A powerhouse display from controversial forward Frank Pritchard helped Penrith to a crushing 40-10 NRL win over the Bulldogs at CUA Stadium.

Pritchard, playing his first match of 2007 after a thumb injury sustained in a street brawl for which he is facing charges, was in everything, scoring a try in the 55th minute and being placed on report for a high shot on Bulldogs lock Reni Maitua in the 64th minute.

The Bulldogs could be heard reminding referee Ben Cummins of "Joey" after Pritchard's shot on a falling Maitua - a reference to the controversial dismissal of Sonny Bill Williams last weekend for his hit on Andrew Johns and the Bulldogs' call this week for consistency from referees.

On a day it was reported that co-captain Craig Gower could also be facing charges following a nightclub brawl, the Panthers scored six tries to one while centre Mick Gordon booted eight goals from eight attempts.

Gordon's performance outshone Dogs sharp-shooter Hazem El Masri, whose three two-pointers took his current tally of consecutive goals in the NRL to 28.

New Panthers coach Matt Elliott paid tribute to Pritchard, saying he hadn't met a "nicer person".

"There's a lot of things that can happen in the outside world but when you get to footy training ... you're not judged by any external factors, people know who you are and they know what you're like and they know what you're prepared to do," Elliott said of his second-rower.

Elliott wasn't too concerned about his star being put on report.

"He got him didn't he but he was falling ... his arm was low as well ... I'd like to think that will be taken into consideration and we won't have to worry about it," he said.

Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes said last week's narrow loss to Newcastle after Williams' dismissal in just the fourth minute had taken its toll on his players.

"If you want to find a positive we got our shocker over very early in the year," he said.

"We weren't up for the game, not because we didn't want to be and not because we didn't prepare well but because mentally and physically we were a bit shagged from last week."

Going to the break up 14-4 after a scrappy first half, the Panthers put on two tries in two minutes, to lock Trent Waterhouse and Pritchard, to rush out to a 26-4 lead by the 55th minute.

The Dogs, who completed only 22 of 36 sets for the match, fought back to 26-10 when captain Andrew Ryan crashed over in the 65th minute.

But late tries to outstanding Panthers second-rower Tony Puletua and fullback Rhys Wesser embarrassed the visitors.

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