Life without Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris is off to a great start for defending premiers Penrith, who wrapped up the NRL’s second Las Vegas visit with a thrilling 28-22 win over Cronulla.
The Panthers had their wobbles at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday (AEDT) as they took their first steps without Luai and Fisher-Harris – undoubtedly the two most important players they have lost in five years as NRL heavyweights.
But against a Sharks side tipped as genuine title contenders, early signs were that Penrith will be competitive as long as Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo are on deck.
Down by six points in the final two minutes of a game that featured several momentum shifts, the Sharks had one last chance to level the scores in the final two minutes. But on the fifth tackle, centre Jesse Ramien opted not to pass right to an unmarked Sam Stonestreet and found himself stopped short by a horde of Panthers.
Photograph: David Becker/AP
The Sharks had dominated a clunky Penrith in the opening stages and had the first try thanks to a double-pump from Nicho Hynes, before Yeo came up with a big play.
On the last tackle and with Cleary out of play in the ruck, Yeo sized up wrecking ball recruit Addin Fonua-Blake and ran around him to the tryline at close range.
Only minutes later, Cleary threaded a pinpoint kick past the defence for a flying Izack Tago and the Panthers looked on top at 12-4. Later in his Sharks debut, veteran Fonua-Blake would find his own try by burrowing through Dylan Edwards, Scott Sorensen and Yeo.
Braydon Trindall took on the bulk of kicking duties for the Sharks after off-season speculation as to how he and Hynes would share playmaking duties. He put the Sharks back into the game with a kick for Briton Nikora to score, and then sent a beautiful flat ball to Kayal Iro in the second half.
But the Panthers constantly found a way to strike back, with tries to wingers Laurie and Paul Alamoti a product of their well-oiled system when shifting wide. Cleary had his hands on the ball again in the second half as the Panthers shifted wide for another Laurie try that ultimately proved the difference.
Meanwhile, Canberra will be partying into the night in Las Vegas after kicking the NRL season off with their most impressive performance in recent memory, a 30-8 mauling of a woeful Warriors.
The Raiders looked right at home before a big crowd at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the fortress of their namesake NFL team, and picked up from a fast finish to an inconsistent 2024.
But there was nothing inconsistent about Ricky Stuart’s side, with the Warriors looking completely lost in their first game of the post-Shaun Johnson era.
New halves combination Luke Metcalf and Chanel Harris-Tavita could not spark the Warriors, who looked too flat for a team that had more members fly over for the second year of the NRL’s Vegas experiment than any of their three NRL rivals.
Prized James Fisher-Harris had virtually no impact, coming off when the Warriors were down 6-0 and only returning when the game looked gone at 28-4.
In a summation of the Warriors’ struggles without Johnson, new halfback Metcalf threw a pass straight to Savage, who ran 90 metres against the run of play to make it 16-0.
Photograph: David Becker/AP
Earlier, off-contract Tom Starling staked his claim to remain hooker ahead of highly-rated rookie Owen Pattie by scooting out of dummy half to put Canberra in position for Savage’s first try.
It was a night full of success stories for the Raiders; Corey Horsburgh looked sharp after a poor 2024, while Pattie held his own when he came on for his debut late.
Hudson Young went from the naughty corner to the top of the class with an excellent game, shaking off scrutiny over his hotel brawl with teammate Morgan Smithies.
