Apr 22nd, 2017

Apr 22nd, 2017

Penrith's early-season woes crashed to a new low on Saturday as they sank to a fourth consecutive loss to Parramatta.

Equal-premiership favourites at the start of the season, the Panthers have lost four-consecutive games after their 18-12 defeat at ANZ Stadium.

Eels halfback Corey Norman scored two tries and set the other to play the Panthers out of the game early, but his Penrith opponents' problems were most notable.

The Panthers are two-and-six to start the season and firmly entrenched in the bottom four, having never recovered from this position to make the playoffs.

Young star Bryce Cartwright returned from an ankle injury suffered in round two, but failed to turn the tide on Penrith's season.

Replacing five-eighth Te Maire Martin, who was rested with a neck complaint, Cartwright let the opening kickoff go over the deadball line, resulting in in a line dropout to put the Panthers on the defensive from the outset.

Minutes later, he fumbled a Brad Takairangi grubber in-goal and failed to ground it, allowing Norman to score his first.

Cartwright also twice dropped the ball in attack, and threw a crucial forward pass as Penrith mounted a late charge with 20 minutes remaining.

"He hasn't played much this year," Panthers coach Anthony Griffin said.

"He's obviously a bit rusty, as you saw today, but it was good to get 80 minutes back into him."

On the back of youthful exuberance, the Panthers reached the second week of the finals last year and threatened to capitalise on their brimming potential.

However, that exciting attack has failed to deliver this season.

The Panthers, unable to put on more than 12 points on five occasions this year, broke a 126-minute point-scoring drought midway through Saturday's second half.

A positive Griffin had stated time and time again they "didn't build the hype" leading into this season, but captain Matt Moylan was a picture of their disappointment post-match.

"I didn't expect this, coming into the season," Moylan said.

"We were training very well in the off-season, so it is surprising."

After opening the scoring, Norman produced a pinpoint-perfect cross-field kick for Semi Radradra to extend the Eels' lead to 12 just on halftime.

He was then in the thick of the action immediately after the break, latching onto a Clinton Gutherson kick that came from a Kaysa Pritchard break on the last tackle.

However, he was hindered in the second half after the Eels lost makeshift five-eighth Takairangi to a knee injury.

Penrith began a late comeback after the Hiku try, but could not make the most of their opportunities on the Eels' line.

They had their second try in the 77th minute when Corey Harawira-Naera crossed, but the Eels held on to revive their season with back-to-back wins, improving their record to 4-4.

©AAP2017