Dominic BrockUpdated July 3, 2026 — 8:31pm,first published 7:28pmYour say: Panthers or Rabbitohs?By Latest Posts8.31pmTRY: Walker returns and Souths hit back through KosiBy A rare highlight from Souths, albeit in their own half, as rookie winger Dayne Jennings defuses a kick, bumps off one defender, then palms away two more as he shoots upfield on the right flank. The Australian schoolboys star looks a great talent already.Cody Walker is back on now and the Rabbitohs get their first genuine scoring chance since he was sin-binned. They get a six-again, then – almost at the end of the following set – get another one. The makeshift Penrith defensive line is holding up pretty well under extreme pressure, but finally it cracks – Souths putting the ball through the hands on the last tackle for Edward Kosi to cross in the left corner.Latrell Siegwalt’s conversion attempt goes wide.Panthers 12, Rabbitohs 4 after 26 minutes8.25pmPanthers go close; To’o spills a high oneBy Smart play by Penrith now with prop Liam Henry spotting Souths fullback Jye Gray defending in the line, so Henry rolls a grubber kick into the empty in-goal. Jack Cogger almost gets to it for a third Panthers try but Rabbitohs prop Tevita Tatola manages to just get there before him and bat the ball dead.Souths try a short dropout and get a result when Brian To’o leaps high to take it but puts the ball down. The Rabbitohs will be happy to get through this 10-minute period with Cody Walker in the sin bin without conceding any more points.Panthers 12, Rabbitohs 0 after 19 minutes8.18pmTRY: Henry grabs Penrith’s second with Walker in the binBy Walker’s sin-binning looks even more costly as Penrith immediately go down the other end and cross out wide, but the trry is disallowed after there was a knock-on by both sides (Souths’ Dayne Jennings and Penrith’s Scott Sorensen) from a kick in the lead-up. But that’s just a temporary reprieve for Souths, who were the first to knock on – meaning Penrith get a scrum in attacking territory. And they make no mistake this time. They spread it wide right on play one, head back centre field on play two, take another charge down the middle, then two middle forwards combine with Lindsay Smith sending Liam Henry over for the game’s second try.Panthers 12, Rabbitohs 0 after 13 minutes 8.14pmWalker sin-binned, costs his team a try for kicking CoggerBy Souths haven’t wasted much time hitting back, swinging the ball to the right for rookie Dayne Jennings to dive over in the corner.But, bizarrely, the try is disallowed because veteran Cody Walker – the league leader in penalties conceded this season – has lashed out with a kick at Jack Cogger’s legs after playing the ball (Cogger had been the tackler). Truly bizarre stuff. The ref spotted it on the field, the bunker confirms it, so the try is disallowed and Walker is sent to the sin bin.Pretty costly brain snap, that one.Panthers 6, Rabbitohs 0 after 10 minutes8.06pmTRY: Edwards opens scoring with spectacular solo effortBy There’s been a lot of talk about the stars who aren’t playing for Penrith tonight but one who is is Dylan Edwards, and the stand-in captain makes the dream start to this one with a sensational 60-metre solo try.He takes an offload from Paul Alamoti with not much happening then does the rest himself, weaving past Latrell Siegwalt then sidestepping Jye Gray and palming off an attempt from Siegwalt to run away for the game’s first points.Terrific start from the fullback who is probably a little unlucky to not be representing his state next week.Panthers 6, Rabbitohs 0 after five minutes8.02pmKick-offBy OK we’re all set for kick-off. Referee Adam Gee gives the go-ahead and Dylan Edwards gets the game underway, Tevita Tatola bringing it back for the first hit-up of the game. Souths work it oast the 40-metre line on the last and Ashton Ward gets a decent kick away to Penrith’s try-scoring whiz Tom Jenkins.Plenty to play for tonight, even without several stars in action. Souths won’t get a better chance to topple the Panthers and Penrith are pretty keen to avoid a three-game losing streak.Panthers 0, Rabbitohs 0 after two minutes7.56pmTo’o has bounced back from Origin dumping: ClearyBy Penrith coach Ivan Cleary says Brian To’o has put the frustration at his NSW Origin axing behind him ahead of tonight’s contest with the Rabbitohs.“He’s obviously disappointed, but he’s bounced back,” Cleary tells Nine’s Andrew Johns before kick-off.Cleary says turning around the Panthers’ scratchy recent form – they’ve suffered back-to-back losses in Queensland against the Titans and Cowboys – has been a bigger priority this week than coping without their absent Origin stars.“Not so much without the Origin stars, just the way we’ve been playing the last couple of weeks,” he says. “The last couple of weeks we haven’t been happy with, so it’s just back to basics for us.” Prior to those losses Penrith had notched seven straight wins, and they have the chance to go on another winning run with games against bottom-eight sides Brisbane, Parramatta and Canberra coming up after tonight’s clash.Brian To’o before kick-off on Friday night.Getty Images7.52pmCleary on Origin III: ‘You’re either the hero or the villain’By Tom DecentState of Origin III in Brisbane on Wednesday night, with the series locked at 1-1, looms as one of the biggest games of Nathan Cleary’s decorated career.The biggest? Are we getting ahead of ourselves?“Every game you go into – like grand finals, Origin deciders or Origins in general – you think it’s the biggest game you’ve ever been a part of,” Cleary says. “This is probably no different.”Cleary is under no illusions about what awaits. He speaks calmly about the adulation or criticism that will inevitably be hurled in his direction.7.46pm‘World’s biggest birthday party’ the centrepiece of ‘Jai July’ By Adrian ProszenkoWhen Jai Arrow turns 31, on Sunday, July 12, the guest list includes everyone in the rugby league community. It has been dubbed the “world’s biggest birthday party”, and is part of the month-long “Jai July”, in aid of Arrow as he battles motor neurone disease.Held at Accor Stadium, it will double as South Sydney’s round 19 clash against Newcastle. While both clubs are jockeying for finals berths, given the uphill battle faced by Arrow and his family, there will be more at stake.“This will be a case of the game uniting behind our own,” said ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys. “We are a family.”The game-day initiative is the centrepiece of a raft of activities that will be held in Arrow’s honour during the month of July. There’s a chance to bring two children to the game for free, a half-time performance from The Wiggles, an invitation to come onto the field at full-time and to be part of a world record attempt for the most party hats.7.41pmJenkins’ chance of toppling 91-year-old try recordBy Penrith flyer Tom Jenkins had never heard of Dave Brown until it emerged he was a chance of doing the unthinkable in rugby league – breaking his 91-year try-scoring record this season.Brown scored 38 tries for Easts during the 1935 season in 15 games. Newtown’s Ray Preston bagged 34 tries in 1954, while South Sydney’s Alex Johnston got 30 tries in 2021 and again in 2022.Johnston, who remains the only player in the NRL era to score 30 tries in a season and has 19 this campaign, was meant to go up against Jenkins and Penrith on Friday night before he was grounded by a calf injury.Which leaves Jenkins as the only hope of toppling Brown.Jenkins has 22 tries in 15 games, and requires 17 tries from nine remaining regular-season games, and possibly three or four finals, depending on how Penrith progresses in the finals.Read the full story from Christian Nicolussi1 of 2