Canterbury’s NRL finals hopes are hanging by a thread after a 24-10 loss to Penrith, who moved within reach of a top-two finish at Western Sydney Stadium.
Second-rower Liam Martin bagged a double as the Panthers moved back to the top of the ladder on Friday night.
A shaky start to the year has left the Bulldogs playing catch-up on the top eight for most of 2026, and they could be officially out of the finals picture by Saturday night.
If North Queensland and South Sydney win their respective round-26 games, they will become the last two teams to book their finals spots.
To play finals from here, the Bulldogs need to beat Brisbane next week and hope the Cowboys lose their last two games, both of which are at home against bottom-nine sides.
The Bulldogs also need ninth-placed Manly to lose to the Warriors in the last round of the regular season after the Sea Eagles kept alive their slim hopes of making the eight by thumping the last-placed Dragons 44-10 at Brookvale Oval earlier on Friday.
Look back at all the action in our live blog below, and check out all the stats in the full Score Centre.
NRL live scores
That’s where we’ll leave you
Have a wonderful night.
I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon for more NRL action.
Penrith warming into finals footy
Penrith skipper Nathan Cleary says that was the sort of professional, clinical, defensive performance the Panthers needed on the eve of the playoffs.
“It had that finals intensity,” he tells ABC Sport.
“Really pleased with that … against a desperate Doggies side trying to make the eight.
“We were probably chasing that [type of performance].”
How the ladder looks
We’ve still got five games left in this round, but here’s where it sits as of 10pm AEST on Friday, August 28, 2026.
FULL-TIME: Panthers go top and all but end Canterbury’s season
Penrith comes out on top of their Western Sydney rivals 24-10 after a game that was exhausting just to watch.
It will take a miracle, maybe a few of them, for the Bulldogs to make the finals at this point after their 12th loss of the season and a negative for and against.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are sitting on top of the ladder as we head into the last moments of the regular season.
“It genuinely had a finals feel about it. Physicality was through the roof,” Ruan Sims says on ABC Sport.
74′ Panthers are in again but it’s a forward pass
The Panthers run it down the left and Tom Jenkins kicks back in-field for Liam Henry, who offloads to Dylan Edwards, but it’s called forward!
Gee I don’t know about that.
70′ Cleary gets too fancy for his own good
The Panthers are throwing it around a bit now and having some fun.
Cleary gets the ball in broken play and probably could kick conventionally out to an unmarked To’o, but tries the banana kick and To’o can’t handle.
Razzle dazzle and the Panthers are over again!
Penrith runs it on the last, with Moses Leota throwing a glorious offload to keep the ball alive. It hits the deck and Connor Tracey gets a touch to restart the tackle count, but the Panthers don’t need a full set as they spin it left and Casey McLean cuts back off his left foot and coasts through a yawning gap to score.
Dogs need to be careful here. They’re in a fight for eight spot and this score could blow out if the fatigue catches up with them and Penrith put the foot down.
65′ Silly footy gives Penrith two more points
The high kick goes up again and Bronson Xerri and Enari Tuala clearly impede Izack Tago, giving away a penalty, which Nathan Cleary converts for an 18-10 lead with 15 minutes left.
The Dogs are back in it!
A couple of repeat sets, a little bit of dummy-half deception by Bailey Hayward and a lovely Galvin-to-Preston short ball has the Bulldogs right back in this game.
Galvin has been really good out there tonight, keeping the defence guessing with his ball playing.
Stephen Crichton converts and the Dogs are back within six points.
55′ The Panthers add two more
It’s a 16-4 lead to Penrith with 25 minutes left after Jake Turpin hits Nathan Cleary high and Cleary pots the penalty goal.
52′ Another shocking miscue from Crichton
The Bulldogs are making the metres and finding themselves in great positions, but can’t capitalise. Once again Stephen Crichton’s boot is too heavy and the Panthers have seven tackles from the 20m line.
49′ Dogs get greedy after rare Edwards error
Dylan Edwards catches a bomb and then fumbles straight after, gifting the Bulldogs a full set on their line.
They immediately spin it right and Matt Burton tries to burn Casey McLean for speed, but it’s never going to happena nd he’s reined in, running out of room and going into touch.
Nathan Cleary’s bomb yields rewards for Liam Martin
A perfect floating, twisting bomb by Nathan Cleary finally draws the error from Connor Tracey, and Liam Martin flies through, scoops the ball up with one hand and slams it down under the posts.
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41′ The Panthers kick off the second half
It’s been a gripping game. Can the Dogs keep matching the Panthers in the second 40 minutes?
HALF-TIME: Panthers take an 8-4 lead on the siren
The Bulldogs are penalised for being inside the 10m in defence right on the stroke of half-time and Nathan Cleary, after a long conference talking tactics with Lindsay Smith and Dylan Edwards, says he will take a shot for goal.
He sneaks it inside the right upright from 35 metres out, right in front, and then does this …
Smith was chasing really hard there and I honestly think Cleary was aiming for the post, hoping for the surprise ricochet.
If he’d pulled it off, it may have been the greatest piece of skill in rugby league history.
39′ The Dogs go close and tempers flare
Connor Tracey’s grubber is almost nabbed by Matt Burton but he comes off second best as Dylan Edwards bats it dead.
There wasn’t anything wrong with the contact, but the Dogs take issue, apparently with the way Edwards stepped over Burton after the Canterbury centre was left sprawled on the turf.
The Dogs should have the dropout coming their way, but instead young AJ Jones has given away a penalty after chasing after Edwards and shoving him in the back, reversing the call.
34′ Poor play from Lachlan Galvin
The Bulldogs are surging on the fourth tackle with all the momentum as they go to the left. Stephen Crichton and Viliame Kikau and the rest of that side of the field are all deep expecting the shift.
But Galvin kicks! There’s oodles of space but none of his teammates are awake to it, and don’t respond in time.
31′ What a play by Tom Jenkins
Stephen Crichton tries for the 40/20 and just about nails it, but Tom Jenkins does brilliantly to bat it back into play AND regather AND get some momentum into his first run.
Matt Burton is over for the Bulldogs!
On the back of the 20m tap, the Dogs get a penalty and a set restart, then they spin it right and the defence is so preoccupied with Jacob Preston that there’s no-one marking Matt Burton when Lachlan Galvin hits him out the back.
He muscles his way over despite some really strong contact from Casey McLean and Dylan Edwards, who almost save the try, but can’t quite.
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