Penrith's pursuit of a fourth-straight NRL premiership is on track after they booked a preliminary final berth by manhandling the Sydney Roosters on the way to a 30-10 win.
In their farewell game at Panthers Stadium before it undergoes redevelopment, Ivan Cleary's men ensured the 21,483 packed into the venue went home happy after a one-sided qualifying final victory over the Roosters.
And in a further encouraging sign for the Panthers, halfback Nathan Cleary barely got out of second gear on Friday night on his return from a shoulder injury.
Penrith's halfback was given an early mark, taken off with four minutes to go as the Panthers earned the right to enjoy a week off before their preliminary final at Stadium Australia.
Meanwhile, the Roosters will be licking their wounds after being battered into submission in the opening 25 minutes.
Trent Robinson's side was off the pace from the get-go and will now face the winner of the Canterbury-Manly elimination final in a sudden-death encounter.
The Roosters played with no real direction in attack and their defence lacked any sort of aggression or venom in the first half as the Panthers raced out to a 24-0 half-time lead.
Halves duo Luke Keary and Sandon Smith were regular targets for the Panthers and without Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Victor Radley the Roosters had nobody to hold their gloves up to the home side.
On their very first set, Penrith rolled upfield as the Roosters' defensive line hung back passively to allow Cleary to make easy metres.
He then put a bomb up that was dropped by the usually-dependable Daniel Tupou and Brian To'o scored on the ensuing set.
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A Cleary chip kick glanced the upright and was scooped up by Izack Tago for the Panthers' second, with Jarome Luai and Luke Garner crossing to inflict further damage.
Cleary added a penalty after the introduction of Nafuahu Whyte and Spencer Leniu from the interchange bench had stemmed the Roosters' bleeding.
The Roosters showed some semblance of a fightback with tries to James Tedesco and Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
But errors continued to haunt Robinson's side, who haven't beaten the Panthers in 10-straight games.
Another defensive lapse allowed Dylan Edwards to make a break and soon after Cleary rolled a grubber kick into the in-goal.
Garner was quickest to act, sealing victory and putting the Panthers 80 minutes from another shot at grand final glory.
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The live digital coverage of tonight's NRL action will come to an end here.
Penrith are through to another preliminary final, defeating the Roosters 30-10.
Sydney will now face either Canterbury or Manly in a semifinal next week.
ABC Sport will be back tomorrow with a live blog of Saturday's finals action.
We hope you join us then.
Goodnight.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has hailed his team's efforts tonight, but says there is work that needs to be done before their preliminary final.
"I thought it was our best half of footy the whole year, the first half," he says.
"Experience gives you something and we know how to play finals. Our style is suited to it.
"The second half isn't what we had planned, but probably not a bad thing either."
Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson is talking to the media.
He has said Penrith won the physical battle, and poor field position put his side on the back foot in the first half.
But it is a moment in the second half that Robinson has mentioned.
At 24-10, a pass from James Tedesco which put Joseph Sua'ali'i through for a try was called forward by ref Ashley Klein.
It was a tight call that denied the Roosters potentially getting the score to 24-16.
"I didn't think it was forward. I don't think anyone thought it was forward except the ref," he says.
"Looking at the replays and the angle of the pass — that's a big call in that moment and you can't get that wrong."
The loss tonight is the 10th straight defeat the Roosters have had to Penrith.
It is the first time the Roosters have lost 10 straight against any club.
History has been made tonight.
The Panthers have won 10 straight finals matches.
That matches the record held by St George, set between 1958-1962.
John Gibbs is now speaking to Sydney Roosters hooker Connor Watson.
The rake said his side's poor start set them on the course for defeat tonight.
"We just didn't even start the race to be honest ... You can't give a champion side like that that start to the game," he says.
Returning superstar Nathan Cleary was a big talking point throughout the week.
His shoulder dominated a lot of talk, but Cleary says he has come through his return well.
"It felt really good, to be honest I wasn't that nervous about the shoulder ... I was probably nervous about playing again, finals footy," he tells John Gibbs on ABC Sport.
The first half blitz set up a special win for Penrith.
Four tries in the opening 25 minutes essentially ended the game earlier.
Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards has praised the big forwards in the centre of the field.
"I think we started the game really well," he tells ABC Sport's John Gibbs.
