PENRITH PANTHERS 6 NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 25
TOM SMITH, Carrington Park, Bathurst, Saturday
DYLAN LUCAS’ 15-minute hat-trick wiped the injury-depleted Panthers off the park early in Bathurst.
After fellow stand-out Fletcher Sharpe opened the scoring for Newcastle inside five minutes, back-rower Lucas crossed three times in quick succession — all assisted by Tyson Gamble — to put the game to bed midway through the first half.
Referee Belinda Sharpe sin-binned Liam Henry for a crusher tackle while the Knights were on their rampage to compound Penrith’s horror display.
A biceps injury to veteran forward Adam Elliott took some gloss off the victory.
A try to Harrison Hassett on debut in the second half was the only bright spot for the men in black, who now sit rock bottom of the ladder.
The Knights had failed to topple the four-time premiers at the last ten times of asking, but a slew of Origin absences made things difficult for Ivan Cleary’s outfit.
Fullback Dylan Edwards, winger Brian To’o, halfback Nathan Cleary, back-rower Liam Martin and lock Isaah Yeo all went out on interstate duties, handing Brad Schneider the playmaking reins, Daine Laurie the number one jumper, Mitch Kenny the captaincy, and rookies Preston Riki, Luron Patea and debutant Hassett an opportunity on the bench.
Origin also impacted Adam O’Brien’s line-up, depriving the Knights of their primary weapon Kalyn Ponga, the Maroons’ number one.
O’Brien shuffled promising youngster Sharpe to fullback and added Jack Cogger to a team sheet also missing key men Bradman Best (hamstring), Jacob Saifiti (calf) and Greg Marzhew (knee).
Paul Bryan made his first-grade bow for Newcastle off the bench, in place of Leo Thompson, although dislocated his shoulder.
Sharpe overpowered Laurie and Henry to somehow ground the ball for the opening try with little over five minutes on the clock.
And after that opening salvo, Lucas took the game by the scruff of the neck.
The hard-running back-rower linked up with Gamble for his first, spinning through the Schneider’s attempted tackle from close range on ten minutes.
Two minutes later, the visitors took the same route to the whitewash.
Gamble sent Lucas steamrolling through Schneider again, before the try-scorer treated Laurie like a turnstile to touch down.
Already down 18-0, the task became more difficult for Penrith once Henry was punished for his crusher on Sharpe.
Gamble then laid on try number three for Lucas with a simple grubber kick.
Dane Gagai took over both the captaincy and goal-kicking duties in Ponga’s absence, and made no mistake with his four shots at goal to make it 24-0 after as many minutes.
Lucas could have had a fourth on the stroke of half-time if not for Laurie’s desperation.
After the restart, Thomas Jenkins denied Cogger and Gagai’s loose pass burned unmarked winger James Schiller.
And Hassett’s debut try, steaming onto a Schneider short ball, left the door ajar for a miracle comeback.
Jenkins produced a miracle tackle to stop Sharpe snaring his second, but there was no doubt about the result once Cogger drilled a simple late field-goal.
GAMESTAR: Back-rower Dylan Lucas scored three tries in 15 first-half minutes to crack the game wide open for Newcastle.
GAMEBREAKER: Jack Cogger’s late drop-goal put an exclamation mark on the Knights’ rare win over the reigning premiers.
MATCHFACTS
PANTHERS
1 Daine Laurie
2 Paul Alamoti
4 Casey McLean
5 Thomas Jenkins
20 Jesse McLean
6 Blaize Talagi
7 Brad Schneider
8 Moses Leota
9 Mitch Kenny
10 Matt Eisenhuth
3 Izack Tago
12 Liam Henry
13 Lindsay Smith
Subs (all used)
11 Preston Riki
14 Luke Sommerton
16 Luron Patea
21 Harrison Hassett
Tries: Hassett (58)
Goals: Alamoti 1/1
Sin bin: Henry (23) – crusher tackle
KNIGHTS
1 Fletcher Sharpe
2 James Schiller
3 Dane Gagai
4 Kyle McCarthy
5 Fletcher Hunt
6 Tyson Gamble
7 Jack Cogger
8 Tyson Frizell
9 Phoenix Crossland
16 Brodie Jones
11 Dylan Lucas
12 Kai Pearce-Paul
13 Adam Elliott
Subs (all used)
14 Jayden Brailey
15 Mat Croker
17 Thomas Cant
19 Paul Bryan
Tries: Sharpe (5), Lucas (10, 12, 24)
Goals: Gagai 4/4
Field-goals: Cogger (75)
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 0-24; 6-24, 6-25
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Panthers: Lindsay Smith; Knights: Dylan Lucas
Penalty count: 7-8
Half-time: 0-24
Referee: Belinda Sharpe
