Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire felt a win was around the corner for his side and was pleased for Adam Reynolds to be the man to deliver the moment when it mattered.
After going down to the Cowboys in Townsville, the Bunnies brushed off a late converted try from the Panthers to march up field and allow for Reynolds to slot the match-winning one-pointer.
A collective team effort satisfied Maguire the most, who said the combinations were beginning to show out on the field after six rounds of the Telstra Premiership.
"The boys have been working pretty hard over the last few weeks where we haven’t really had too many rewards but it was nice to see them work through that game," Maguire said post-game.
"We put pressure on ourselves sometimes but stuck strong throughout and our preparation helped us get through periods like that."
The Bunnies were led strongly by halves pairing Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker with the field-goal at the death earning high praise from the premiership-winning coach.
"Adam's finish there… he's done a lot of work around that area to make sure when those times come, he comes up with the right play," Maguire said.
"He does a bit [of practice], obviously like any kicker but there are a lot of players who do a lot of work.
"I thought John Sutton was excellent today, he really put his hand up there with 20 minutes to go, he couldn’t move but then he come up with a strong run and then Kyle Turner got on the back of it.
"From there Adam was able to kick that field goal so it was very pleasing for those individuals in our team.
"I've seen them over the last three weeks starting to build really well and building some really good combinations together so it's another step forward for us.
"Defensively they were very strong throughout the game but there are areas there where we can still look at."
Meanwhile, Rabbitohs skipper Sam Burgess said the halves' control throughout the second half went a long way to the Bunnies getting over the line late in the contest.
"I thought we played well tonight and made some great choices with better last-play finishes compared to the last few weeks," Burgess said.
"I'm pleased for Adam to get that field goal, like Madge said he puts a lot of practice in and people don’t see that so it's nice to see him get one out on the field tonight."
On a horror night for outside backs, Maguire defended Braidon Burns' efforts against the right-boot of Nathan Cleary after the rookie winger spilled the ball on four occasions in an unhappy return to Pepper Stadium.
"He's got a fair kick on him, Nathan," Maguire said.
"They (Panthers) obviously peppered that side and I thought earlier in the game we probably didn’t have enough kick pressure so we allowed him to have better kick-time.
"Robbie [Farah] came out and probably started to put more pressure on and it changed the game from that point of view.
"I'm sure Braidon will do a bit of practice at training and maybe Greg [Inglis] will be able to help him out."
Maguire's side will now face the Bulldogs next week in the annual Good Friday fixture and face a confident Canterbury outfit after Des Hasler's men notched up their second win on the trot with a 22-12 victory over the Knights on Friday afternoon.