"I thought our middles did a really good job to start with and we built off that."
Four tries in the opening 25 minutes have guided the Penrith Panthers to a qualifying final win over the Sydney Roosters.
The Panthers took a 24-0 lead into half-time, but were tested by a resurgent Sydney who scored the opening two tries of the second half.
But in the final match at Panthers Stadium before it is torn down, Luke Garner's second try of the match, in the 71st minute, iced the game for Penrith.
The Panthers are one win away from a fifth-straight grand final, while the Roosters will host either Canterbury or Manly in a semifinal next weekend.
There is no need for Penrith to keep Nathan Cleary on the field for the final three minutes —and he is coming off.
The Panthers' faithful have given their star halfback a standing ovation.
Number 19 Brad Schneider has come onto the field.
Luke Garner has a double.
The second-row forward grounds a grubber kick from Nathan Cleary and just about wins the game for Penrith.
It came off the back of a massive run from Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards, who made a 60-metre run after returning a deep kick from the Roosters.
He started on his 30-metre line, and he was brought down just 10 metres from the try line.
The Roosters are penalised for being offside and the Panthers decided to tap and go for the try.
They have their try and hold a 30-10 lead.
The Roosters are chancing their arm, and the Panthers are starting to look tired in defence.
A terrific passing sequence has led to Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i streaking away for a certain try.
But Ashley Klein's whistle has sounded.
Ash says the final pass from James Tedesco has gone forward.
Oh boy, it's a tight call.
I am prepared to back Klein on the call, but I have seen much worse, missed.
The Panthers thought they had scored through Moses Leota.
The crowd goes crazy, but the Panthers look less enthused.
There was a contest for a high kick, where replays show Liam Martin getting a small knock-on, before the ball ends up in Leota's arms.
Both teams probably needed this small break. It has been back and forth for close to 10 minutes.
The television broadcast has just shown ground staff checking the air pressure in the footies.
Before converting the Roosters' second try, kicker Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i was complaining to referee Ashley Klein that the footy he had was deflated.
It didn't bother Joey too much, who kicked the goal from the right sideline.
But it looks like we have done a check of the footies.
LoadingThe Roosters have their second try — they look like a new team.
Is the team attacking the southern end of Panthers Stadium running downhill?
James Tedesco scores after Penrith put themselves under pressure.
Penrith gave away a penalty 15 metres from their line.
Paul Alamoti clearly knocked a Sydney chaser to the ground, as Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards took a high-ball uncontested.
The Roosters are now throwing everything at the Panthers. Six-again restart conceded.
The Roosters are threatening, and James Tedesco busts through and scores in the right corner.
Sua'ali'i kicks the goal and it is 24-10.
Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i has the opening try for the Chooks.
The Roosters started the set on their own 40-metre line, after Penrith's attempt at a last-tackle attack went over the touchline.
Penrith give up a six-again restart and the Roosters go to work.
Sydney swung the ball from right to left.
James Tedesco runs with the ball in both hands, draws in defenders, and gives it to Sua'ali'i who crashes over the line.
Joey couldn't convert his own try — 24-4.
A few things were missed in that first half.
Sydney had the final chance of the first half, but a last-play kick to the corner of Daniel Tupou went over the deadball line.
The Panthers crowd are on their feet and chanting as Penrith go up the tunnel.
"PANTHERS, PANTHERS, PANTHERS".
Four tries and a resolute defence has guided them to a 24-0 lead over the Roosters at half-time.
The Roosters weren't bad. But they hardly had the footy.
One thing I have not mentioned is the brilliance of Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai's kicking game in that first half.
They ensured the Roosters started every set deep in their own end.
It was take something out of the ordinary — you'd think — for the Roosters to make something out of this contest.
So what is a sin-bin, and what isn't?
Roosters' five-eighth Luke Keary has been penalised in front of the posts for holding back a Penrith player who was chasing a kick towards the in-goal.
Penrith gets a penalty, but it has been ruled as an escort rather than a professional foul, denying a Panther a chance of scoring?
ABC Sport caller Andrew Moore has called it a "blatant sin-bin".
Sideline eye John Gibbs says it is a "garden variety sin-bin".
Feels like that has been a sin-bin all year.
Cleary kicks the goal and makes it 24-0.
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