Penrith Panthers 27–12 New Zealand Warriors — Elimination Final, 2018 NRL Finals Series
8 Sep 2018 · ANZ Stadium, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 17,168
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Elimination Final, 2018 NRL finals series: Penrith Panthers 27–12 New Zealand Warriors, at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, NSW on 8 Sep 2018.
Sourcing caveat: No source found gave try-scoring minute timestamps or named an official player-of-the-match for this fixture.
Scorers
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Peachey; Peachey; Crichton; Maloney Goals: Cleary (5/6 conversions) Drop goals: Maloney |
| New Zealand Warriors | Tries: Fusitu'a; Luke Goals: Johnson (2/2 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Penrith Panthers | New Zealand Warriors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak | Fullback | Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (c) | 1 |
| 2 | Josh Mansour | Wing | David Fusitu'a | 2 |
| 3 | Waqa Blake | Centre | Peta Hiku | 3 |
| 4 | Tyrone Peachey | Centre | Solomone Kata | 4 |
| 5 | Christian Crichton | Wing | Ken Maumalo | 5 |
| 6 | James Maloney (c) | Five-Eighth | Blake Green | 6 |
| 7 | Nathan Cleary | Halfback | Shaun Johnson | 7 |
| 8 | Trent Merrin | Prop | James Gavet | 8 |
| 9 | Sione Katoa | Hooker | Issac Luke | 9 |
| 10 | Reagan Campbell-Gillard | Prop | Agnatius Paasi | 10 |
| 11 | Viliame Kikau | Second-Row | Adam Blair | 11 |
| 12 | Isaah Yeo | Second-Row | Tohu Harris | 12 |
| 13 | James Fisher-Harris | Lock | Simon Mannering | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Tyrone May | Jazz Tevaga | 14 | |
| 15 | Moses Leota | Isaiah Papali'i | 15 | |
| 16 | Corey Harawira-Naera | Bunty Afoa | 16 | |
| 17 | James Tamou | Gerard Beale | 17 | |
| Cameron Ciraldo | Coach | Stephen Kearney | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Matt Cecchin |
Match report
Penrith Panthers hosted the New Zealand Warriors in the opening Elimination Final of NRL Finals Week 1 at ANZ Stadium. Penrith had finished 5th, edging Brisbane on for-and-against, while the Warriors scraped into the finals in 8th. Coach Cameron Ciraldo's Panthers, led by Nathan Cleary and James Maloney in the halves, raced to an 18-12 half-time lead through a three-try burst and never relinquished control, running out 27-12 winners. Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck suffered a suspected medial ligament injury in a tackle and was significantly hampered for the remainder of the game, blunting New Zealand's attacking threat. The result also marked the final NRL appearance for veteran Warriors forward Simon Mannering, who had recently become the club's first-ever 300-game player, as New Zealand's season ended. Penrith advanced to the following week's Semi-Final.