlan Galvin pulled the strings on a shock Dogs ambush.

MATCHFACTS

BULLDOGS
1 Connor Tracey
2 Jacob Kiraz
3 Enari Tuala
4 Bronson Xerri
5 Marcelo Montoya
6 Matt Burton
7 Lachlan Galvin
8 Max King
9 Bailey Hayward
10 Samuel Hughes
11 Viliame Kikau
12 Jacob Preston
13 Jaeman Salmon
Subs
14 Kurt Mann
15 Sitili Tupouniua
16 Harry Hayes
19 Jake Turpin
20 Lipoi Hopoi (not used)
23 Jethro Rinakama (not used)

Tries: Kikau (6), Kiraz (10), Hughes (21), Preston (48), Tupouniua (70)
Goals: Burton 6/7

PANTHERS
1 Dylan Edwards
2 Thomas Jenkins
3 Paul Alamoti
4 Casey McLean
5 Brian To’o
6 Blaize Talagi
7 Nathan Cleary
8 Moses Leota
9 Mitch Kenny
10 Lindsay Smith
11 Isaiah Papali’i
12 Liam Martin
13 Isaah Yeo
Subs
14 Jack Cogger
15 Billy Phillips
16 Scott Sorensen
17 Luke Garner
18 Izack Tago (not used)
19 Freddy Lussick (not used)

Tries: Jenkins (26, 43), Edwards (30)
Goals: Cleary 2/3
Sin bin: McLean (9) — shoulder charge

SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 16-6, 16-12; 16-16, 22-16, 28-16, 30-16, 32-16

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulldogs: Lachlan Galvin; Panthers: Dylan Edwards

Penalty count: 4-6
Half-time: 16-12
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Attendance: 23,984