A potentially serious elbow injury to boom centre Jamal Idris has taken whatever gloss the Bulldogs gleaned from Friday night's 19-12 win over Penrith at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.

Idris was taken from the field with 13 minutes remaining with his left arm in a sling made from his jumper after dislocating his elbow as he fended away Panthers opposite Maurice Blair.

The 18-year-old - who only re-signed with the club on Thursday - writhed away on the ground as he awaited attention, the elbow reportedly popping straight back in before he made his way up the tunnel.

The Bulldogs led 14-6 when Idris left the field, but barnstorming Panthers backrower Frank Pritchard ensured a tight finish when he brushed through some flimsy defence and a hopelessly outsized Luke Patten to close the gap to just two points with eight minutes remaining.

But the Bulldogs pulled away again when Hazem El Masri scored his second of the night to finish with a personal haul of 14 points, Brett Kimmorley typifying his steady hand with a last minute field goal to cap the win.

Given NSW recalled 31-year-old Trent Barrett to be their Origin saviour, it's strange to think that 32-year-old Kimmorley wasn't afforded the same treatment given he is in career best form.

Minus Origin-bound skipper Petero Civoniceva and injured duo Luke Lewis and Michael Jennings, the Panthers decided attack was their best hope and it paid handsome dividends with Gavin Cooper slamming the ball down for a 6-0 lead after as many minutes.

The visitors continued to enjoy the run of play but failed to put points on the board, Kimmorley making them pay when he executed a show and go Test No.7 Johnathan Thurston would be proud of before sending Bryson Goodwin away for a 6-all scoreline.

Kimmorley's halves partner Ben Roberts gave the Bulldogs the impetus after the break as he kicked for El Masri to acrobatically score his first of the night.

Bulldogs physio Tony Ayoub said the best case scenario on Idris was for 2-3 weeks on the sidelines, but he admitted it could be as long as two months out if the teenage sensation had done structural damage.

"It's not as bad as we first thought out there, it popped in and out and he's pretty good at the moment, pretty much pain free," Ayoub said.

"It's a little loose. We're going to reassess in the morning and just see whether we need to scan it or get it refereed on to an orthopedic surgeon. At the moment it's looking pretty good."

Coach Kevin Moore said while the win may not have been pretty, there was plenty to like about the way his side stuck to the task.

"I think there's times where you've got to win when you're maybe not at your best," Moore said.

"We're maybe a little rusty - we've had two byes in the last five weeks of footy which stunts your momentum a little bit ... the more footy we play maybe the better we're going to get."

Penrith mentor Matthew Elliott struggled to hide his disappointment at a win that got away.

"We did the tough things in the game well but we needed to execute and take advantage of that and we didn't," Elliott said.

"There's no use defending your backsides off for five plays if you're going to concede points on the last one."

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