It may be barely two weeks since Trent Waterhouse threw in a fulltime job as a storeman.

But he would be forgiven for thinking he made the right career choice after sealing the Penrith Panthers' 16-14 National Rugby League win over South Sydney on Saturday night.

Waterhouse, 22, only earned his first grade starting berth at Aussie Stadium after fellow forward Joel Clinton was dropped for disciplinary reasons.

But he didn't look back, capping off Penrith's second win of the season with a try just seven minutes from fulltime.

Penrith trailed throughout most of the rain sodden match, only to deny the Rabbitohs their first back-to-back wins since last July with the late Waterhouse four pointer.

The Penrith win marked the first time a team had emerged from an NRL bye and come away with a victory this season.

That wasn't much consolation for Souths, which came into the game still buzzing from ending an 11-match losing streak last weekend.

Souths have now only won four of their last 21 home games at Aussie Stadium while Penrith has won four of its last five away clashes.

"We found another way to lose tonight. After leading 10-2 in the first half ... you can't afford to switch off but that's what we did," said shattered Souths coach Paul Langmack.

His worries were compounded by probably losing Fili Lolohea (torn Achilles) for the season.

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