Brad Schneider made an impressive start to life as a Penrith Panthers player, coming in for high praise after helping his new club to victory over Sydney Roosters.

The former Hull KR man, who had an unforgettable short-term stint at the Robins last summer to help them reach the Challenge Cup final, returned to the NRL at the end of the season after agreeing a deal to join the Panthers on a two-year contract.

And with Nathan Cleary unavailable for Thursday’s game, Schneider effortlessly stepped in alongside Jarome Luai to produce a performance that earned rave reviews from the likes of former NRL great Michael Ennis on commentary.

Schneider was hugely influential in helping the Panthers to a 14-6 half-time lead, with tries from Sunia Turuva and Dylan Edwards, coupled with three goals from the boot of Edwards.

The Roosters’ sole response came from a Sitili Tupouniua try, but they didn’t score again until the final six minutes and by that point, they had left themselves with too much to do.

Turuva completed his hat-trick in the moments after half-time, again with more good work from Schneider.

A late double from the Roosters, with tries from Brandon Smith and Daniel Tupou, threatened to set up a grandstand finale and potentially send the game to golden point, but the Panthers and Schneider held on.

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