Charlie Staines’ dominant display in New South Wales Cup will have him in the box seat to replace Taylan May in Penrith’s NRL preliminary final next week.
Meanwhile, an off-contract Bulldog put himself in the shopfront window as he steered his side to a big win to live on another week.
The Panthers have progressed straight through to the NSW Cup grand final, while the Dogs will take on Newtown this weekend to determine the other spot after knocking out North Sydney.