Segeyaro stars as Panthers down Dragons

Penrith hooker James Segeyaro has put in a starring performance in his side’s 16-4 win over St George Illawarra that goes a long way to ensuring them a top-four finish.

The victory at WIN Stadium on Sunday kept the Panthers in third with at least a four-point gap to fifth, although they face a tricky four-match run to the finals.

There was nothing spectacular about the win as the Panthers ground out the result on the back of a superior possession and field position.

In front of a crowd of 13,107, Segeyaro scored one try, set up another, made one line break and made 35 tackles.

Panthers halfback Jamie Soward, playing his first game back at his former home ground since leaving the Dragons last year, was also impressive.

The loss all but ended the semi-final hopes of the 11th-placed Dragons, leaving them four points adrift of the top eight.

When Brett Morris opened the scoring following an Adam Quinlan break, he wrote his name into the NRL record books alongside brother and Bulldogs centre Josh.

The four-pointer took the Morris brothers’ cumulative premiership tries total to 196, overtaking the record for a set of brothers previously held by Steve, Peter, Chris and Glen Mortimer.

Segeyaro put his side up 6-4 when he dived over in the 16th minute.

The Panthers held the lead into the break on the back of a glut of possession with the Dragons’ goaline defence doing well to restrict the visitors to just one try.

The Panthers’ already crowded injury ward swelled even further late in the first half when winger David Simmons was taken from the field with concussion and did not return to the field.

Segeyaro put the Panthers further in front after halftime when he fired a terrific ball to put Adam Docker through a hole close to the line.

Jamal Idris sealed the win in the 72nd minute when he burst over following a mistake by Quinlan.

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