Penrith have consolidated their spot in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW top three with a resounding 54-0 win over outer Western Sydney rivals, the Blacktown Workers Sea-Eagles at Pepper Stadium.
The game was a good as over at half-time when Penrith capitalised on an error-prone Blacktown outfit to score 32 unanswered points, as the Panthers’ spine ran rampant, with Jarome Luai, Tyrone May, Darren Nicholls and Wayde Egan all scoring in the opening 40 minutes.
The win is Penrith’s fourth in a row and the largest win of any side in the season to date, eclipsing their 52-12 victory over Wests Tigers back in Round 2.
Penrith were handed a dream start scoring two tries inside the opening seven minutes on the back of two kick retrieve errors from the Sea Eagles side.
An error from ex-Panther Maliko Filino enabled centre Christian Crichton to score from the next set when he benefitted from cut-out pass from dummy-half to score out wide.
Then from the next set, a towering bomb was dropped by Blacktown fullback, Viliame Kaveinga and from the ensuing set, Tyrone May took on the line and scored from close range to give the home side a handy 10-0 lead after just seven miuntes.
Blacktown’s shaky start certainly shook their confidence as they failed to constantly complete sets, gifting the Panthers numerous opportunities to score, which they did so three times in 10 minutes to lead 26-0 by the half-hour mark.
Egan continued his rich vein of try-scoring form that has seen him score three tries in consecutive games to score a trademark show-and-go try at the line from dummy-half, before Tyrone May drifted across field to pick up his halves partner Darren Nicholls running a great line to crash over from close range.
Winger Maiko Sivo also continued his remarkable try-scoring form taking a Darren Nicholls cross-field kick to put the game almost out of Blacktown’s reach despite there being fifty minutes remaining.
A try to fullback Jarome Luai who stepped several defenders after backing up to take Egan’s inside pass gave Penrith an unassailable 32-0 lead at the break.
A tough afternoon for the visitors continued early in the second half when Jackson Hastings was forced from the field with a suspected shoulder injury.
The Panthers were in a point-scoring mood and scored again soon after Hastings’ departure when Maiko Sivo’s line-break ended a few plays later with a second try to Crichton who crashed over off another Egan pass from dummy-half to push the score out to 38-0 after 47 minutes.
James Fisher-Harris, in his first game back from injury since the Round 10 Warriors game, was the beneficiary of an outside-inside play between Egan and Luai to crash over midway through the second half to put Penrith out to a 44-0 lead.
A second try to Sivo after some good lead-up work from Luai and Crichton saw the Panthers lead 48-0 with 13 minutes remaining, before another side-stepping effort from Luai close to the line saw Penrith crack the 50 mark for the second time in 2017 and give their coach Garth Brennan their biggest win of the season to date, 54-0.
Penrith now take on Wests Tigers next Sunday afternoon at St Marys Stadium while the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles will need to regroup quickly when they up to Newcastle to take on the Knights next Saturday.
Penrith Panthers 54 (C Crichton 2, J Luai 2, M Sivo 2, T May, W Egan, D Nicholls, J Fisher-Harris tries; D Nicholls 7 goals) def Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles 0
