The Panthers survived an almighty scare to beat the Titans 18-12 on Saturday night and secure a home qualifying final for the fifth year in a row.

But Penrith will need Nathan Cleary back and soon if they’re to have any chance of winning an NRL-era record fourth straight premiership.

The Titans held a shock 6-4 lead at halftime after outplaying the three-time reigning premiers in the opening 40 minutes at Penrith Park.

The hosts struck first when Dylan Edwards threw a dummy, slipped a tackle and selflessly put Brian To’o over out wide in the seventh minute.

But the visitors hit back thanks to some individual brilliance from fullback Jayden Campbell in the 15th minute and they were the better team from that point onwards.

The Gold Coast turned up to play in their last hit-out of the season with some bone-crunching defence that had been missing for most of the year.

The Panthers came out a different side in the second half and tries to Edwards and Luke Garner ultimately proved the difference.

The NRL’s leading try-scorer Alofiana Khan-Pereira scoring in the 69th minute to set up a grandstand finish, but the premiers held on.

CLEARY CAN’T COME BACK SOON ENOUGH

There’s no two ways about it, the Panthers can’t win a record fourth straight title without their superstar halfback Nathan Cleary.

Penrith’s attack looked rudderless against one of the worst defences in the NRL and they had everything to play for with a home qualifying final on the line.

Jarome Luai wore the No. 7 jersey and struggled to leave his mark while No. 6 Brad Schneider played like a fringe first-grader.

The Panthers had plenty of opportunities in attack but made 15 errors as their bumper home crowd of 21,525 fans fell flat and some even booed them off at halftime.

Cleary is expected to return in time for Penrith’s qualifying final against the Roosters next Friday night.

The Roosters, despite losing key players, will no doubt feel confident about breaking their Penrith hoodoo. The Tricolours haven’t beaten Penrith since 2019 but won’t head west next weekend without a hope.

Not only does Penrith need Cleary back next week, they probably need him to be man of the match if they’re to win.

Which is huge pressure for the halfback given he’s had no football for nearly a month.

But if there’s a man to do it, it’s Cleary.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

Titans star Jayden Campbell was moved from five-eighth to fullback to cover the absence of Keano Kini (cork) and he produced a scintillating opening 40 minutes.

The silky smooth playmaker was in everything and the 24-year-old produced a try of the year contender in the 15th minute.

Campbell scooped up a loose ball 39 metres out then burst off the mark and bamboozled the Panthers’ defence with a sizzling left-foot step not once but twice in a matter of seconds to score under the posts untouched.

“Look at the step he puts on to beat Liam Martin and Dylan Edwards, two NSW players,” Greg Alexander said on Fox League.

“That was one of the more electrifying tries I’ve seen this year, individual brilliance,” Cooper Cronk added.

“The ball is on the deck and watch the footwork that he does to beat a couple of defenders, it was absolutely brilliant.”

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga believes the son of a gun plays like his father – former Panthers playmaker Preston Campbell.

“That try reminded me of his dad’s days at Penrith,”

“This is the first time Jayden has played at Penrith Park and obviously his old man played there many years ago with a lot of success and hopefully he’s there watching today.

“He’s an electrifying player, he can play five-eighth, fullback, you can play him anywhere, he’s just a natural footballer.”

Campbell finished with 167 metres from 17 carries that produced six tackle busts and a linebreak.

STICKING TO THE PLAN

Good on the Titans for not applying the tactics used by the Tigers and Eels 24 hours earlier in Spoon Bowl.

Both those teams just threw the ball around and weren’t concerned much about getting into a grind and defending.

Des Hasler’s men got into the grind and played like they were the ones getting ready for finals football.

It was a real professional display by a team who had nothing to play for.

“There was some good fight in the way we went about things,” Hasler said.

“They showed some character in patches and pushed them all the way.

“The biggest challenge for us is we’ve got to stay in the game for 80 minutes.”