The minor premier Dragons will be forced to go the long way if they are to qualify for the 2026 Jersey Flegg Grand Final having fallen to the Panthers 32-28 in a Major Semi Final shootout at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Hit with an early sin-bin, the Red V fell into an 18-point hole headed into the break before manufacturing a furious fightback to lock things up.
Down several key men – including the NSWRL’s Player of the Year Eden Hodges – the Dragons were unable to complete their comeback with a try against the run of play courtesy of Panthers No.1 Darcy Feltham sucking the air out of the minor premiers’ comeback attempt.
Aaron Gorrell’s men now turn their attention to a do-or-die final against the Bulldogs at St George Venues Jubilee Stadium next Saturday with a spot in the decider on the line.
Match: Dragons v Panthers
Finals Week 2 -
home Team
Dragons
1st Position
away Team
Panthers
2nd Position
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Toby Rumble was sent to the sin-bin for the Dragons just four minutes into the match for a spear tackle on Hunter Bell. The Red V held strong initially but Penrith, with a man advantage, found first points off the back of a Jack Colley intercept with Haami Loza stepping his way to the line.
Their second try came 15 minutes later in similar frustrating fashion with Loza taking off with another intercepted pass. The Panthers playmaker looked home and hosed only for Rumble to complete a stupendous chasedown effort before making the next tackle from marker.
Unfortunately for the Dragons, an Ellyjah Birve flick pass saw Harry Wald go over untouched in the corner the next play to make it a double-digit game before they inched further ahead their next set with Leo-Stipe Latu crossing off a spilt Birve bomb.
The Dragons found a needed try on the other side of the half-hour mark with Marley McLaren venturing down a short left side and crafting a deft chip kick which bounced fortuitously into the arms of Rumble.
The Panthers nabbed their fourth of the first half on the stroke of half-time with Cameron Kanaan taking advantage of some defensive miscommunication to scurry over off the back of a messy, last-tackle sequence to make it 22-4.
Wald was sent to the bin in Penrith’s opening defensive set of the second forty for a dangerous challenge on a kicking McLaren. His opposite Kye Andrews went over for the Dragons shortly after thanks to a sensational McLaren cut-out.
They punched further into the lead not long after with Bailey Carmichael – who has made a name for himself as a try-scorer off the pine – using his hulking frame to burrow his way over next to the sticks.
The Dragons locked things at 22-apiece an hour in with a Jackson Cahill-Smith kick ending up in the arms of Lucas Borg who crafted a skilful pass to Rumble for his second.
Jersey Flegg Highlights: Major Semi Final vs. Panthers
With the momentum on their side, Gorrell’s men looked poised to wrestle the lead off Penrith for the first time in the match only for Feltham to pick up a Dragons knock-on and race away 90 metres to put his side back on top. They jumped back out to a double-digit advantage with less than 10 minutes to play as Kanaan found his second try off a Loza bomb.
Charlie Heidke nabbed a late try for the Dragons off a pinpoint McLaren kick but it proved in vain with Penrith ultimately punching their Grand Final ticket.
