Panthers vs Roosters: Jarome Luai and Scott Sorensen shine as ...

Heading into Penrith's blockbuster clash with the Roosters, Jarome Luai spoke of his confidence in retaining his NSW jersey despite his quiet start to the season and Nicho Hynes making an irrepressible case in the Shire. 

Yet even in Luai's wildest dreams he couldn't have imagined sparking back into form the way he did against Sydney, as he had a massive hand in the Panthers' 48-4 demolition job. 

Jarome Luai makes Origin case with starring display in Penrith win

The match promised to be a tight and brutal affair with two heavyweights going toe-to-toe and yet, the Roosters offered nothing in terms of resistance or flair. 

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Not only was their stuttering attack on full display once again, but they were also dreadful in defence.

They got dominated in both possession and territory as the Panthers simply rolled through the middle of them before they spread it out wide to the edges where Luai and Scott Sorensen ran riot. 

The Penrith five-eighth finished the contest with three try assists, one try, two linebreaks and 10 tackle busts in his best performance since starring for Samoa at last year's Rugby League World Cup. 

Icing on the cake for Jarome Luai's performance tonight ???? #NRLPanthersRoosters pic.twitter.com/lXHE9LzRZg

— NRL (@NRL) May 12, 2023

"We got beaten again on a lot of the effort areas," Robinson said post-match. 

"We just opened up at the backend of the first half and we’re just not moving for each other. We got an incredible lesson tonight."

The Chooks found themselves 24-0 down at half time and couldn't stem the onslaught as Penrith piled on another 24 points in the second stanza to claim their biggest win ever over their opponents. 

"You can talk about attack and defence, but you need to get a team ready to compete and I haven’t done that this week and got bitten pretty hard," the coach said. 

"So, that’s on me and I’ve got to make sure that I get that right and turn it around pretty quickly.

"It’s hard going home with that type of performance [loss to the Cowboys in Magic Round] and then backing it up with a worse one.

"But we’re in the middle of a competition so you can never get too down as there is always a chance to turn things around. That is the beauty of being in this comp.

"We’ve got to find it less so in details and more in effort and attitude and we’ve got to get connected again."

To make matters worse for the Chooks, Jared Warea-Hargreaves departed after just 16 minutes with a suspected pec injury, while Joey Manu limped off with an ankle complaint in the second half. 

Just hours before the game started, it was revealed Sam Walker had also picked up an injury which ruled him out of the NSW Cup game which acted as the precursor for Sydney's night of embarrassment. 

MORE: Sam Walker's hopes of a recall hit by injury setback 

Scott Sorensen stats, highlights

Sorensen enjoyed the best game of his career to date, terrorising a dreadful Roosters defence. 

In the first half alone, Sorensen had already claimed a double and provided one assist as his side raced out to a commanding lead at the break.

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) May 12, 2023

The backrower finished with two tries, two try assists, 167 running metres from his 23 carries, 27 tackles, three linebreaks, five tackle busts and six offloads.

"Scotty has sort of ended up on the edge this year with 'Marto' [Liam Martin] out," Ivan Cleary said. 

"I feel like he's just been really solid there and he's good with Jarome. That edge has been growing together, so I guess tonight the fruit came from all of that work it took to get to there. It was good to see.

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) May 12, 2023

"It was the teamwork that was going to win the day. When you play against the Roosters there is a lot of individual matchups that are scary just from the talent throughout their team. So, it's important that each player plays well."