BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

The Penrith Panthers and Canberra Raiders produced a force of nature in Friday night footy – a ridiculous collision between two fierce clubs on their way to September rugby league.

Forget the full-time score because 30-10 didn’t do it justice.

It had the ferocity of a finals clash and both sides knew it.

In the end, the Panthers ran away with the victory but there’s something about Ricky Stuart’s Raiders that make other sides uncomfortable. The niggle was there all night. There was legitimate hate out on the field.

The Panthers are a fantastic outfit and celebrated their maiden 1991 premiership pre-game. Thousands and thousands of fans flocked to the stadium earlier than usual to enjoy the festivities.

But there were little things as the night went on that might come back to bite the Panthers.

While they won the minor premiership in 2020, they ended up with nothing.

They lost the grand final against Melbourne before they barely got on the paddock. And that’s the thing. Nobody cares who wins the minor premiership if you don’t go on and get yourself a title ring.

Coach Ivan Cleary has a job on his hands keeping his players level-headed because a team playing under Ricky Stuart doesn’t forget the small things.

The Panthers tonight will go across to their leagues club as rockstars and will enjoy a few drinks with the heroes of ’91.

Rugby league is now V’landys’ monster: Doctor Frankenstein is trying to ‘fix’ the game and looking in all the wrong places

Canberra have a long trip back to the nation’s capital and plenty of time to think about what happened.

While Jahrome Luai is becoming a star half in his own right, there was a moment when Canberra’s Englishman George Williams was penalised. Luai walked up to him and sledged him to his face.

Late in the match, Panthers flyer Charlie Staines slid over for a try.

The end of it, right?

Negative.

Penrith players antagonised Raiders players including Panthers bench forward Liam Martin who decided to bag out rugby league’s nicest bloke Jarrod Croker.

Canberra forward Joe Tapine – waiting to get back onto the field – was dragged into Penrith’s celebrations as well.

Who has a dig at Jarrod Croker?

And then, with time running out, a viking clap went up around Panthers Stadium.

Yes, Penrith fans are so confident that they started trolling the Raiders.

Mal Meninga called it ‘swagger’ in post-match on Fox League.

The Panthers had swagger last year too and where did that get them?

Veteran coach Ricky Stuart would be licking his lips.

It would be fair to say that most neutral fans have enjoyed the rise of both the Panthers and the Raiders but Penrith would have lost a few admirers on Friday night.

It’s a long season and two premiership points are great.

But the Raiders have long memories.

@woodward_curtis