Bulldogs fullback Sam Perrett was thrust into the No.1 for the injured Brett Morris who was filling in for Will Hopoate who was, well, not playing because his religious beliefs prevented him from turning out on a Sunday.
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Enthralling Panthers book date with Raiders
The Panthers have booked a date with the Raiders after an attacking masterclass from Matt Moylan and Josh Mansour saw them ease past an error-riddled Bulldogs outfit 28-12 in Sydney.
It summed the Bulldogs up in a nutshell. A patch-up job here. A fix-up job there. They never looked like missing the finals, but never looked like going deep in it either.
And there it was, in their biggest game of the year, the ever reliable Perrett in the last game of his distinguished career ambling into a position so talked about because there was just nobody else left to the do the job. Even he had asked Des Hasler earlier in the year if he could be excused from playing on the sabbath. The scenario was dripping with irony, none of which will have humoured Bulldogs fans.
They had watched Morris limp off. Josh Reynolds followed up the tunnel soon after. NSW's best back-rower Josh Jackson playing on the wing. It wasn't supposed to end this way, they would say. But indeed it had. Hasler has some serious renovations planned for summer. But to say the Bulldogs woes had unfairly aided the Panthers would be taking away from the competition's great entertainers, who razzled and dazzled in equal measure to set up a not-to-be-missed showdown with Canberra next week. Care to guess how many tries in that one?
Once they had survived the predictable Dogs O' War first-half onslaught there was only ever going to be one winner at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Matt Moylan showed what confidence State of Origin can give to a representative rookie. Josh Mansour too. They might not win the competition this year – diehards will argue they still might – but who will be backing against them winning one in the next few years? Certainly not Des Hasler. "They did better than I thought, to tell you the truth," he said. "They could be a surprise packet actually. There could be a few more upsets. I certainly wouldn't be taking them lightly, that's for sure."
Hasler could fume the rub of the green didn't go his way. Or perhaps more poignantly Josh Morris' way. Penalised in the lead-up to the Panthers' first try, Morris was denied a lifeline in the second half when appearing to ground a ball which kissed the chalk having wrestled Bryce Cartwright over.
Predictably, the Panthers went up the other end and scored almost immediately through Tyrone Peachey to deliver last rites on the Bulldogs' season. Peter Wallace got in on the party. Mansour too. It was part of 24 unanswered second-half points at one stage as a two-point half-time deficit was scarcely believable given the final score.
"They played really well and they made us really work hard in the middle and the way they move the ball across," Bulldogs skipper James Graham said. "They've got people who can skip, who can jink and find an offload late and really put yourself under pressure and keep you guessing.
"You've got to give a fair bit of credit to them. They're a young exciting team who like to throw the ball around a bit. They certainly ask a lot of questions of you."
It didn't start that way. Lost in a whirl of Nathan Cleary publicity – not from the man himself though, still gagged until coach Anthony Griffin thinks better of it – it was easily forgotten Moses Mbye was the other halfback running around.
And as the Panthers died with the ball on the last tackle not once, twice but three times in succession, Mbye decided to do a bit of running himself to ghost between a statuesque Panthers defensive line and score untouched. Mbye's boot stretched the Bulldogs' early lead to six points, but you always sensed Canterbury's faith was going to be misplaced.
Having surrendered a penalty when Josh Morris was adjudged to have dragged Moylan into touch after his momentum had halted, the Moylan-Cartwight-Cleary punch combined for Cartwright Watene-Zelezniak to dash over just six minutes before the break.
But the pearly gates to the Bulldogs' campaign were always going to be flung open soon enough. And they weren't just nudged open, but bashed down by the rampant hosts with younger and fresher legs.
Fittingly, Perrett had the last say on the scoreboard. A try and then a conversion which he made more difficult than it should have been. There was a God shining down on him. Just not the Bulldogs in 2016.
Penrith Panthers 28 (Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Waqa Blake, Peter Wallace, Tyrone Peachey, Josh Mansour tries; Nathan Cleary 4 goals) defeated Canterbury Bulldogs 12 (Moses Mbye, Sam Perrett tries; Mbye, Perrett goal) at Allianz Stadium. Referees: Jared Maxwell, Chris James. Crowd: 22,631.
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