Coach John Hasler Made This Statement..

Defending premiers Penrith survived a huge scare from the Titans to prevail 18-12 on Saturday night and lock up a home qualifying final in week one of the play-offs.

The Panthers will return to their home turf for a monster clash with the Roosters, hoping superstar playmaker Nathan Cleary is back on deck to steer the ship.

Playing front of the club’s old boys and wearing a heritage jersey, the Panthers rode the emotion early when Dylan Edwards sliced through to set up Brian To’o for a try in the seventh minute.

The Titans settled into the groove and came up with the perfect reply in the 16th minute when Jayden Campbell picked up a loose pass on the 40-metre line and displayed dazzling footwork to score under the posts.

The Panthers looked out of sorts for much of the first half and a clunky opening 40 was summed up when Brad Schneider put in a grubber on the third tackle and Kieran Foran was able to easily defuse the situation.

Trailing 6-4 at the break the Panthers regained the lead in the 44th minute when Schneider picked up Edwards and the fullback powered through a Campell tackle to cross for his 10th try of the season. Paul Alamoti added the extras for a 10-6 lead.

Chief playmaker Jarome Luai then stamped his class in the 50th minute for the Panthers with a deft grubber through the defensive line for Luke Garner to score on his return from a hamstring injury.

A trio of Titans errors from Jacob Alick-Wiencke, Campell and Tanah Boyd and a penalty against Brian Kelly for verbal dissent cranked up the pressure on the visitors and To’o got across the line but he was held up.

Kelly came up with a big play in the 62nd minute to strip the ball from Edwards in the in-goal and score but the bunker ruled he had propelled the ball forward as he tried to take it off the Panthers fullback.