Penrith made it 11 straight wins and extinguished the Wests Tigers’ faint finals hopes in the process with a 30-6 demolition of their western Sydney rivals.
In what is shaping as their best seasons, Penrith ensured they will spend another fortnight at the top of the NRL ladder.
It was far from their most convincing performance, but what’s clear is that even when Penrith aren’t entirely on, they’re still far better than most in 2020.
Without Api Koroisau and Viliame Kikau, Jarome Luai scored one try and set up another while Tyrone May also laid on two with long cut-out balls.
The loss on Saturday night leaves the Tigers six points out of the eight with four rounds to play, and likely without centre Joey Leilua through another suspension.
In a game that still had plenty of feeling after the two teams’ fiery clash in June, Leilua put a shoulder charge on Dylan Edwards.
The Tigers centre has already served a four-game ban this year for a coathanger on the Panthers centre.
He then capped off his horror night by giving away a penalty try, taking out a chasing Stephen Crichton on a Luai grubber-kick.
It put the final nail in the Tigers’ game and year as they prepare to spend a ninth straight season outside the finals.
Early on though, the Tigers looked every chance of pulling off one of the upsets of the year.
David Nofoaluma became the first player to score against the Panthers in the opening 20 minutes of a match since round one when he ran onto an early Benji Marshall kick.
The Tigers could have gone further ahead moments later but Tommy Talau put the ball down short of the line.
But the match turned on an Adam Doueihi error on the 30th minute.
The Tigers fullback had poor night, dropping a Nathan Cleary bomb, handing the Panthers back momentum.
It took Penrith just three plays to capitalise, with Luai going back against the grain to jink his way over.
The hosts had the lead just before the break when Nathan Cleary put Liam Martin over.
The Tigers did have cause for complaint, with the bunker ordering Marshall be penalised in the lead-up for a soft high shot on Luai.
Under NRL rules, the bunker can only act on foul play if it is a reportable offence. Marshall was not placed on report.
Regardless, Penrith were by far the better team.
After rolling the Tigers through the middle, May laid on long balls on both edges for Brian To’o and Josh Mansour to claim second-half tries.
The only concern was a bad concussion for Isaah Yeo, who stumbled backwards after copping a shoulder to the head as he attempted to tackle Matt Eisenhuth.