League: Crushing win hands Panthers second

Penrith backrower Frank Pritchard is doing his best to ensure a memorable farewell, scoring a hattrick to the Panthers secure second spot on the NRL ladder with a 50-12 win over a deplorable Cronulla on Saturday night.

Pritchard, who last week agreed to a three-year deal with Canterbury from next season, proved there would be no clocking off early as they locked in a second bite of the cherry in the finals.

Michael Jennings and Brad Tighe also scored doubles in the nine tries to two romp.

The Panthers, who haven't played finals football in six years, were never headed by a Cronulla side flat after last weekend's emotional win over Gold Coast.

The magnitude of the win was extraordinary considering the Panthers were without skipper Petero Civoniceva (suspension), Luke Walsh (ankle) and Lachlan Coote (groin), while Test backrower Luke Lewis was a late withdrawal due to a calf complaint.

But Panthers coach Matthew Elliott need not have worried as Frank the Tank carried the load, the powerful Kiwi starting the rot with a rampaging try after just three minutes and giving the Sharks left-side defence little rest all night.

It was a sad end to the career of Cronulla skipper Trent Barrett, who will no doubt wake up on Sunday thankful he'll never have to tackle the likes of Pritchard again.

The Panthers had their fair share of luck early with video referee Paul Simpkins hitting them with a double whammy when a Blake Ferguson try was denied due to a doubtful foot on the sideline and Jennings grabbed his first despite an apparent rake and knock-on in the lead-up from Kevin Kingston.

But the Panthers got going at almost a point a minute as they raced out to a 24-0 lead before Ferguson got his reward with a brilliant chip and chase effort.

Jennings' second came on the stroke of halftime when Sharks backrower Adam Cuthbertson threw an offload without any purpose, the NSW three-quarter soccering the scraps before pinning the ears back to finish off a 50-metre effort.

It came after both side had been reduced to ten men when Grant Millington and Panthers rake Masada Iosefa were sin-binned following an exchange of punches.

Pritchard clinched his hat-trick after the break before Nathan Gardner produced one of the Sharks' rare highlights with the fullback racing 92 metres to score after picking up a clearing kick.