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Sione Katoa 'dog shot' sparks wild scenes near fans

Penrith's Sione Katoa sparked wild scenes towards the end of his side's defeat to South Sydney on Friday night.

The Panthers went down 22-18 to lose their fifth game in seven to start the season, piling more pressure on the club.

But while Viliame Kikau set up a grandstand finish with a late try, the Panthers were dead and buried when Dane Gagai crossed for the Rabbitohs in the 73rd minute.

Only they weren't going down without a fight.

Gagai was barged into by a sliding Katoa, taking exception to receiving knees to the ribs.

Sione Katoa sparked wild scenes in the in-goal after sliding into Dane Gagai. Pic: Getty
Sione Katoa sparked wild scenes in the in-goal after sliding into Dane Gagai. Pic: Getty

The Bunnies winger appeared to grab his rival's throat before multiple players from both sides ran in to kick off the push-and-shove.

The clash took place near fans at that end of the ground, with security stepping out to ensure it didn’t spill over into the stands.

Katoa avoided being penalised for the incident, with the Bunker declaring sliding with his arm cleared the contact.

“I don’t think there’s a lot in it. There’s not enough in it for an eight-point try,” NRL premiership winner Michael Ennis said on Fox Sports.

While the NRL match review committee could yet decide to sanction Katoa, fans weren't sold on allowing Katoa to get away with it in the moment:

It was a hard-fought victory for Souths, who had to defend 55 plays inside their 20-metre zone compared to the 14 looks they had at the other end.

Both sides started at a cracking pace, but the Panthers opened up early when Kyle Turner ran over Nathan Cleary for first points.

Their lead doubled via a Dane Gagai miracle ball in the 20th minute. He poked through two defenders before popping a pass, while falling, for Corey Allan.

Penrith thought they had their first try when James Fisher-Harris pounced on a grubber, but it was taken back due to an incorrect play-the-ball.

In the end, the Panthers went into halftime try-less, however gained some spark soon after the resumption when James Maloney went over from close range.

Despite his team slumping to another defeat, Cleary described their display as the best of their season so far.

"I feel like it's something we can definitely build from. We looked likely the whole game, we couldn't quite take our chances," he said.

"Credit to Souths. They came up with some big defence time after time and they were good enough to take their chances."

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett praised his team's defence.

"It's a bit weird, isn't it? We did give up three tries but they just had an unbelievable amount of ball and a lot of repeat sets," he said.

"From in-goal stuff, we either touched the ball or knocked one on and they got it straight back. It was pretty gutsy in the end."

with AAP