An under-strength Penrith had few answers to the Melbourne Storm juggernaut at Suncorp Stadium this afternoon, falling 37-10 as Craig Bellamy’s side secured its 16th straight win.
Without a host of state and international representatives, Penrith showed some promise early but couldn’t contain a near full strength Melbourne outfit.
The victory almost certainly guarantees Melbourne the Minor Premiership.
The Panthers made five errors in the opening 20 minutes – a statistic you don’t recover from against a team as dominant as Melbourne.
The Storm took an 18-0 lead into half-time thanks to a double from Dean Ieremia and a sneaky Reimis Smith four-pointer.
Penrith started the second half well but the Storm wore them down eventually and, like they have done so often this season, piled on the points as the game went on.
Brent Naden and Scott Sorensen scored Penrith’s only two tries.
While Ivan Cleary has plenty of excuses, he’d be disappointed by some of the soft defence and poor attacking options on show at times.
But he’d take comfort in the fact the score could have been a lot worse – Penrith’s middle certainly held tough when it needed to, ensuring the Storm stayed below 40 points.
Penrith hopes to welcome halfback Nathan Cleary back against the Roosters next weekend.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.