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Panthers’ resurgence in full swing after mauling Bulldogs

Mitch Rein celebrates a try with Panthers teammates.

Mitch Rein celebrates a try with Panthers teammates. Photo: Getty

Penrith’s mid-season resurgence is in full swing after extending their winning streak to three with a 38-0 savaging of Canterbury on Sunday.

One month after sitting second-last on the table, the Panthers ran in seven tries against a listless Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium to lift themselves to within two points of the top eight.

The win was their biggest in club history against the Bulldogs, while also handing the Belmore club their equal-heaviest defeat under coach Des Hasler.

At the heart of Penrith’s triumph was the move of Matt Moylan to five-eighth, with the usual fullback producing an impressive first-up display that included forcing an error in the second set of the match.

He also scored a try and had a hand in two others in arguably their best outing of the year.

“For the day we had a focus about coming here and being able to do a job for 80 minutes defensively,” Panthers coach Anthony Griffin said after the match.

“For the team to see their captain fly out of the line like that and get an error … that set the tone.”

Pressed on the likelihood of Moylan’s future lying in the halves, Griffin said: “He was great there today so I don’t see any reason to change it.”

Moylan credited his teammates for helping manage the increased defensive workload in which he made 13 tackles.

“Felt comfortable out there today, I think the guys defending around me really helped me throughout the week. Their talk today was massive,” he said.

“The way our forwards play enabled us to play that sort of footy. All credit should go to them.”

In the other Sunday match, Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans nailed a clutch golden-point field goal to hand the Sea Eagles their second extra-time win over Canberra this season.

Down 20-6 at the break, the Raiders levelled the game when captain Jarrod Croker kicked a penalty goal after fulltime but it wasn’t enough on an afternoon they lost two players to injury.

Watch Daly Cherry-Evans kick the game-winner below:

Earlier in round 13, Billy Slater put his hand up for a State of Origin recall by scoring two tries and setting up two others in Melbourne’s 40-12 trouncing of Newcastle.

The victory means the Storm retained their spot atop the table ahead of St George Illawarra while third-placed Cronulla enjoyed the bye alongside South Sydney.

Parramatta overcame a horrific injury toll to score a 32-24 win over the Warriors, while Gareth Widdop made a successful return in the Dragons’ four-point win over the Wests Tigers.

Three nights after leading NSW to a record win, Boyd Cordner scored two tries in the Sydney Roosters’ thrilling win over Brisbane, which moved the Roosters into fourth spot.

And in Townsville, a Johnathan Thurston-less North Queensland topped Gold Coast by 20-8.

-AAP

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