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Nathan Cleary's perfect kicking game has helped Penrith to a 25-12 win over South Sydney, in easily their best NRL performance in two months.
Nathan Cleary has kicked any concerns about Penrith's late season form to the kerb as he led the Panthers to a 25-12 win over fellow top-three side South Sydney.
In a statement game just three weeks out from the finals, the Panthers came back from 12-0 down to end Souths' 10-game winning streak.
But it wasn't just the scoreline at Suncorp Stadium that will serve as a warning to ladder leaders Melbourne and the Rabbitohs, as they put on an almost perfect second half.
Continuing his return from a shoulder injury, Cleary was back to his old self as he terrorised former teammate Josh Mansour with his bombs, while Paul Momirovski became an unlikely hero with his boot.
The Panthers also enjoyed an 11-2 penalty count in their favour, as they rolled out their strongest side in two months with ex-Brisbane enforcer Tevita Pangai Junior debuting and they have James Fisher-Harris still to come back.
The only worry was a concussion suffered by fullback Dylan Edwards, but Stephen Crichton starred in his absence.
Notably, the win came against the same club the Panthers will almost certainly face in a qualifying final in three weeks time.
Cleary created something out of nothing for the Panthers' first points after he put Kurt Capewell into space and Momirovski kicked back in field for him to score.
It was one of two tries set up by a Momirovski kick, with the centre-turned-winger also kicking shallow for Crichton on halftime to make it 12-10.
Cleary then kept Penrith locked on the Rabbitohs' line in the second half, with a Tom Burgess high tackle and a Mark Nicholls downtown penalty allowing the half to kick the Panthers to a lead.
And after Matt Burton put winger Brent Naden over unmarked, it was a Cleary field goal from 20m out that wrapped up the game before a late Api Koroisau try.
"That's what he does," coach Ivan Cleary said of son Nathan.
"That's why he is so important to the team. We got a lot of results out of his kicks in the second half particularly.
"We were able to dominate field position and possession and that was probably the thing that got us home."
The result means South Sydney will enter the finals without a win over either the Panthers or Melbourne this season.
While they conceded 50 against both those sides earlier this year, Friday night at Suncorp Stadium at least showed how far they have come since.
But they still have some way to go.
Their first try came after an Edwards error and their second through Latrell Mitchell was after a perfect Adam Reynolds 40-20, but they lacked the impetus in the second half.
Playmaker Cody Walker was unable to make the same impact he has in the past three months, while none of their forward ran 100 metres.
"It was a lot better than Dubbo (against Penrith in May), we've come that far," coach Wayne Bennett said.
"We've just got a few more things we have to fix up a little bit more. We've been pretty consistent on that stuff, it just fell apart tonight."
