Penrith 6 Melbourne 40

A suggestion Penrith star Frank Pritchard exaggerated the extent of an injury to stay off the field during last night's game overshadowed another impressive display by premiership favourites Melbourne.

The drama ended with Panthers legend and board member Greg Alexander calling for the club's management to investigate the matter and Penrith chief executive Mick Leary declaring Pritchard's season was over and that he would undergo surgery as soon as possible.

The suggestion, made by sideline eye Andy Raymond during the Fox Sports coverage of the match, was that Pritchard could not be convinced to go back on the field by training staff, who regarded the injury as not bad enough to keep him off.

Pritchard has been carrying a shoulder injury all season and was also bothered by a neck injury going into the match. He has asked for a release from his contract with the club several times in the past, but been refused.

Asked for his reaction straight after the match, Penrith coach Matthew Elliott dismissed the suggestion, declaring that Pritchard was not in a condition to continue playing.

"Someone just hit me with that," Elliott said. "You make up some stuff that is rubbish. Searching around for that stuff, you need to look for something else.

"Physically, he wasn't right to go. If he went back on the field he was only going to let somebody down. We didn't expect him to come back on, but we were short and he was going to come back on when Michael Jennings went down [before recovering and continuing to play]. To send him back on when the game wasn't on the line would have been silly of me as a coach."

Pritchard, aware that the media was waiting for him, was one of the last players out of the Penrith dressing room. Asked to comment on the suggestion, he replied as he kept walking: "I can't talk."

Penrith's premiership-winning captain from 1991, Alexander, who had commentated on the match for Fox, was leaving the ground when he was asked about the situation. He said it was critical that the club got to the bottom of it, adding: "I want to know whether he was injured or not. I'm only going on the same rumour you blokes are going on. With what has been surrounding him anyway, talk that he wants out or he doesn't want out, I'm sure Mick Leary and [fellow Penrith executive] Glenn Matthews will see if there's anything in it."

Pritchard was then spotted in deep conversation with Leary at the top of the grandstand. Asked what he had gleaned from his conversation with Pritchard, Leary said: "I was just talking to him about how he was. He was cranky about his shoulders. He said he wanted to be booked in [for surgery] this week. He needs an arthroscopy to establish the full extent of the damage, and then, probably, a reconstruction."

Leary said he was convinced Pritchard had not exaggerated the extent of the injury to stay off, adding: "I don't know where that came from. He said he was injured and I believe him."

It was an awful night for the Panthers, who were never in the hunt against the Storm. The Panthers began the round in ninth place, but had been pushed back to 11th by other results at the weekend. That is where they stay after the loss. They are still only one point outside of the top eight, but with tough games away against the Warriors and at home against Manly in the last two rounds, their hopes of making the finals have just about evaporated. They will need to win both games to have any chance.

The rampaging Storm, on the other hand, remain on track for a third consecutive minor premiership. They are two points clear of second- and third-placed Manly and Cronulla and their form continues to justify their rating with bookmakers as odds-on favourites to take a second successive premiership title. But their coach, Craig Bellamy, said he and his players were ignoring talk that the competition was as good as over and that Melbourne were certainties to win the grand final.

"My reaction to that is that it is all crap," Bellamy said. "There are a lot of good teams in this comp, so we need to keep about our business. If we start believing that, we're not going to be doing what we need to do to win."

MELBOURNE 40 (G Inglis 3 S Turner 2 J Lima A Quinn C Smith tries C Smith 4 goals) bt PENRITH 6 (N Smith try M Gordon goal) at CUA Stadium. Referee: M Cecchin. Crowd: 8813.