Round 6, 2014 NRL Premiership
Friday 11th April
Kickoff: 7.40pm
Venue: Sportingbet Stadium, Penrith
Refs: Ashley Klein & Adam Gee
TEAMS:
PANTHERS: 1.Matt MOYLAN, 2.Dallin WATENE-ZELEZNIAK, 3.Dean WHARE, 4.Jamal IDRIS, 5.Josh MANSOUR, 6.Jamie SOWARD, 7.Peter WALLACE (C), 8.Sam MCKENDRY, 9.Kevin KINGSTON (C), 10.Tim GRANT, 11.Sika MANU, 12.Elijah TAYLOR, 13.Adam DOCKER
INTERCHANGE: 14. James SEGEYARO, 15. Jeremy LATIMORE, 16. Lewis BROWN, 17. Nigel PLUM, 18. Isaah YEO
RABBITOHS: 1. Greg INGLIS, 2. Nathan MERRITT, 3. Dylan WALKER, 4. Joel REDDY, 5. Bryson GOODWIN, 6. John SUTTON (c), 7. Adam REYNOLDS, 8. Dave TYRRELL, 9. Apisai KOROISAU, 10. George BURGESS, 11. Kyle TURNER, 12. Ben TE’O, 13. Sam BURGESS
INTERCHANGE: 14. Cameron MCINNES, 15. Chris MCQUEEN, 16. Jason CLARK, 17. Luke BURGESS, 18. Alex JOHNSTON
We are in for a spectacular game of rugby league tomorrow night at Sportingbet Stadium when the Panthers host the Rabbitohs, in what promises to be one of the biggest forward pack clashes of the round.
Round three last year was the last time these two sides met, and it was South Sydney who went home with the two points, overcoming Penrith 44-32. But a lot has changed since then.
Souths may have the Burgess brothers but the Panthers have the Bash Brothers, with Adam Docker and Nigel Plum proving a lethal combination in previous weeks, alongside fellow second rowers Tim Grant, Sam Mckendry, Elijah Taylor, Jeremy Latimore, Lewis Brown and Brent Kite.
Penrith have won three of our five games so far this season, with all of our victories on home turf, while the Rabbitohs have struggled to find their feet and currently sit in 12th position on the ladder. Both sides are coming off wins after the Panthers held the Raiders at bay last weekend and Souths bashed their way to a 26-6 victory over the Dragons. This is the first time this season that Ivan Cleary has been able to name the same full strength side as the week before.
The Rabbitohs are known for their heavy hitting up the middle of the park, and Penrith will have to throw everything they’ve got at the Burgess trio if they want to keep them away from their line. We will also have to shut Greg Inglis down early and ensure he doesn’t get too much room to move, otherwise he will run away with the game and we’ll be playing catch up from the word ‘go’.
In saying that, Penrith has some exceptional talent through the middle, and also on the wings with Josh Mansour enjoying a sensational start to the year, and young Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scoring two tries on debut. The combination of Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace and Matt Moylan has been working extremely well for the Mountain Men so far, and if those three can pull out performances like they have at our last few home games, we will have a very good chance of making it four from four in front of a home crowd.
