- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Penrith Panthers will be heavy underdogs tonight as they travel to Hunter Stadium to match up against the Newcastle Knights for their sixth game of the season. Join us on the Roar from 5.30pm AEST for live commentary and scores.
The Panthers were crushed last week by the Cowboys, and were held scoreless as North Queensland put 30 points on the board, with 24 coming in the first half.
Penrith enter Round 6 at 15th on the ladder, just keeping above last place with their win in the first round.
Newcastle also lost last week, but it was a much tighter affair against the Dragons, with the final difference being only three points (and the boot of Jamie Soward).
They’re currently sitting pretty in fourth place from their three wins, and it looks fairly certain they’ll pull out a positive result tonight.
Last time these two teams clashed was in Round 8 of the 2012 season, which the Knights won comfortably 34-14.
Eight different Novocastrians got on the scoresheet, including Wes Naiqama, who departed Newcastle after four seasons to play for Penrith.
Naiqama and three other ex-Newcastle players will certainly be motivated to show up in a big way against their old club.
There is certainly a large gap between these two teams – Penrith, who’ve allowed the most points in the NRL so far this season (140, an average of 28 per game) and Newcastle, whose star back Akuila Uate already has seven tries (half of the total Panthers’ this season).
However, a case can be made that this game could be closer than expected.
Newcastle captain Kurt Gidley and hooker Danny Buderus are both coming into the fixture under an injury cloud. Gidley played through a calf injury last week, while Buderus was a late scratch due to back soreness.
Coincidentally, both players were also injured last season in the game against the Panthers; Gidley dislocated his shoulder and required surgery.
If the unlikely is to happen, it will be more of a case of Newcastle losing the game, rather than Penrith doing enough to win it.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.