Panthers ease into NRL semi-finals

The Penrith Panthers have beaten the Canterbury Bulldogs 28-12 in the National Rugby League playoffs to set up a semi-final against Canberra next weekend.

 The Panthers ran in five tries to two to in what was a comprehensive win led by a man-of-the-match effort from skipper Matt Moylan.

The young, inexperienced Panthers were down 6-4 at the half-time break, but dominated the second half with the sort of freewheeling football that propelled them to a sixth-place at the end of the season, to run away with victory thanks to four second half tries.

Penrith centre Tyrone Peachey said they had a clear plan heading into the match and stuck to it.

"They're a big pack and we knew if we could stick with them in the first half we could run with it in the second," he said.

"We've got a lot of fast, nippy blokes in our team and we utilised it today against those big boys."

Penrith coach Anthony Griffin said he was pleased with the way his side played.

"It was a really good performance," Griffin said.

"We kept our cool with the ball and eventually found the points we needed."

Next weekend's other semi-final will see the North Queensland Cowboys play the Brisbane Broncos.

Photo: Photosport