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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]."

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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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 ...

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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.

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.

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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.

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.