Penrith rested their seven State of Origin players but they were too strong for Wests Tigers, winning their NRL clash 18-16.
Penrith have done what they couldn't do in their 2021 premiership campaign after overcoming Wests Tigers 18-16 in an NRL win without seven of their representative stars.
In contrast to last year, the Panthers emerged from the State of Origin period undefeated at CommBank Stadium on Sunday, despite resting NSW players Isaah Yeo, Brian To'o, Jarome Luai, Liam Martin, Api Koroisau, Stephen Crichton and Nathan Cleary.
With only five members of their premiership team playing against the Tigers, Penrith's performance was easily their sloppiest of the year, especially in the 20-minute period after halftime when they committed six errors.
"There must have been five sets in a row when we came up with errors in good field position," Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said.
But the Panthers' left edge, intact despite the Origin outs, produced two early tries to give them the lead at the break and when stand-in co-captain James Fisher-Harris crashed over late in his 150th game, victory was sealed.
"It was probably quite fitting that our captain scored the winning try," Cleary said.
"It's a bit of a milestone from us after (losing in the Origin period) last year."
The Panthers may have been undisciplined but the Tigers weren't far behind them.
With the game on the line in the second half, they conceded a penalty for failing to pack a scrum in time and blew a certain try when Justin Matamua obstructed Jaeman Salmon close to the line.
It took halfback-turned-lock Jackson Hastings pitching a perfect kick to Ken Maumalo for the Tigers to edge ahead of the Panthers as the last 10 minutes approached.
Hastings looked comfortable at lock but his composure under pressure in this moment put his case forward for a return to halfback, his preferred position.
The Tigers missed his long-kicking, especially when they struggled to win the territory battle in the first half, but interim coach Brett Kimmorley said he would likely line up at lock again next week.
"We want him to be a really crafty ball-playing 13 for us and then be good in the middle defensively," he said.
Adam Doueihi impressed with his running game on his return to five-eighth, bursting through the line to score the Tigers' second try from a scrum play.
He also put up a nightmare bomb just before halftime that would have led to the Tigers' third try had Junior Tupou not been offside.
The loss keeps the Tigers at the bottom of the NRL ladder but Kimmorley said he was seeing signs of improvement.
"We were disallowed two tries because of our own discipline and that was probably the difference in the end," he said.
"But we were good enough to be in the competition and we were there right to the end."
The Panthers, meanwhile, have consolidated their spot at the top.
For the Panthers not to claim the minor premiership, they'll have to lose at least four games on the run home.
Since the start of last season, they've lost only five.
Penrith hooker Mitch Kenny could attract scrutiny from the match review committee for coming into a tackle late and applying pressure to the legs of Luke Garner, who will join the Panthers next year.
Referee Peter Gough put Kenny on report for the tackle.
