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Saturday NRL kicks off with a regional clash between the Penrith Panthers and the Gold Coast Titans. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4:30pm (AEDT).
The Panthers started their season with a 24-18 win over the Bulldogs at home, and they’ll be looking to continue their early season run at Bathurst.
With a prelim final in 2014, the Panthers are a great chance of going one further in 2015, and games like this are must-wins for the Western Sydney team. Ivan Cleary will be looking for improvements on the defensive side of the ball, after the Panthers leaked three tries in eight minutes against the Bulldogs.
The Titans have endured the pre-season from hell, and are still feeling the effects with stars Greg Bird and Dave Taylor both currently suspended for drug related issues.
This was compounded by a 1-point loss to the Tigers at home a week ago. The Titans have played in the region before, beating the Eels 42-4 at Mudgee, but they’ll need a superhuman effort to get over the top of the Panthers on Saturday.
The Panthers have named an unchanged side for this clash, with Isaah Yeo being added on to the extended bench.
Anthony Don comes into the Titans side after Kevin Gordon broke his nose at training during the week. Lachlan Burr will make the start on Saturday, replacing Matt Robinson in the run-on 13, while Ryan Simpkins has been added to the extended bench.
The Panthers have had the better of this matchup in the past, winning seven of the 11 meetings between these two sides. While the Titans have never played in Bathurst, the Panthers have hosted three games in the regional town, winning two of them.
Their Bathurst excursion last year ended in an 18-16 loss to the Sharks.
Prediction
With talk that Greg Bird and Dave Taylor may be allowed to play this weekend, this becomes a tough game to predict.
The Titans looked solid for long periods last weekend, and the injection of those two players would help immensely. Having said that, the Panthers looked very good for the first 60 minutes last weekend, and they should have enough class to take this clash.
Panthers by 10
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