The Panthers are through to the preliminary final, taking themselves to within one victory of a fifth-straight grand final. After witnessing the way they ran over, through, and around the Roosters, particularly in the first half, it is hard to imagine any team stopping them.
Here's three things we learned from the game:
The Panthers love the big occasion
It was the final game at Penrith Park before a two-year demolition and redevelopment project. The Panthers had called this field home since entering the first grade competition back in 1967. A crowd of 21,483 jammed into every seat and vacant patch of grass to cheer their heroes on. Just over 21,000 is not a big crowd for such an occasion, the Panthers have well and truly outgrown the old stadium.
Captain Isaah Yeo was set to equal the club record for most first grade games played and the Panthers were lining up a tenth straight finals win, something that hadn't been seen since the all-conquering Dragons roamed the SCG with unlimited tackles, back before the Panthers were born. The icing on this absolute cake of an occasion, was superstar halfback Nathan Cleary's return for the adored home side.
The Panthers started fast and were unrelenting. In a nod to the great Dragons of the 1960s, referee Ashley Klein reintroduced unlimited tackles, resetting the tackle count seemingly whenever the Panthers were about to run out. The home team enjoyed a mountain of early possession and broke the Roosters.
You just can't give Penrith an inch; your discipline, your ball control, your defence has to be spot on. Roosters winger Daniel Tupou dropped a high ball early, sending the visitors into scrambling defence mode. They were doing well as the Panthers ran a series of trick plays with all players in motion and wingers turning up unexpectedly in the middle of field. The Roosters were stretched, but were holding, until sloppiness in the ruck saw Klein give the dreaded six again call. The Panthers crossed in the corner through Brian To'o after just five minutes.
Penrith scored a lucky second try as a Cleary bomb came off the post and a Rooster's shoulder to fall into the lap of Izack Tago, who only had to fall to the ground. From the kick-off with the Panthers working their way out of their half, the Roosters were penalised for another ruck infringement and were marched 10 metres for telling Klein what they thought of the decision.
Not long after, with Penrith on the attack again, Klein saw another ruck infringement by the Roosters and gave the premiers another set restart. They were soon over again. The Roosters were rattled, their defence in tatters. Then Tupou dropped another bomb. The Panthers were sitting on 12/12 completions, the Roosters on 5/6, half the possession and a 22-0 deficit just 23 minutes into the game.
The Panthers were handling another big occasion better than their opponents. With some more ball and a spirited effort the Roosters fought back early in the second half, but they had little left as full time approached.
Roosters will regroup and make another charge
The best thing about losing to the Panthers in the first week of the finals is that the Roosters wont have to face them again until the grand final, if both teams make it that far. While the Panthers have a week off to recover and prepare for their preliminary final, the Roosters must sort themselves out to face the winner of Sunday's clash between the Bulldogs and the Sea Eagles. That gives them an extra couple of days to recover as well, with the Bulldogs and Sea Eagles certain to knock the tripe out of each other in their sudden death clash.
The Roosters lost to both teams early in the season, before exacting revenge in their second encounters. They showed enough promise in the second half against the Panthers to suggest they will go into next week's clash as favourites, but it is always difficult recovering from a loss to face a team that is fired up and full of confidence following a win. They will take the experience of this loss to the Panthers into their planning. Sandon Smith started the game at dummy half with Connor Watson running wider, before switching in defence. Coach Trent Robinson will have another week to work on getting the best out of these two who are trying to fill the enormous boots of Sam Walker and Brandon Smith.
Robinson will also be in his players' ears about improving both their discipline and their completion rates. They can't afford to give any team the start they gifted the Panthers.
The incredible Panthers run of talent continues
It has been well-documented how amazing this Panthers dynasty has been, especially considering the number of top class players they have shed along the way. You could almost piece together a team of players who have left the club during the past five years and they would put up a good effort against the current side.
One such example stood forlornly on the sideline 25 minutes into the first half, with his new team trailing 22-0 and a replacement card held in his hand. Roosters prop Spencer Leniu ran on to replace Lindsay Collins, who, like the rest of the Roosters, had tackled himself to near exhaustion.
Leniu was in familiar surroundings, he came through the juniors with these Panthers, he was a big part of their premiership three-peat and he was another victim of the salary cap pressures which have continued to skim the cream off the top of this amazing squad. He took his first hit-up as he took them all, flat out, up the middle and into the teeth of the defence.
He would walk off Penrith Park in its current form for the last time after grabbing some photos with some of his best mates, the Panthers who were still at the club, battling away to win their fourth successive title