Nathan Cleary has put Penrith’s premiership rivals on notice, scoring a hat-trick of tries and putting on an attacking masterclass in the Panthers’ 46-10 win over St George Illawarra.
Reunited with halves partner Jarome Luai and most of Penrith’s other State of Origin stars for the first time since May, Cleary was in complete control in Wollongong.
The Cleary clinic helped the visitors stay within four points of Melbourne at the top of the ladder, and left the Dragons out of the eight for another week.
The victory did come at some cost, with prop James Fisher-Harris suffering a minor groin strain and fill-in fullback Daine Laurie a concussion.
Still, the injuries did little to slow the Panthers, who are now gearing up for a shot at a historic fourth straight premiership.
The conventional wisdom this season has been that while Penrith are still favourites to win the premiership, the gap at the top is shrinking.
On Sunday afternoon, that chasm between them and the rest still looked as big as ever.
And Cleary was at the centre of it all, one week on from kicking a golden-point field goal on return from a hamstring injury against the Dolphins.
After handing off to Jesse McLean in the lead up to Penrith’s opening try, Cleary went short to put Liam Martin through a hole from close to the line for their second.
The halfback had his fingerprints all over the Panthers’ third, when he helped Laurie bust down the right edge and then loomed up on the inside to score.
And the fourth try was classic Cleary, dummying and stepping between Ben Hunt and Raymond Faitala-Mariner to score.
By that point it was 22-0 after 24 minutes, and Cleary was in complete command.
Impressive too was the way in which he and Luai were able to regularly combine in attack after two months separated.
The two combined for Cleary’s third try, when the halfback put Luai into space and then backed up on the inside to finish the job.
Cleary also kicked for Liam Henry to score another second-half try, while Luai’s confidence continued to show when he sent Scott Sorensen over with a short ball.
All the while, St George Illawarra didn’t help themselves in front of their first sell out in Wollongong since July 2007.
Ben Hunt put three kicks out on the full, in what will easily go down as one of his worst afternoons in Dragons colours.
Shane Flanagan’s decision to drop fullback Tyrell Sloan didn’t help their defence, and while Mat Feagai started the game at the back he ended it with a concussion and on report following a head clash with Laurie.
Zac Lomax then scored in the first half deputising at fullback, the Dragons’ only other try coming through Jaydn Su’A in the final minute.
AAP
