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It’s an intriguing clash at the foot of the mountains on Saturday afternoon rugby league as the Penrith Panthers take on the Canberra Raiders.
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The Raiders shocked one of the pre-season heavyweights by taking down the Rabbitohs 30-18 at ANZ Stadium last weekend. The Panthers, on the other hand, are coming off a disappointing loss to the improved Eels in Round 4.
There are a lot of changes for the Panthers for this clash, with Tim Grant, Josh Mansour and Peter Wallace all set for a return.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak looks set to make his NRL debut on the wing, while Sika Manu has pushed into the run-on squad.
This all leads to Tyrone Peachey being the likely 18th man for this game.
The Raiders have named an unchanged squad from last weekend, but Shaun Fensom is in some doubt with an elbow injury. Jake Foster has been added to the bench as 18th man.
Possibly two of the hardest teams to get a grip on early on this season, both sides have had numerous players step up and play a big role this season.
The Raiders halves pairing of Wighton and Campese were brilliant in their win last weekend, while the Panthers will be looking for a better performance from theirs, and should get it with Peter Wallace returning.
The Panthers have the slight edge in this match-up in recent years, going 3-2 in the last 5 clashes, including last year’s 32-10 win in Round 1. The Raiders did get up by a scoreline of 24-12 in the reverse clash in Season 2013
Prediction
Penrith start as warm favourties for this match, and rightly so seeing as they are the home team.
Expect a close game, but the Panthers have enough class returning to see them over the line
Panthers by 4.
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