Penrith have booked a home final with a nervy 18-12 defeat of Gold Coast that will do little to assuage those doubting their ability to sustain premiership dominance this NRL finals series.
Locked into second place, the Panthers should have Nathan Cleary back from his shoulder injury to face the Sydney Roosters in their qualifying final at Penrith Park, likely to be played on Friday night.
“(Cleary) has got a few hoops to jump through, but we’re hopeful,” said coach Ivan Cleary.
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But Penrith cannot rely on the star halfback alone to iron out the creases that have been evident throughout his absence, the side once again appearing worn-out and error-prone on Saturday night.
Penrith were never comfortable against the 14th-placed Titans, making 15 errors and trailing 6-4 at halftime on the back of a surprisingly strong first half from the visitors.
But it would be a brave pundit to write off the triple reigning premiers, especially now they are locked in to host the Roosters, who haven’t beaten Penrith since 2019.
Coach Cleary is remaining calm despite a shaky finish to the regular season.
“It didn’t look like we wanted it to look like, but the main thing was to win the game and that’s what we did,” he said.
“I honestly feel like our defence has improved in the month or so. What we didn’t have tonight was our attack to complement it. If we can get both together, we’re going to be hard to beat.”
Gold Coast contained the Panthers on the edges and were energised by a brilliant individual try from fullback Jayden Campbell that helped them to their half-time lead.
On Old Boys Day at Penrith Park, Campbell would have impressed father and Panthers premiership winner Preston as he stepped around NSW representatives Liam Martin and Dylan Edwards on a 40-metre dash to the line.
The Titans threatened to go through with the upset when left winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira pounced on a loose ball to run 80 metres and cut the lead to four points with 12 minutes left.
It was Khan-Pereira’s 24th four-pointer for the campaign, the 22-year-old set to become the first Gold Coast player to finish a season atop the try-scoring leaderboard.
But in the end, Penrith’s 10 minutes after halftime were enough to seal victory.
Having put Brian To’o in for the opening try during the first half, Edwards fended Campbell in the chest and spun to the tryline following a six-again three minutes after the break.
Jarome Luai extended the lead with a deft grubber kick to Luke Garner on the left edge, the try ultimately enough to seal the win.
“We showed some character in patches and pushed them all the way,” Titans coach Des Hasler said as the curtain came down on his first year in charge.
“The biggest challenge we’ve got ahead of us is that we’ve got to stay in the game for 80 minutes.”
Next week’s qualifying final will be the Panthers’ last at the fortress of their premiership seasons until 2027, with the venue to undergo major redevelopments.
The result confirms minor premiers Melbourne and fourth-placed Cronulla will meet in the other qualifying final.
In his 200th NRL game, Penrith prop James Fisher-Harris finished with 86 metres and 30 tackles, receiving a cheer from the home crowd when he first ran the ball.
