A hat-trick of tries from Nathan Cleary led Penrith to a crucial victory over the Warriors in Auckland, which keeps their finals hopes intact while all but ending those of the Kiwis.Â
In what was a must-win fixture for both sides, the home team had edged to a 22-18 lead with just 13minutes remaining. But  young halfback Cleary then took the game by the scruff of the neck, running in two tries to turn the tide and ensure two priceless points would be going back across the Tasman with the Panthers.
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Cleary Hat-trick downs Warriors
A hat-trick to Penrith's rising star Nathan Cleary has led the Panthers to a 34-22 victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium, spoiling Manu Vatuvei's farewell.
The Warriors failed to give Manu Vatuvei the send-off he deserved but coach Stephen Kearney has bigger things to worry about after star halfback Shaun Johnson was struck down by a knee injury.
With so much to play for in front of 13,067 people at 'Manu Vatuvei Stadium', this was a chance for  Kearney's side to rise to the occasion. Instead, they turned in another inconsistent performance before unravelling at the back-end as  Cleary's late intervention proved decisive.
The defeat dealt a huge blow to the Auckland club's finals hopes and depending on other results, they could find themselves six points outside the top eight by the end of the weekend with seven games left in the season.
The bad news doesn't end there, though, as Kearney faces a nervous wait on Johnson, who was forced from the field in the final quarter after pulling up lame while chasing a break from Issac Luke.
While Vatuvei's new contract with Salford prevented him from playing, so much of the night was all about honouring one of the club's favourite sons before he departs for the UK on Sunday.
Mt Smart was renamed in his honour and his teammates formed a guard of honour as 'The Beast' walked onto the field with his family before kick-off. It took the Warriors just two minutes to open the scoring and it was fitting that Vatuvei's close friend Simon Mannering crossed after backing up a scything run from Johnson.
The Panthers had injury concerns of their own with skipper Matt Moylan a late withdrawal and Kangaroos back-rower Trent Merrin forced off after 27 minutes due to a knee problem.
However, the Warriors were far too error-prone in the first half to make them pay. A David Fusitu'a mistake followed by a fifth-tackle penalty deep in their own territory allowed the visitors to respond through Corey Harawira-Naera.
After Solomone Kata barrelled his way over from close-range, the Warriors again let the Panthers off the hook with   Cleary and Merrin setting up Moylan's replacement,  Tyrone May.  Cleary then scored to give his side six-point buffer.