Hammer time as Dolphins plunge Panthers into crisis

Woeful Penrith have slumped to a fifth consecutive NRL loss after Dolphins hat-trick hero Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow had a blinder in a stunning 30-12 win. No side in the 117-year history of the premiership has come back from a 1-5 start to a season and won the title and that is the scenario the four-time premiers now face. If they keep up the shoddy form they displayed on Thursday night they are no chance Dolphins fullbackTabuai-Fidow outplayed opposite number Dylan Edwards at Suncorp Stadium.

The man known as "Hammer" scored three tries and saved two in one of his best games in the NRL. The Panthers were awful. Their attack was dysfunctional and their defence on the edges was threadbare.



A pass by maestro half Nathan Cleary that went into touch in the second half, due largely to winger Paul Alamoti being in the wrong spot, summed up their night and their dire form. Cleary was unable to dig his side out of their mess. The Dolphins were superb.

They only played the ball once in the opposition half in the opening 25 minutes but still held a 12-6 lead after defending like demons and attacking with flair. Centres Herbie Farnworth and Jake Averillo carved up while 21-year-old half Isaiya Katoa controlled play with style. Tabuai-Fidow started and finished a slick 55m move in an interchange of passing with blistering left centre Farnworth to open the scoring.

Cleary conjured a slick grubber kick for centre Casey McLean to level, but from there the Dolphins dominated. Tabuai-Fidow was at it again down the right side in a mirror image of his first try, only this time it was in cahoots with right centre Averillo. Alamoti was sin-binned and put on report for a high shot on Tom Gilbert in the 26th minute and Averillo went over for an 18-6 lead at the break Dolphins prop Josh Kerr threw an offload the great former Dolphins captain-coach Arthur Beetson would have been proud of to put back-rower Connelly Lemuelu over after halftime.

The Panthers did not look likely until the 73rd minute when Cleary put a grubber kick in that was, for reasons only known to himself, kicked by winger Jack Bostock in his own in-goal straight into the arms of prop Moses Leota to score. Tabuai-Fidow streaked away late to ice the win. Penrith had 50 tackles inside the Dolphins' quarter but scored just twice, both off kicks.

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