NRL: Discard plays white knight

If Penrith go on to give the NRL a real shake in 2009, there's little doubt coach Matthew Elliott will look back at his side's round seven victory over Gold Coast as the turning point of their season.

Not for the grit his team showed in beating the then competition leaders 34-20, but for including Newcastle discard Luke Walsh at No.7, a problem position for the club since the departure of Craig Gower.

Walsh has steered the Panthers to five wins from six matches, with their only defeat being last weekend's 38-10 loss to ladder leaders St George-Illawarra.

Walsh produced his most complete game in Friday night's 26-10 win over Wests Tigers, his two late tries just the cherry on the cake.

Asked whether Walsh's arrival could be credited for the side's revival, Elliott said: "It'd probably be unfair not to, wouldn't it? Walshy's arrival has allowed us as a team not to focus so much on constructing play, he can do that.

"It's fantastic having him. I remember our first training session with him, [Panthers skipper Petero Civoniceva] and I looked at each other sideways and said, 'Oh, that's right, that's what a halfback does for you'."

Since Gower's departure to play rugby union in France (he is due in New Zealand soon with the Italian rugby team, courtesy of some Italian grandparentage), Elliott has experimented with any number of options at first receiver. All were either manufactured No.7s or simply not up to NRL standard.

Jarrod Sammut spent most of the pre-season training there but, when Elliott noticed Walsh struggling for a run at Newcastle, he called Knights coach Brian Smith. Days later Walsh was on his way to Penrith.

Walsh said his slide down the pecking order at the Knights hadn't dented his confidence.

"I got my chance here at Penrith and I've taken it with both hands."

- AAP