Sydney Roosters 18–19 Penrith Panthers — Qualifying Final, 2014 NRL Finals Series
13 Sep 2014 · Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 23,449
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2014 NRL finals series: Sydney Roosters 18–19 Penrith Panthers, at Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW on 13 Sep 2014.
Sourcing caveat: The individual breakdown of Sydney's three tries is not fully confirmed — sources agree Jennings, Kenny-Dowall and Pearce each scored, but exact minutes for Jennings' and Kenny-Dowall's tries could not be verified. No official player-of-the-match award could be confirmed for this fixture.
Scorers
| Sydney Roosters | Tries: Jennings; Kenny-Dowall; Pearce ~74' Goals: Maloney (3/3 conversions) |
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Whare (2 tries, second ~77'); Mansour Goals: Soward (3/4 conversions); Soward — golden-second field goal, 78' |
Team sheets
| Sydney Roosters | Penrith Panthers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Minichiello | Fullback | Matt Moylan | 1 |
| 2 | Daniel Tupou | Wing | Josh Mansour | 2 |
| 3 | Michael Jennings | Centre | Dean Whare | 3 |
| 4 | Shaun Kenny-Dowall | Centre | Jamal Idris | 4 |
| 5 | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck | Wing | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak | 5 |
| 6 | James Maloney | Five-Eighth | Will Smith | 6 |
| 7 | Mitchell Pearce | Halfback | Jamie Soward | 7 |
| 8 | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves | Prop | Sam McKendry | 8 |
| 9 | Mitchell Aubusson | Hooker | James Segeyaro | 9 |
| 11 | Boyd Cordner | Second-Row | Brent Kite | 10 |
| 12 | Sonny Bill Williams | Second-Row | Sika Manu | 11 |
| 17 | Kane Evans | Prop | Matt Robinson | 12 |
| 20 | Frank-Paul Nu'uausala | Lock | Nigel Plum | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 10 | Sam Moa | Lewis Brown | 14 | |
| 13 | Isaac Liu | Jeremy Latimore | 15 | |
| 14 | Jackson Hastings | Ben Murdoch-Masila | 16 | |
| 15 | Remi Casty | Sam Anderson | 17 | |
| Trent Robinson | Coach | Ivan Cleary | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Henry Perenara and Jared Maxwell (two-referee system) |
Match report
This qualifying final swung back and forth at Allianz Stadium, with the Roosters holding a narrow 6-4 half-time lead. Sydney appeared to have sealed the win when Mitchell Pearce crossed with around six minutes remaining to push the score to 18-12, but Penrith responded almost immediately through Dean Whare after a Jamie Soward chip-kick, levelling the scores at 18-18. A Michael Jennings knock-on then gifted Penrith a final attacking chance, and with seconds left on the clock Soward slotted a low, barely-clearing field goal to steal a 19-18 victory. The result eliminated the Roosters from a direct path to the preliminary finals, forcing them into a sudden-death semi-final the following week, while Penrith earned a week's rest — a result widely remembered as one of the great finals thrillers of the era.