Penrith proved their depth is easily the strongest of any club in beating Manly while Wests Tigers prop Terrell May could turn out to be the buy of the year after leading his new team to victory over Parramatta.

Friday night’s action in week two of the NRL Pre-Season Challenge served up plenty of good news for three of the four teams on display at Leichhardt Oval but the Sea Eagles had little to smile about after being made to look second rate by Penrith’s second-stringers.

There were plenty of empty seats at Leichhardt and room to start another game of footy on the hill – perhaps next time, the club’s brains trust won’t charge like a wounded bull for tickets to a couple of trials where the majority of players are fringe first-graders at best.

Tigers 28, Eels 18

Terrell torments Parra with dazzling debut

Benji Marshall and Jason Ryles both enter the NRL season as coaches under pressure for varying reasons, but they can both be happy with how their key players performed at Leichhardt Oval on Friday night. 

The Tigers ended up winning 24-8, but it was the performances of the new faces in each side which have given each coach a sizeable boost leading into Round 1. 

Front-rower Terrell May was imposing for Wests, carving up metres through the middle of the ruck in a barnstorming performance in his first match since changing stripes from the Roosters in the off-season after they controversially released him early from his contract. 

May was benched early in the second half after racking up 17 runs for 147 metres, including 70 post contact.

He will be up against the likes of new Sharks prop Addin Fonua-Blake, James Fisher-Harris at the Warriors and probably his new teammate Jarome Luai for most influential buy of the season when the year is out.

With May starting and his fellow new recruit in ex-Sharks prop Royce Hunt coming off the bench, Marshall had a one-two punch that can be the catalyst for a new era in TigerTown. 

Jack Bird, in his first appearance since switching from the Dragons, scored a try with his second touch and with Luai and fellow Panthers recruit Sunia Turuva watching on from the grandstands, there’s a lot to like about the new-look Tigers. 

One of their new breed, Lachlan Galvin, last year’s leading rookie in the NRL, put in another eye-catching display, setting up two tries in the first half. 

Galvin is still only 19 but has a bit of size about him for a five-eighth and he was able to bump off a few defenders to create gaps and points against Parra. 

With Luai taking on the mantle as chief on-field organiser, Galvin should be freed up to make the most of his running game. 

The only sour note for Marshall was a knee injury to Brent Naden – the veteran centre, who scored a try in the first half off a Galvin grubber, was bent back awkwardly in a tackle late in the first half, and suffered a dislocated kneecap.

Club medicos are confident he has not sustained major damage, and although he’ll miss the start of the season, it could have been much worse as he was twisted in a terrible way by a heavy hit.

Adam Doueihi, who filled in at halfback with Luai putting his feet up, switched to left centre after Naden went off, and will likely get a start there in the first round when the Tigers host Newcastle at Campbelltown Stadium. 

For the Eels, all eyes were on the player with two Is as his initials, and young fullback Isaiah Iongi backed up his encouraging debut performance last week with an even better display at fullback. 

The former Panther is in the hot seat after being given the No.1 jersey following the controversial decision to send club captain Clint Gutherson packing.

He scored a fine solo try in the first half, and then set up another one for Sean Russell when he created the overlap down the left before spiralling a pass to his winger. 

Former St George Illawarra star Zac Lomax also had some good touches at centre in his first appearance for the Blue and Gold. 

The Eels even had a cameo from Josh Addo-Carr, who was allowed to play in the pre-season trial even though he is banned in Round 1 due to his sanctions for a roadside positive drugs test late last season. 

When he is cleared to return, The Foxx will play outside Will Penisini and will offset the loss of prolific Fijian winger Maika Sivo, who switched to the Super League but had his season cruelly cut short by a torn ACL recently.

The Eels have Mitchell Moses, Junior Paulo and Dylan Brown, who played in last week’s trial, to come back into the side for the opening round when they face the daunting prospect of flying south for the start of the winter campaign against the Storm in Melbourne.

Ryan Matterson may not be able to make the trip after he was put on report for clocking Alex Twal with a high shot in the second half.

Zac Lomax. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Sea Eagles 22, Panthers 38 

Toelau outstanding as Cubs claw their way to win

The scary news for the other 16 clubs who are hoping and praying for a Penrith drop-off this year is that the NRL’s biggest and most productive junior nursery has plenty more young talent ready to mature into NRL stars. 

Even though Penrith’s best 25 players had flown to Las Vegas to prepare for next Sunday’s Round 1 clash with Cronulla, they still managed to put out a team of back-up players in the “NRL” trial against Manly that not only held their own against a more experienced Sea Eagles outfit but dominated the first half and kicked on with it in the second to score a 38-22 victory.

Young halfback Trent Toelau was superb in an eye-catching first-half display in which he scored a try and set up two with pinpoint kicks for his support players.

It was the kind of performance that should have rival CEOs on the phone to his manager to see if they can offer him something that Penrith can’t – regular game time in the No.7 jersey with Nathan Cleary, the game’s best player, permanently ahead of him in Penrith’s pecking order. 

Toelau is on a development deal this year but is due to be upgraded to the NRL squad in the final season of his contract in 2026.

He swiveled out of a tackle to score the second of Penrith’s four first-half tries and then put in a well-weighted left-foot grubber for centre Thomas Jenkins to pounce.

Just before half-time, he lobbed a right-footed high kick over Manly’s winger for David Fale to touch down for his second four-pointer and a 22-4 lead at the break.

Manly hit back after the restart via tries to Raymond Tuaimalo-Vaega and Ethan Bullmor but the Panthers responded via Harrison Hassett, Preston Riki and Poutoa Hotere-Papalii to seal a 16-point victory. 

Veaga scored a second when he powered through four players on a demolition dance down the left touchline but it was a mostly disappointing performance by a Sea Eagles outfit which contained at least seven or eight players who will be in their side for their season opener against the Cowboys at Brookvale in a fortnight despite resting the Trbojevic brothers, Daly Cherry-Evans, Haumole Olakau’atu, Jason Saab and Taniela Paseka. 

Former Roosters prop Siua Taukeiaho is probably a borderline selection for Manly’s opening round line-up after an injury-riddled stint in the Super League but he showed enough to suggest that he could be a handy bargain pickup this season.

But there was otherwise not too much to write home about for Anthony Seibold. 

For the Panthers, Toelau stole this show while the likes of Hassett, Rickey and Soni Luke would probably also be first-graders at several other clubs but the fact that they can’t even the travelling party to the States underlines how strong Penrith’s unprecedented depth has become.

With James Fisher-Harris, Luai and Turuva moving on this year, Penrith’s air of invincibility has diminished slightly but even if injuries strike Ivan Cleary’s top squad during this season there is plenty of firepower waiting in the wings at the western Sydney powerhouse.