Viliame Kikau has stepped up to the plate for a Penrith team decimated by the Origin calls to lead the Panthers to a 30-18 victory over Canterbury.
With Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo forming a six-man Penrith contingent on Brad Fittler’s NSW team, the home game with the Low Bulldogs Friday at the night looked like a potential banana. skin.
This time last year, Ivan Cleary’s men were upset by the Wests Tigers, but even without the core of his team, Kikau made sure most of the 16,906 fans left the BlueBet Stadium happy.
The Fiji rower has agreed to join Canterbury next year and has shown his future teammates exactly what they are missing out on.
When he wasn’t spoiling the Bulldogs ’attack with his bone-crushing defense, he was clearing loose balls inside the goal, and he even found time to beat three defenders to score a try in the first half.
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The win puts Penrith four points ahead of the top of the NRL ladder.
There were some signs of hope for Canterbury, who threw a comeback in the second half and at one point threatened with only their third win of the season.
The week Fittler eliminated him for the first time since making his Blues debut in 2018, Josh Addo-Carr grabbed a double, combining with Matt Burton of eight-eighths on both occasions.
Burton scored his own try against his former club and his kick-off was especially troubling for the Panthers’ backs.
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Penrith started quickly with Chris Smith and Dylan Edwards giving them a 12-0 lead in the 15 minutes played, with Taylan May and Kikau bolstering their 22-6 lead at the break.
Canterbury’s only attempt in the first half came when Edwards dropped a Burton bomb with Addo-Carr diving with a grubber into the next set to open his account for the night.
Addo-Carr added a second when Burton broke the Panthers ‘defensive line for the end to meet and run 60 yards to score, before it crashed to reduce the Panthers’ lead to just four points.
An attempt to swap forward Jaeman Salmon and a penalty from debutant Kurt Falls caused Penrith to regain control and Canterbury was unable to respond.
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Posted 12 hours, 12 hours ago, Friday, June 3, 2022 at 8:59 AM, updated 9 hours, 9 hours ago, Friday, June 3, 2022 at 12:10 PM