Panthers 10
Brisbane's impregnable second half defence saved them again as they came from behind to beat Penrith 18-10 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
For the third week in a row, Brisbane refused to concede a second-half try to their opponents, outscoring Penrith 12-0 after trailing 10-6 at the break.
It was the same story in their previous two wins against Canberra and the Titans, letting in just two points in their last 120 second-half minutes.
Brisbane forward Alex Glenn opened the scoring with a soft try off a Peter Wallace bomb which Penrith surprisingly failed to defend with any urgency.
Panther's centre Michael Jennings made no attempt to get to Wallace's kick and Glenn could not believe the ease in which he strolled onto the ball in just the third minute.
A try to winger Michael Gordon, who juggled a bomb, cut Brisbane's lead to 6-4 after 10 minutes before makeshift halfback Kevin Kingston, standing in at No.7 for Luke Walsh, sent the visitors into the halftime break leading 10-6.
However their lead was short lived after Broncos utility Ben Te'o crossed in the 49th minute and winger Jharal Yow Yeh was awarded a finger tip diving try four minutes later.
Corey Parker, who took his tackle count to 100 in the last two games with another 40 against the Panthers, failed to convert either try as Brisbane took back the lead 14-10.
But he booted penalties in the 66th and 73rd minutes to put Brisbane out of the converted try zone before the Panthers finished the game strongly.
Brisbane centre Jack Reed almost opened the second half with what would have been the try of the season after skipper Darren Lockyer shifted play left for young fullback Gerard Beale to send him hurtling for the corner.
As the defence closed, Reed dived full length out of the field while almost managing to plant the ball down with his right hand.
Penrith showed considerable more fight than their meek effort against Cronulla last week, but fell short of the upset victory.
Broncos coach Anthony Griffin said he was happy to take his third win in a row after losing his first NRL game against North Queensland last month.
"I'll take them how we get them," he said of another grinding win in front of 25,000 fans.
Lockyer struggled to remember the last time he bombed a try in his 337 NRL games and said, had Brisbane lost on the back of his rare fumble, he would have had a very long weekend thinking about it.
"I got ahead of myself (in the 17th minute) I was thinking who was coming to congratulate me," he said after putting down a pass from centre Justin Hodges with the tryline open.
Griffin said Lockyer, who announced he was retiring at the end of the season on Monday, had got Brisbane home in the second half against a very aggressive and desperate Panthers.
"Darren was great when push came to shove and we had to put some footy together to win the game," he said.
Panthers coach Matt Elliott said, while his side was better than last week's, he still wasn't pleased.
"We're not a bunch of numpties even though it's been written that way, that we are - you guys (the media) don't know," he said.
"We're better than what we showed tonight. We'll get there."
- AAP
