Live: Storm host Panthers trying to avoid third straight loss in Cleary's milestone
The Penrith Panthers are trying to bounce back from back-to-back losses as they take on the Melbourne Storm in Ivan Cleary's milestone 500th game as a coach. Follow live.
The Penrith Panthers managed to stave off Melbourne Storm's efforts to secure a spot in the NRL finals with a final score of 22-14. The Panthers opened the scoring with a hat-trick from Brian To'o and a try from Liam Henry, but failed to score again after the 30-minute mark. Back-rower Liam Martin was sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul shortly before halftime, and Lindsay Smith was also sent off just after the break for repeated ruck infringements.
Melbourne Storm managed to score despite playing with 11 men earlier in the game, with Tyran Wishart and Jack Howarth contributing to their efforts. Sin-binned players included Storm's Oryn Keeley and Penrith's Cameron Munster. The poor kicking and attacking miscues by both teams allowed Melbourne to get on the scoreboard against 13 men.
The loss marks the first time the Storm have missed the playoffs since 2010, when they played for no points due to salary cap infringements.
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