Braidon Burns was a relieved young man on Friday night.Â
Time and again Nathan Cleary turned in his direction and launched towering kicks and time and again the rookie South Sydney winger made a mess of it.
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Souths pip Penrith with late drop goal
A last minute Adam Reynolds drop goal earned Souths victory after Penrith evened the scores late in the second half.
It was reminiscent of an infamous Rabbitohs performance in the 1987 minor semi-final but unlike Steve Mavin, Burns wasn't hooked by his coach and didn't leave the ground before full-time. And while he won't forget Cleary anytime soon, the talented 20-year-old hopefully won't be remembered for this.
As it turned out, Souths got away with it, pinching a one-point win with an Adam Reynolds field goal in the final minute.
It nearly came unstuck for the Rabbitohs when former Souths winger Michael Oldfield crossed in the corner with four minutes remaining and Cleary fired the conversion over from the sideline to even the score at 20-20.
Reynolds and Souths would have the last laugh, though, sealing their third win of the season from directly in front and 19 metres out. His halves partner, Cody Walker, and front-rower Kyle Turner had made key busts in the moments leading up to the final play that put Reynolds in position to strike.
Burns is likely to be spending some time at training under the high ball and the watch of the injured Greg Inglis.
"He's got a fair kick on him, Nathan," Souths coach Michael Maguire said. "I'm sure Braidon will do a little bit of practice back at training. We've got a good bloke in Greg who will be able to help him out."
This was meant to be a showdown between Robbie Farah and Peter Wallace for the NSW State of Origin hooker's spot. Others, principally Walker, had different ideas.
Much has been made of Luke Keary's switch to the Sydney Roosters and undoubtedly it's been a success. But the man who has taken over the No.6 jumper at South Sydney is quickly making it his own. Walker is on half the money Keary was but is giving the Rabbitohs a return well beyond his value under the salary cap.  With a try and a hand in two others – and then the crucial run that led to Reynolds' field goal – the Souths five-eighth played a major role in the toppling of an undermanned Panthers in a gripping contest.Â
Souths captain Sam Burgess heaped praise on his playmakers. "They took some great choices, some deft last-play finishes," Burgess said. "I'm please for Adam to get that field goal. He puts a ot of practice in and people don't see that. Cody played some great football. The halves were very good."
The Panthers undoubtedly missed the creative influence of captain Matt Moylan, who had been suspended along with Peta Hiku and Waqa Blake for breaking curfew following their round-five defeat to Melbourne.
What the absence of that back-line trio and the injured Tyrone Peachey did, at least, was allow for Malakai Watene-Zelezniak's first-grade debut alongside his younger brother Dallin and for the Panthers to break the record for most players with double-barrelled surnames in a single line-up. Had James Fisher-Harris not been sidelined with a cheek injury, they would have surged clear on that front, too.
They found themselves behind where it counts when Sam Burgess crashed over after only seven minutes but it didn't take long for that to be rectified and for Penrith's brothers to turn Pepper Stadium into their own backyard. The inside ball flung by a falling Malakai, 25, to Dallin to score on Penrith's left edge was a beauty.
Cleary gave Souths' back three headaches with a series of spiralling bombs and by the time another of the hyphenated crew, back-rower Corey Harawira-Naera, was put in a hole by the halfback 10 minutes before half-time Penrith seemed to have seized not only the lead.Â
An outstanding John Sutton was having none of that, though, fooling a defender or two to set up Walker to level the ledger at the break. Reynolds' try soon after half-time, set up by a Walker run that beat three defenders, seemed destined to be the match-clincher until the late drama.