South Sydney Rabbitohs 16–10 Penrith Panthers — Qualifying Final, 2021 NRL Finals Series
11 Sep 2021 · Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, QLD · Attendance: 18,244
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2021 NRL finals series: South Sydney Rabbitohs 16–10 Penrith Panthers, at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, QLD on 11 Sep 2021.
Sourcing caveat: No official player-of-the-match award was found for this fixture.
Scoring timeline
| 8′ | Penrith Panthers — try, Crichton |
| 24′ | South Sydney Rabbitohs — try, Walker |
| 43′ | South Sydney Rabbitohs — try, Paulo |
Tries with a sourced minute, in order scored, with the conversion kicked/missed alongside each one where source data lets us match a kicker to that specific try. Tries whose exact minute isn't recorded in available sources appear in the Scorers table below but not here; goal tallies we can't attribute to one specific try are shown as descriptive text in Scorers rather than guessed into this timeline.
Scorers
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Tries: Walker 24'; Paulo 43' Goals: Reynolds (4/5 goals) — penalty goals 3', 34', 63', conversion 26' |
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Crichton 8' Goals: Cleary (3/3 goals) — conversion 9', penalty goals 28', 40' |
Team sheets
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Penrith Panthers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blake Taaffe | Fullback | Stephen Crichton | 1 |
| 2 | Alex Johnston | Wing | Brian To'o | 2 |
| 3 | Dane Gagai | Centre | Paul Momirovski | 3 |
| 4 | Campbell Graham | Centre | Matt Burton | 4 |
| 5 | Jaxson Paulo | Wing | Charlie Staines | 5 |
| 6 | Cody Walker | Five-eighth | Jarome Luai | 6 |
| 7 | Adam Reynolds | Halfback | Nathan Cleary | 7 |
| 8 | Mark Nicholls | Prop | Moses Leota | 8 |
| 9 | Damien Cook | Hooker | Apisai Koroisau | 9 |
| 10 | Tevita Tatola | Prop | James Fisher-Harris | 10 |
| 11 | Keaon Koloamatangi | Second Row | Kurt Capewell | 11 |
| 12 | Jaydn Su'A | Second Row | Liam Martin | 12 |
| 13 | Cameron Murray | Lock | Isaah Yeo | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Benji Marshall | Mitch Kenny | 14 | |
| 15 | Jacob Host | Spencer Leniu | 15 | |
| 16 | Thomas Burgess | Tevita Pangai Junior | 16 | |
| 17 | Jai Arrow | Viliame Kikau | 17 | |
| Wayne Bennett | Coach | Ivan Cleary | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Gerard Sutton |
Match report
Played at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, this was the second qualifying final of the 2021 NRL finals series, relocated to Queensland from Sydney because of COVID-19 lockdowns. It was a rematch of the 2020 preliminary final between the same two clubs. South Sydney trailed for long stretches but scored the decisive try through Jaxson Paulo in the second half to edge out minor premiers Penrith 16-10, having been locked at 10-10 at half-time after a penalty-goal-heavy opening period from both Adam Reynolds and Nathan Cleary. The result denied Penrith a direct route to the Grand Final and instead sent them into a preliminary final, while South Sydney advanced straight to the preliminary final against Manly. Penrith went on to beat the Rabbitohs again in that year's Grand Final, also played in Queensland, 14-12.