Roar Guru
The New Zealand Warriors took a four-point win over the Penrith Panthers in golden point time on Saturday afternoon.
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Final score
Warriors 20
Panthers 16
An enormous game in relation to the finals make-up takes place across the ditch, with the New Zealand Warriors hosting the Penrith Panthers this Saturday. Both sides are a real chance of finals football in 2016, so join The Roar live from 3pm (AEST) for all the action.
The Warriors currently sit ninth on the NRL ladder, following a heart-breaking loss to the Raiders in golden point last start. The Warriors were up to their old tricks, scoring three late tries to send the game into extra minutes, but ran out of steam. With six games remaining, this is a game they have to win.
The New Zealanders are 1-17 as per last weekend. A reshuffle, however, sees Tuimoala Lolohea shift to fullback, Blake Ayshford to the bench and David Fusitu’a into the centres.
It’s the same old story for the Warriors, can they find the consistency needed to fill a spot inside the top eight. It all starts with the big guns, with Isaac Luke and Shaun Johnson needing to lead the way today.
The match up in the halves is salivating – with Johnson’s flair going up against Cleary’s composure, the man who comes out on top will likely be the difference. In a fun twist today, Cleary was once Johnson’s ball boy, showing just how far the classy No.7 has come in 2016.
For the Panthers, they have named an extended side for the trip east. Word is that they won’t have any changes, meaning the side that showed up the Broncos will run out today. The flair, offloading and ‘footy’ played last weekend were beyond entertaining, and the Panthers are primed to skip ahead of the chasing pack with a win over the Warriors.
The Panthers currently sit eighth and will travel to New Zealand for the second time this year, following a ‘home’ game there earlier in the season. Matt Moylan is the key for the Panthers today, his ball playing and finishing in attack are first class attributes, and with the Warriors scoring plenty of points lately, the Panthers will need to post 20+ points today.
In a must-win game for both sides, I believe the Panthers will continue their winning ways. With two solid performances in the past fortnight, the mountain men will be too strong today.
Prediction: Panthers by 8