A Nathan Cleary field goal has helped Penrith to fight off a gutsy Wests Tigers 19-12 in a heated NRL contest at Bankwest Stadium.
In a high-quality affair, Cleary broke a 12-12 deadlock on Saturday night with eight minutes to play when he iced a field goal from 20 metres out to keep Penrith second on the ladder.
Moments later, Apisai Koroisau put the game beyond doubt when he broke through the midfield and put Dylan Edwards over between the posts.
The win prompted Penrith coach Ivan Cleary to appear to respond to Tigers fans from the coach’s box, blowing kisses and pointing to the scoreboard after leaving the club two years ago mid-contract.
The Tigers also finished the game a man down, with Joey Leilua sin-binned for clocking Edwards high and off the ball in a play which might result in a suspension.
The game also ended in a melee, with Luke Garner placed on report for another high shot on Edwards on the siren.
Aside from that, the Tigers were courageous.
They had just two men on the bench at fulltime, with forward Sam McIntyre taken to hospital after a head clash with Zane Tetevano in the first half.
Luciano Leilua was also taken from the field late, after a controversial penalty which allowed the Tigers to level at 12-12 with 20 minutes remaining.
A high shot from Koroisau on a falling Leilua initially went uncalled, before the bunker deemed it a reportable offence and had a penalty blown in front of the posts.
After withstanding a stack of Penrith pressure in the first half, Matt Eisenhuth and Tommy Talau tries gave the Tigers a 10-6 lead at the break despite 63 per cent of the game being played at their end.
But in the key moments, the Panthers’ playmakers stood up.
Jarome Luai was again great, putting on both of his team’s first two tries.
While there were still concerns over his defence – where he was pinged for set restarts three times in the first half – he was their best in attack.
He laid on Penrith’s first after the Tigers made an error on the second tackle of the match, helping to put Stephen Crichton over on the left edge.
He also grubbered twice for successive line dropouts in the first term, and put Crichton over with his boot for a key second-half try.
The Penrith centre initially juggled the ball as he jostled with David Nofoaluma, but regathered in time to get it down.
James Fisher-Harris also ran 191 metres, laying the platform in the middle for Ivan Cleary’s men.
But they too felt the pain of the win, with winger Brian To’o finishing the game on crutches with an ankle injury.