Panthers sink to bottom of the ladder after Roosters victory
Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP/PA Images
Reigning premiers the Penrith Panthers sink to the bottom of the NRL live ladder following the Sydney Roosters win over St George Illawarra Dragons on Friday night in Sydney.
The Roosters never looked like losing in front of a sell-out crowd of 41,021 who came out to watch the historic ANZAC day match up at Allianz Stadium.
It was the young halfback Sandon Smith who stole the show in the Roosters 46-18 triumph over the Dragons, hauling himself 22 points of bragging rights, falling two points short of the record set by injured Roosters half Sam Walker last year.
This comes as the Panthers snapped their losing streak of five straight defeats last week.
It’s an unimaginable situation for the Panthers who have won the last four straight NRL premierships.
Regarded by many as the best team in modern history, the team from out west in Sydney, led by father and son duo, Ivan and Nathan Cleary find themselves in unfamiliar territory.
Had the Roosters lost the game on Friday night, they would have cemented themselves firmly on bottom of the NRL ladder after eight rounds, but instead move up above the panthers.
Andrew Voss highlighted on Fox League during the final stages of the ANZAC Cup match between the Roosters and the Dragons: “With the Roosters winning this… and if you add the bye points to Parramatta already, Penrith are sitting last on the ladder, ahead of playing Manly tomorrow night.”
The comment seemed to startle Penrith Panthers legend, now commentator, Greg Alexander.
Alexander insisted that they focus on the current game.
“It’s a statement of fact,” said Voss.
“You can’t handle the truth,” he laughed.
Sandon Smith has stepped into the Roosters squad following an ACL injury to Sydney’s young marquee playmaker Sam Walker.
Short in stature but not in heart, the 176cm tall halfback led the charge on ANZAC day to score a double and slot seven shots at goal.
The 22-year-old left the park as the well-deserved winner of the Ashton-Collier Medal for player of the match.
In the post-match press conference, Roosters coach Trent Robinson said he was impressed with the young players for standing up on such a big occasion, praising Sandon Smith in particular for showing really good vision.
“When he played square and saw where Gutho [Clint Gutherson] was and took it on, he was in the right spot… his positioning [during the game] was in the right spot.”
“It’s a credit to Sandon that he individually prepared for the game that way,” Robinson said.
Meanwhile, Penrith have the chance to escape the bottom of the table when they take on the 11th placed Many Sea Eagles on Saturday night at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.
