The Dragons were taken down by the defending premier Panthers 40-20 in their final clash of the year in Wollongong on Saturday afternoon.
A sold-out crowd packed into WIN Stadium for the first leg of the club’s double-header celebrating the annual i98FM Illawarra Convoy.
It also marked Jack de Belin’s 252nd and final match for the club 14 years on from his NRL debut at the same venue.
Tom Jenkins went over for the Panthers in the southeastern corner to draw first blood just five minutes in off the back of a slick, left side shift to make it 4-0.
They extended their lead just shy of the first quarter mark through Paul Alamoti who found himself on the end of a fifth tackle Nathan Cleary cut-out to cross in the right-hand corner and make it a double-digit difference.
The hosts crafted an answer moments later with Mathew Feagai pouring through to knock a Kyle Flanagan bomb to David Klemmer.
Klemmer fashioned a pass to front row partner Emre Guler who moved it on to his halfback to dummy and step his way over to the right of the sticks.
Flanagan converted his own try to cut the deficit back to four points for the Red V.
The video officials were brought into the game 25 minutes in after Casey McLean attempted a miracle dive in the left-hand corner but was denied by a desperate Hayden Buchanan cover effort.
The Dragons lost their Captain’s Challenge the next set after Feagai, in similar fashion to the four-pointer he helped lay on, led the chase for an attacking Dragons bomb but was ruled to have taken out a Panther illegally.
Blaize Talagi went close to nabbing Penrith’s third off a Dylan Edwards grubber only for Jaydn Su’A to produce a brilliant piece of scramble to deny it.
The Panthers were able to extend their edge however with McLean sending Jenkins into space down the left touchline before finding himself the beneficiary of a grubber back on the inside.
They notched another prior to the break with Luke Garner slipping through a hole down the right-hand corridor and throwing it back inside to a supporting Nathan Cleary to make it 22-6.
The first points of the second forty belonged to the Dragons with Corey Allan manufacturing a sensational put-down in the left-hand corner off a pristine Clint Gutherson delivery to cut the deficit back to a dozen.
The Panthers lost their Captain’s Challenge with a half-hour remaining in an attempt to overturn a ruck penalty instead handing the Dragons a set on the attack.
Jacob Liddle came up with a one-on-one strip as Penrith carted the ball out of their own end to put his side back on the attack and it proved fruitful with Tyrell Sloan nabbing a try for the Dragons off it.
Gutherson swept down the right edge, pushed away from McLean, and crafted a brilliant flick to his winger who went over untouched in the corner.
The Panthers found a needed response on the other side of the hour-mark with Isaiah Papali’i scoring off a crash play to extend their advantage back beyond a pair of converted tries.
Lindsay Smith went over for the Panthers shortly after to push their lead out to 34-14 with 13 minutes on the clock.
Jaydn Su’A nabbed a late four-pointer for the hosts after weighting a perfect grubber for Sloan and backing him up on the inside to dive over and bring it back to 34-20.
Paul Alamoti found a try on the stroke of the full-time siren to seal the win for the visitors a week out from the postseason.