Penrith Panthers lick their wounds after World Club Challenge loss to St Helens

Penrith Panthers have earned the unwelcome distinction of being the first Australian side to lose the World Club Challenge on home soil since Brisbane were beaten by Wigan in 1994.

Lewis Dodd’s golden-point field goal secured a shock win for St Helens, who led 10-0 at half-time and held off a Panthers rally to claim their third world title, and first won outside the UK. The Saints’ win defied the odds, and expectations in Australia that Penrith, the back-to-back NRL champions, would win comfortably.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot too much,” said the Panthers co-captain, Isaah Yeo. “I thought they [St Helens] were really good, the way they scrambled defensively pretty much all game. They were right up for it.”

In front of 13,873 fans who braved an electrical storm at BlueBet Stadium, the visitors took early control through tries from Jack Welsby and Konrad Hurrell. After the break, Penrith responded but still trailed with 90 seconds left, before Brian To’o crossed and Nathan Clearly tied the game with his conversion.

In overtime, Stephen Crichton spilled after a tackle from Hurrell, allowing Saints to swarm upfield as 21-year-old Dodd kicked the winning point. In head coach Paul Wellens’ first game in charge, St Helens became just the third team to beat Ivan Cleary’s men at home since the start of 2020.

“I knew it was going over,” Dodd said of his winning kick for the 7-1 pre-game underdogs. “It’s unbelievable. Everyone wrote us off, but I knew we were up to the challenge. I’m just so happy for these boys, it’s a dream for me to come in and work with these boys every day.”

As the travelling legion of British fans celebrated in New South Wales, a number of commentators began reassessing their pre-game predictions. Phil “Gus” Gould, the general manager of NRL rivals Canterbury Bulldogs and a prominent TV pundit, had claimed before kick-off that the Panthers should “declare at half-time”.

“Well done St Helens,” Gould tweeted after the match. “That’s a mighty victory. Beat Panther[s] to the punch early. Defended their lead with pride. Terrific stuff. Panther[s]s looked clunky but no excuses. They had months to prepare. St Helens too good on the night. Great result for Rugby League.”

Latrell Mitchell of the Rabbitohs breaks away to score a try during Charity Shield match between St George Illawarra Dragons and South Sydney. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Earlier on Saturday, St George Illawarra Dragons were humbled 42-24 by a clinical South Sydney Rabbitohs in the 40th Charity Shield in Mudgee.

South Sydney’s big guns ran riot and exposed a defensively brittle Dragons. Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Cameron Murray turned on a suite of attacking plays to give their side a 26-0 lead at the break and put the shield beyond doubt.

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The Dragons’ best spine combination is still a work in progress and Ben Hunt was their creative best at halfback. Tyrell Sloan showed glimpses of attacking brilliance at fullback but dropped two easy bombs in the first half.

St George Illawarra dominated territory and possession in the first half but came up empty. They lacked ideas, speed and cohesion and made schoolboy errors with the ball. The Rabbitohs on the other hand were slick and full of strike until they took their best players off for the last quarter of the match.

Cook said it was mostly a pleasing display as the Rabbitohs aim to win their first NRL title since 2014.

“This year everyone in our second tier has gone to another level and we’ve had a much better pre-season than last year,” he told Fox League.

“I’d like to think what we saw today is a good stepping stone into round one and getting off to a good start. We don’t want to be chasing our tail like we did last year to get into the finals.”