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Penrith Panthers vs Papua New Guinea Hunters |
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|---|---|---|
2017 State Championship, Sunday, October 1 |
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| ANZ Stadium, Homebush, Sydney, NSW | ||
| Penrith Panthers | Papua New Guinea Hunters | |
| 42 | SCORE | 18 |
| 8 | Tries | 3 |
| 5 | Conversions | 2 |
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 1 |
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The Penrith Panthers are the favourites in the betting markets, but there’s no doubt that the Papua New Guinea Hunters are the sentimental favourites in this afternoon’s State Championship clash. Join The Roar for a live blog of this curtain-raiser to the NRL grand final from 3:40pm (AEDT).
The Hunters scored a last-minute try to snatch a 12-10 win over the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Queensland Cup grand final last weekend, while Penrith won the New South Wales Cup with a 20-12 victory over Wyong.
Led by skipper and goal-kicking five-eighth Ase Boas, the Hunters will supply plenty of players for the PNG Kumuls team for the World Cup starting late this month.
Boas has had an incredible year, winning the Queensland Cup’s best and fairest medal, the “People’s Choice” award as the fan’s favourite player, as well as the man-of-the-match award in last week’s grand final. He set up both the Hunters’ tries in that match from deft grubber kicks.
The Panthers’ team contains a few players with first grade experience, most notably hooker Mitch Rein. They also have Jed Cartwright in the centres, son of former Penrith international backrower John Cartwright. Their captain is halfback Darren Nicholls, who had a strong game in last weekend’s grand final win.
Penrith played in the first-ever State Championship final in 2014, going down to the Northern Pride. The Ipswich Jets made it two in a row for the Queensland Cup winners when they won the title in 2015, but the Illawarra Cutters won last year’s match on behalf of the New South Wales competition.
Prediction
The Hunters by 4 in an upset, if they can hang onto the ball. They’ll need to have a much better completion rate than they had in their nervous display in the Queensland Cup grand final last week.
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