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The St George Illawarra Dragons have stunned the Penrith Panthers, fighting back from a 10-0 half-time deficit to win 22-10 after a staggering second-half blitz.

In a remarkable reversal of last week’s 44-12 defeat to the Bulldogs in which the Dragons conceded 38 second-half points after leading by six at the break, this time the Dragons endured a torrid first half before exploding to life in the second term.

On a wet night in front of 12,025 sodden fans, the Dragons’ pack outmuscled their opponents in a gritty old-school display, with backrowers Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Luciano Leilua starring as the Dragons claimed a first win over Penrith in seven years.

The Panthers were without five stars on Origin duty, and also saw Moses Leota leave the field late in the first half with a hamstring complaint.

Yet the Dragons were without three Origin players of their own, and made a whopping seven changes from last week’s team as Shane Flanagan unleashed a new-look side.

The raft of changes left their attack sloppy and disjointed in the first half as errors mounted from both teams.

Penrith dominated first-half possession and finally broke the deadlock in the 25th minute when the hard-running Paul Alamoti burst through the Dragons defence from close range.

Having been wasteful and disorganised in attack throughout the first half, the Dragons turned the game on its head in the very first play of the second half when Sione Finau caught the kick-off and cut through the defence in a long, bursting run.

Michael Ennis said: “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that he came out of the other side of the Penrith defensive line.”

The Dragons significantly-improved physicality and intensity took the Panthers aback, as Toby Couchman got the visitors on the board shortly afterwards with a scything run through three defenders.