Canberra Raiders 10
An injury to Penrith halfback Luke Walsh has soured a convincing 36-10 NRL victory over struggling Canberra at Centrebet Stadium.
Walsh, who was a standout for the Panthers, left the field in the 76th minute with what appeared to be a shoulder injury suffered when he attempted to tackle Raiders fullback Blake Ferguson.
The No.7 had only made his return from a week off with a shoulder complaint on Saturday night.
Penrith restarted their stop-start season by finally managing a home performance that didn't embarrass them, winger David Simmons bagging a hat-trick in a six-tries-to-two win in front of 10,229 fans.
Travis Burns, Michael Gordon and Petero Civoniceva also scored for the Panthers, while Reece Robinson and Daniel Vidot bagged four-pointers for the Raiders.
Gordon booted six from seven and Raiders centre Jarrod Croker one from two as pre-season fancies the Raiders crashed to a fourth straight loss, their ledger now just one win from five rounds.
The Raiders continue to struggle to integrate big name signings Matt Orford, Brett White and Ferguson into their line-up as chief playmaker Terry Campese sits in the stands recovering from knee surgery.
Stand-in fullback Ferguson's bad case of the butterfingers got even worse on Saturday night after he and Orford were the culprits in allowing Gold Coast to get out of jail in Canberra last weekend.
The makeshift No.1 came up with three errors within the opening 12 minutes, two on the first tackle after Penrith kicks, and one, a tough ask as he attempted to field a difficult grubber, led to a Panthers try.
Penrith led 18-4 at the break but it was the Raiders who scored first after half-time when winger Vidot grabbed a Josh McCrone kick to make it 18-10.
Four minutes later, though, Simmons got his third after some classy lead-up from Gordon before the Panthers fullback got one for himself in the 62nd minute and Civoniceva a rare four-pointer in the final minute.
Penrith prop Sam McKendry, a late inclusion after recovering from a hip injury, was placed on report in the 16th minute for an alleged trip.
He was lying on the ground at the time and appeared to raise a leg only centimetres from the ground.
Penrith 36 (D Simmons 3 T Burns P Civoniceva M Gordon tries M Gordon 6 goals) bt Canberra 10 (R Robinson D Vidot tries J Croker goal) at Centrebet Stadium. Referee: Gavin Badger, Brett Suttor. Crowd: 10,229.
- AAP
