Two Nathan Cleary field goals have helped an uncharacteristically error-prone Penrith survive an NRL scare from Newcastle and clinch a 16-15 golden point win at McDonald Jones Stadium.
With the score 14-14 in the final four minutes, Newcastle's back-up five-eighth Tyson Gamble nailed a field goal from long range only seconds after Nathan Cleary had sprayed his own attempt under the crossbar.
Lachlan Fitzgibbon hit Cleary late as the Panthers co-captain drilled his second attempt over the black dot but was inexplicably not penalised, the game instead moving into golden point with the scores locked at 15-15 after 80 minutes.
A mere 40 seconds into extra time, Cleary made no mistake on his fourth shot of the night and the Panthers were home despite the spirited Knights scoring three tries to two.
"It feels really good but I just felt that I had to make up for the two shanks before that," Cleary told ABC Sport.
"I thought tonight was our worst game of the season, but you know Knights did that to us, they played really well, they dragged us into that dog-fight game.
"To get up and just get there at the end, it's important and you need to get those wins."
The Knights, tipped for the wooden spoon before the start of the season, beat the reigning premiers at their own game in the first half as they chased a monumental upset.
Despite missing co-captains Jayden Brailey and Kalyn Ponga, Newcastle completed all of their first 10 sets and muscled on their goal line, all the while poking holes in Penrith's usually tight defensive wall.
Penrith bled three tries at close range in the first half - more than they have conceded in any game since before last year's finals series.
Stand-in hooker Phoenix Crossland scored the most memorable with a grubberkick out of dummy-half.
The Panthers' attacking exuberance from the past fortnight was nowhere to be seen.
It took Knights veteran Dane Gagai backchatting the referee and conceding a penalty for the Panthers to march into Knights territory and score for the first time through Brian To'o.
But the ascendancy was to be short-lived.
The Knights had the Panthers rattled, forcing them into errors in good field position.
Errant handling in the red zone cost Penrith four times in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Panthers finished the match with 13 errors.
The difference in the second half was that Newcastle were mistake-prone as well and put Penrith in position to score again with another avoidable penalty.
A minute after Tyson Frizell pulled Jarome Luai's hair in a tackle, the Panthers were over through interchange forward Jaeman Salmon.
It took extra time for the Panthers to sneak home and deny what would have been a famous victory for the Knights, who can take considerable confidence out of the loss.
Newcastle were outplayed 42-6 in the corresponding fixture last season but are clearly made of sterner stuff this year.
In the minutes before half time, Penrith came up with perhaps the best captain's challenge since the rule was introduced in 2020.
Referee Peter Gough sin-binned Spencer Leniu for taking Tyson Gamble out as he attempted to chase a kick in the red zone, only for the challenge to reveal Scott Sorensen, not Leniu, had accidentally collided with Gamble in the play.
No penalty was awarded and Leniu remained on the field.
Brodie Jones is expected to join the Knights' casualty ward after being ruled out with a quad injury mid-game.
Broncos power back into top spot after derby victory
Brisbane have turned on a second-half blitz to make it three from three in NRL Queensland derbies this season, scoring a 43-26 win over Gold Coast.
A pair of tries from deflected Titans' kicks either side of halftime transformed Saturday night's match as the Broncos put last weekend's loss to Canberra behind them in front of a sell-out crowd of 26,563 at Robina Stadium.
Brisbane simply blew the home side out of the water in the second 40, scoring five tries to two.
The victory, Brisbane's sixth of the season, puts them back on top of the ladder and means they've defeated all three Queensland rivals already in 2023.
Defeat ends a four-game home winning run for the Titans on a night where they drew their biggest home crowd since Johnathan Thurston's NRL farewell in round 25, 2018.
Brisbane's triumph came despite a first half where Gold Coast dominated possession and territory, highlighted by prop Moeaki Fotuaika's 13 runs for 138 metres.
The Titans hit the scoreboard first when Phillip Sami outjumped Jesse Arthars to claim a Tanah Boyd kick in just the fifth minute.
Brisbane levelled in the 16th when impressive Jordan Riki dragged Jayden Campbell and Kieran Foran over the line, but the hosts restored their lead a short time later through winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira.
Just when it looked like the hosts would take a healthy eight-point advantage into the break the Broncos pounced.
Reece Walsh reached high to charge down Jayden Campbell's kick in the final seconds of the half, Marty Taupau gathering and sending Herbie Farnworth away.
Brisbane used that good fortune to turn the momentum of the contest at the start of the second half.
Another deflected kick, this time Riki sticking out a boot on a Foran grubber, allowed the Broncos back-rower to surge downfield after he pounced on the loose ball.
Although he was wrapped up by Campbell in a good covering tackle, just two plays later Walsh went over and Brisbane led for the first time on the night.
When Khan-Pereira was ruled to have lost possession by playing the ball without being tackled in the 55th minute, Arthars scored from the resulting set to put the Broncos in charge.
Gold Coast's woes deepened when captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui was sin-binned with less than 20 minutes to play, Kurt Capewell and Ezra Mam both scoring before Kruise Leeming crossed for the home team.
The Titans' evening was summed up when Selwyn Cobbo pounced on another loose ball to sprint clear and wrap up the win, although Khan-Pereira scored a consolation on the siren.
New Zealand Warriors beat North Queensland Cowboys
A Dylan Walker try and late penalty goal from Shaun Johnson helped the Warriors beat North Queensland Cowboys 22-14 at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
In an often scrappy encounter in challenging conditions, the home side made the most of a lopsided possession percentage, with a completion rate well below what they've achieved during their start to the 2023 NRL season.
However, the in-form Johnson first laid on a try for former Kangaroo Walker in the 61st minute to break a 14-all deadlock, then kicked a goal from in front, made a lot harder than it looked due to a stiff northerly breeze.
The home fans would have been forgiven for being slow to their seats after the Warriors' poor starts this season, but they flipped the script and scored inside the first five minutes.
An intercept by Adam Pompey gave the Warriors great field position, two tackles later Dylan Walker and Tohu Harris combined to send Addin Fonua-Blake through enough of a gap to carry two defenders with him to score under the posts.
The strong wind, which was at the Warriors' back in the first half, was going to be a key factor in the game.
However, the Cowboys kept things simple to send Murray Taulagiover in the corner with a slick finish.
The Maroons combination of Taulagi and Valentine Holmes was causing real problems down the Warriors' right edge, with the winger only just denied a second try by the bunker official after his foot grazed the touchline.
Ed Kosi finished off a great run by Marcelo Montoya to put the Warriors up 14-4, before another Origin representative, Reuben Cotter, brushed off a poor tackle by Josh Curran to cut the deficit to six for the visitors.
Curran made up for it after the break, scoring a well-worked try off more Johnson skill, but again the Warriors slipped to let Holmes even it up again almost straight off the kickoff.
While Walker's try eventually settled the matter, the Warriors did lay on some impressive defence to close the game out.
In particular, one set with six minutes to go only gave the Cowboys 20 metres and the subsequent kick was taken on the full by Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to set the Warriors up with the passage of play that led to Johnson's late penalty.
In all, it wasn't a game of any great standard, but it's unlikely the bumper crowd of just under 24,000 at Mt Smart will care too much.
The Cowboys poor start to the season continues, that is their second loss to the Warriors so far in 2023, with some questions to be asked about how a team so stacked with talent can be propping up the NRL ladder.
AAP
