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The Cronulla Sharks are going from strength to strength in 2016, putting together their 13th consecutive win with a 16-point victory over the Penrith Panthers.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Penrith Panthers 10
Cronulla Sharks 26
The Penrith Panthers will be out to break old rivals the Cronulla Sharks‘ 12-game winning streak at Pepper Stadium, in a match heavily affected by State of Origin. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4pm (AEST).
There will be a total of seven players missing from this game thanks to State of Origin commitments, although the Sharks have certainly come out of it worse off.
With a 12 game winning streak under their belt, they will be without stars Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita, James Maloney, Wade Graham and Jack Bird.
Despite that, with the exception of Graham they have been missing that group right throughout the Origin period and still played a strong, entertaining brand of football.
Some will say they got a little lucky the last couple of weeks with a one-point win against the New Zealand Warriors and then a big come from behind victory against the Parramatta Eels – regardless, they are still getting the job done and winning matches.
All of that leaves them top of the table on 30 competition points although the Melbourne Storm have a bye this weekend so could draw level if the Sharks don’t win this.
The Panthers meanwhile, had a very disappointing loss to the Wests Tigers last week. In a high scoring contest, they went down 34-26, however they had won two straight previously.
It has just been an inconsistent season for the Panthers, where they have been unable to keep their best team on the park, at times haven’t seemed to know exactly what the makeup of their best team is and struggled to put performances together week after week.
They sit in ninth position on the ladder, just struggling to break into the eight and will be hoping to find more consistency after the Origin period – when they can have Matt Moylan and Josh Mansour back properly.
Moylan and Mansour will both have to sit out this week, with Sam McKendry also missing Suaia Matagi and Will Smith are the two players confirmed to come in, however it is unclear who will play fullback after Moylan was named for NSW on Tuesday.
The five Origin players will be the only changes for Cronulla with Fa’amanu Brown into the halves, Valentine Holmes back onto the wing and Jesse-Sene-Lefao, Kurt Capewell and Matt McIlwrick all onto the bench.
The key here will be how the likes of Chad Townsend, Michael Ennis, Ben Barba, Bryce Cartwright and Nathan Cleary as they try to stand up with Origin players out of the contest.
Prediction
The Sharks have been an outfit firing on all cylinders, and even with their Origin players missing Chad Townsend and Ben Barba should take them to a tough, hard-fought victory.
Sharks by 2
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this Round 18 match from 4pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde