Resilient Devils fall victim to Panthers in State Championship

Three minutes later the NSW Cup champions had the lead when Soni Luke put in a clever grubber kick out of dummy half and J'maine Hopgood followed it through to score. Kurt Falls' conversion made it 6-0.

Jacob Gagan had a chance to hit back for the Devils in the 28th minute but dropped the ball over the line and a minute later the Panthers had their second when Soni Luke exploded out of dummy half from 10 metres out, threw a couple of dummies and plunged over under the sticks.

From here, the Panthers took control.

Eisenhuth then took the ball to the line and delivered a perfectly timed pass for Eddie Blacker to score and the Panthers were out to an 18-0 lead.

Six minutes into the second half the Panthers extended their lead when John Faiumu poured into a hole to make it 22-0.

Luke showed his smarts out of dummy half again two minutes later to put Robert Jennings in for his 10th try of the season as the Panthers started to exert their superiority.

The Panthers went down to 12 men in the 61st minute when Luke was sin binned and after defending a set on their own line they stormed to the other end of the field and Luke Sommerton showed nice deception to cross for the sixth try of the day. Falls converted for 32-0.

Devils centre Tumusa grabbed his team's opening try in the 64th minute when second-rower Leivaha Pulu produced a clever between the legs pass to put him into space.

Luke made his mark immediately upon his return from the sin bin, putting in a neat grubber kick which Hopgood regathered to score his second try of the day.

Norths halfback Jack Ahearn capped a fine game when he put winger Denny over for a late try with a superb cut-out pass. Connor Broadhurst's conversion made it 38-10.

Turuva then put the icing on a brilliant performance when he crossed wide out and Faiumu converted to make it 44-10.

Match Snapshot

• The Panthers lost Chris Smith and Jack Cole in the 28th minute when both were sent for a HIA after a head clash. Both players failed their HIA.
• Panthers prop Matt Eisenhuth played the first 40 minutes unchanged, running for 118 metres from 13 runs while lock J'maine Hopgood had 12 runs for 119 metres in the first half. Hopgood finished with two tries and 203 metres.
• Preston Riki proved a handful for the Devils defence with 152 run metres and 10 tackle breaks.
• Panthers hooker Soni Luke was sent to the sin bin in the 61st minute for a professional foul.
• Panthers winger Sunia Turuva scored two tries in the semi-final win over the Jets and two tries against the Bulldogs in the NSW Cup grand final and made it five in his last three games with a late four-pointer.
• The Devils came into the game on a seven-game winning streak, including their last four regular season games and three finals matches.
• Devils fullback Jack Ahearn chalked up his 21st try assist of the season when he put Rashaun Denny in for a late try.
• Panthers prop Matt Eisenhuth and centre Robert Jennings have 175 games of NRL experience between them.
• The last time the State Championship was played in 2019 it was the Newtown Jets getting home in a thriller over the Burleigh Bears. The game wasn't played in 2020 and '21 due to the COVID pandemic.