The Panthers dismantled the Roosters 48-4 at BlueBet Stadium on Friday night to send an ominous warning to anyone with designs on taking their premiership crown.
With Jarome Luai staking an undeniable claim for the NSW No.6 jersey and Scott Sorensen producing the best game of his career, the Panthers put the match to bed by half-time with four unanswered tries.
Having conceded the opening try in their previous four matches, Penrith ended that streak in emphatic fashion in the 10th minute when James Fisher-Harris put Sorensen over with a nice offload.
A dropped ball by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 20 metres out from his own line gave the Panthers a shot at a second try but the Roosters defence held firm and a penalty got them out of their own end.
The Panthers extended their lead in the 22nd minute when Sorensen exploded into space on the left edge and found Tyrone Peachey who was tackled just short but got an offload away for Dylan Edwards to score.
Luai showed his class with two try assists in the space of two minutes late in the half as the premiers really flexed their muscle.
First it was Sorensen the beneficiary as Luai went across field and put the rampaging back-rower into a gap and then Peachey grabbed the 53rd four-pointer of his career courtesy of a dazzling Luai line break.
The second half started the same way the first had ended for the Roosters with errors cruelling any chance they had of mounting pressure but their defence held firm until the 61st minute when Isaah Yeo turned playmaker with a cross field kick for Brian To'o to score. Nathan Cleary's conversion made it 30-0.
The Roosters finally got across the line with 15 minutes to play when Billy Smith put Corey Allan over in the corner with a neat flick pass.
With 10 minutes to play it was Sunia Turuva adding his name to the tryscorers list courtesy of some slick lead-up by Luai and Peachey.
Luai then capped a magnificent game with a try in the 76th minute as the score blew out to 42-4 before Peachey grabbed a double after Jaxson Paulo made a mess of cleaning up a grubber kick.
The Panthers have now won their past seven games against the Roosters, who also lost big guns Joey Manu and Waerea-Hargreaves to injury on a horror night at BlueBet Stadium, a ground they have not won at since 2017.
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Story first published by: NRL.com