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The Panthers scored a point per minute in the second half to run out 53-12 winners over the Raiders on Friday night, in what was the biggest score put up by a team so far in 2023. While you wouldn’t have known it by watching the second half, the game was closely contested through the opening 40 minutes, and the Panthers led by just seven points after a Sunia Turuva double and a Nathan Cleary field goal. But after an admirable first-half effort, the Raiders had no answer for what the defending premiers came out of the break with, as the Panthers found their attacking mojo and ran in seven tries to their opponent’s one. The real damage was done in the first 12 minutes of the second period, during which time Izack Tago scored a quickfire double and Cleary got over for his 50th NRL try to shoot the Panthers clear.
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Further strikes from Zac Hosking, Tyrone Peachey, Stephen Crichton and Jaeman Salmon made for a miserable night at GIO Stadium for much of the 15,334 in attendance. The result gave co-captain Isaah Yeo a win in game number 200, while improving Penrith to a 2-2 record, having had the bye in Round 3. One potential negative to come out of the win was a knee injury to Test prop James Fisher-Harris, who left the field on 21 minutes and didn’t return, although reports suggested he could have if required.
16th Position
3rd Position
Venue:
GIO Stadium, Canberra
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A thrilling team try in which the ball changed hands seven times before Sunia Turuva did the rest all by himself. For his second try of the game Turuva chipped nicely over the defence before waiting patiently for the right moment to pounce on the bouncing ball.
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“The second half was unacceptable. I am sure a lot of fans and people out there would like to know exactly what I’m thinking, but it’s better if we keep it in-house and work on it. I am disappointed for all our fans and it’s going to be a tough week to get through that, because obviously there will be a lot of deserved criticism for all of us. I apologise for that performance.” – Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.
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“Once we could get into a bit of a flow and keep the ball, the second half just everything went our way. It was nice to get a bit of rhythm there and score some points. It was good to see them have some fun out there.” – Panthers coach Ivan Cleary.
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Both sides have an eight-day turnaround ahead of Round 6, with the Panthers at home to the Sea Eagles and the Raiders heading to Suncorp Stadium to face the Broncos.
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