- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
A new-look Penrith Panthers host last year’s fast-finishing Newcastle Knights in what should shape up as one of the games of the round. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4:30pm (AEDT).
We’re three years into Gus Gould’s five-year plan and things are travelling nicely for the Panthers.
After an improved showing last year, this year’s line-up looks even stronger and many are tipping them to sneak into the top eight.
An experienced new halves combination of Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace is the perhaps the most important change, but they’ll also debut some quality new faces in the form of Elijah Taylor, Brent Kite and Tyrone Peachey.
Jamal Idris is not expected to pass a fitness test despite being named.
With a full pre-season under their belts – most of the Panthers had no World Cup commitments to worry about – Panthers fans will be hoping the new-look line-up gels from the get go.
They’ll need to if they want to defeat the Knights, who defied expectations last season with a superb late-season run into the semi-finals.
Their backline is up there with the best in the competition, each player averaging well over 100m per match and up over 150m on many occasions.
Much is said about the Knights ageing forward pack, but with a workrate like that in the three-quarter line the engine room has plenty of support.
The big question mark for the Knights will be in their halves, with Jarrod Mullen suffering an unfortunate pre-season injury and Kurt Gidley shifting to hooker this season.
Michael Dobson and Tyrone Roberts will line up at six and seven – very much an untried combination, though the same can be said of Soward and Wallace.
For mine, however, it’s on the bench where the Panthers have the advantage, with two heavy hitters in Nigel Plum and Sam McKendry combining with the explosive impact of James Segeyaro and Peachey.
I think that’ll be enough to get the Panthers home in a tight one – Panthers by 4.
Will the new-look Panthers live up to their growing expectations, or will the always-dangerous Knights spoil the party?
Join us this afternoon at 4:30pm AEDT for live score updates, and be sure to give us your opinion in the space below if you’re watching.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.