Brad Schneider received a lot of plaudits for his outstanding first performance as a Penrith Panther, leading his new team to a victory over the Sydney Roosters.

After agreeing to join the Panthers on a two-year contract, the former Hull KR player, who had an incredible brief time with the Robins last summer to help them reach the Challenge Cup final, returned to the NRL at the end of the season.

In addition, Schneider and Jarome Luai expertly filled in for Nathan Cleary, who was unable to play on Thursday, producing a performance that was highly praised by commentators such as Michael Ennis, a former NRL great.

Schneider had a major impact on the Panthers’ 14-6 halftime lead, which included three goals from Dylan Edwards’ boot and tries from Sunia Turuva and Dylan Edwards.

Sitili Tupouniua’s touchdown was the Roosters’ only reaction, and by the time they scored again in the last six minutes, they had given themselves too much work to do.

In the seconds following halftime, Turuva finished his hat-trick, once more thanks to excellent play by Schneider.

The Panthers and Schneider hung on despite a late double from the Roosters, which included tries from Brandon Smith and Daniel Tupou, which threatened to set up a spectacular finale and maybe send the game to golden point.