At CommBank Stadium, Sydney: Panthers 20 (Casey McLean 6' & 30', Paul Alamoti 37' & 70' tries; Alamoti 2 con) Warriors 18 (Jacob Laban 16', Taine Tuapiki 55', Alofiana Khan-Pereira 59' tries; Adam Pompey 3 con). HT: 16-6.
The sight of Warriors coach Andrew Webster getting cranky late in the first half of the 20-18 loss to the Panthers mirrored the drama, intensity and passion of a wild night in Sydney on Sunday night.
The Panthers, when the final bell sounded to end this titanic arm-wrestle, may have emerged as the victors of this NRL fixture but the Warriors made them sweat buckets before finally succumbing after being outscored by four tries to three.
The Warriors, having had three tries disallowed, knew this was one that got away.
Prior to the clash at CommBank Stadium, Webster tried to take the pressure off his players by saying the result against the competition leaders wouldn't define their season.
