Penrith Slump To Another Loss

Warriors

Penrith coach Matthew Elliott's woes continued as his team was beaten 26-18 by the Warriors in the NRL clash at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday.

A few days after Elliott was told he wasn't wanted as coach next season, the Panthers slumped to their third straight loss and sixth for 2011.

Young Warriors winger Kevin Locke was the hero, scoring two tries and playing just as well in defence.

Petero Civoniceva put in a true captain's effort as the Panthers tried to forget about their off-field distractions from the past week.

He was the Panthers' most productive ball carrier, constantly threatening to break through the Warriors' defence.

However his team-mates looked flat and rarely threatened until the game was as good as over.

Six minutes in, two Panthers players were guilty of ball-watching as the ball was grubbered through and Locke touched it down for a try.

Prop Tim Grant gave the Panthers a try in the 18th minute, scooping up a loose ball a couple of metres from the Warriors line.

The Warriors had more of the chances as the first half continued but squandered plenty.

It was the home side's errors and poor last-tackle options, rather than the Panthers' resilience in defence that stopped the Warriors adding to their tally.

A minute into the second half Locke posted his second try, racing 80 metres after picking up a loose pass from Luke Walsh, and 10 minutes later Krisnan Inu caught a punt from Brett Seymour to score the next try.

Following a James Maloney penalty, Lance Hohaia scored the Warriors' final try after a kick into the in-goal.

Trent Waterhouse and Nafe Seluni picked up late consolation tries for the Panthers.