Warriors' finals dream dashed as Panthers power to 24-8 victory

In the first elimination final, silence fell over Go Media Stadium as the Penrith Panthers ended the Warriors’ season with a dominant 24-8 victory in Auckland on Saturday.

The Warriors started with intensity and matched Penrith early on, but mounting errors and squandered chances began to tilt the contest in favour of the visitors.

Discipline hurt Penrith early, conceding six penalties in the opening stages. An infringement by Nathan Cleary gifted Tanah Boyd the chance to score the first points of the match inside 10 minutes.

With so much on the line, tensions boiled over when former team-mates Moses Leota and Warriors' captain James Fisher-Harris sparked a brief, heated exchange.

Fisher-Harris later reflected on the physical battle, saying, “Just playing a bit of chest there with the bro, it was a good challenge.

"I knew what they were going to bring… we started off really well, played to our strengths throughout the game, but yeah, hope them nothing but the best for the rest of the finals series,” he says.

Penrith looked clunky in attack early on, but patience paid off when Cleary sent Isaiah Papali’i storming through the line to score in the 27th minute.

Despite facing repeated defensive sets, the Warriors kept the margin to four, setting up an arm wrestle for the second half. It was riddled with controversy, as officials overlooked a forward pass in Penrith’s goal line, followed by Brad Schneider’s try being confirmed by the bunker despite what appeared to be a double movement, extending the visitors’ lead.

The home side did not lie down: after several opportunities on attack, a beautifully-weighted pass by fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad enabled the young star of the season, Leka Halasima, to score, bringing the score to 12-8 with just under 30 minutes to play.

Warriors captain James Fisher-Harris and head coach Andrew Webster. Photo/Andrew Cornaga/Photosport.

Penrith Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary says Halasima’s try kept the game alive. “They had more freedom to play… it was a seven tackle set they scored off, it was just a poor set and they scored. We were definitely in a bit of, not trouble, but it was definitely game back on.”

Despite the loss, Fisher-Harris says he is proud of the younger players, who stepped up throughout the adversity faced this season.

“Our young boys have been pulling up their gloves like week in week out, it’s been amazing to watch them grow throughout the whole year, obviously meeting most of them at the start of the year… they’ll be way better for it next year and yeah looking forward to it,” Fisher-Harris says.

Warriors second-rower Leka Halasima, on his way to score a try. Photo/Photosport/Brett Phibbs

To the dismay of Warriors fans, the joy was short-lived, as Penrith quickly regained control and stamped their dominance over the match. A costly error through the hands allowed Brian To’o to scoop up the ball and run away to score in the final moments of the match.

Everything seemed to fall into place for the visitors as Cleary kicked from his 20, setting up nicely in the centre of the field for team-mate Garner, who offloaded to To’o, who once found McLean to score an incredible try.

“The most thing I liked was the way we were in and around opportunities,” Panthers' head coach Ivan Cleary says. "You know you could probably call them opportunist tries, but that’s what semi-finals are all about, and you put yourself in the frame and build enough pressure, sometimes that’s the way it goes."

As the curtain falls on Go Media Stadium and the infamous “our year” chant is put on hold for another season, Fisher-Harris reflects on his first year in Auckland and the excitement of what lies ahead in a Warriors jersey.

“Its definitely been a challenge of mine personally, obviously being named skipper alongside Barnes [Mitchell Barnett] then he got injured, so yeah it’s been a great challenge I’ve been loving my time here back home, obviously we talked about the fans, feel all the love for the fans, especially for myself and the team… so looking forward to the next few seasons.”

Penrith now progress and will face a battered Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Accor Stadium next week. The Bulldogs lost to the Storm 26-18 in Melbourne on Friday.

In other NRL results: Sharks defeated the Roosters 20-10 to keep their finals hopes alive. They will face the loser of Sunday's Broncos-Raiders match.