Penrith is the first team in 2016 to experience the five-day turnaround but get to kick-start their 50th season celebrations at home in the ‘chocolate soldiers’ colours on Thursday night.
They will take on their first ever opponents in 1967, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Last Saturday, Penrith gave themselves every chance to defeat the Raiders on home soil but went down 30-22 in a performance that left coach Anthony Griffin stating that his team defeated themselves, not the opposition.
The Panthers battled oppressive heatwave conditions and come into this clash with the barest of preparations given the draining effect playing in such unusual heat has had on the side.
Several players have indicated they lost upwards of three kilos in a matter of hours.
A Penrith side already missing Matt Moylan (back), will now be missing dynamic hooker, James Segeyaro (fractured forearm) for six to eight weeks.
It means it will be over twelve months since Penrith will have had the opportunity to complete an 80-minute game with their first choice 1, 6, 7 and 9. The last time that happened was in 2015 versus the Titans.
As bad as the Panthers played after taking the lead 22-16 early in the second half, having failed to complete a set of six for nearly 25 minutes, they were still in the game with ninety seconds to go.
But their task doesn’t get any easier coming up against the Bulldogs. The Dogs were arguably the most impressive team of Round 1 in the manner in which they executed a fairly simple game-plan. They ended up defeating Manly 28-6.
A loss here coupled with a tough run of upcoming games against Brisbane, Parramatta, St George-Illawarra and North Queensland, could easily see the Panthers 0-6 and scupper their hopes for a return to the finals.
Canterbury laid on a stunning first half performance to lead 22-0 before taking out the game 28-6 at the home of Northern Peninsula footy, Brookvale Oval.
The Bulldog bookends, James Graham and Aidan Tolman, and the halves pairing of Josh Reynolds and Moses Mbye gained the majority of peer votes.
The Bulldogs come into this clash with a slender 4-3 win/loss record under Hasler’s tenure but haven’t won at Penrith since Hasler’s first game in charge of the club back in 2012.
The changes
I’ve regarded James Segeyaro as that player when answering the question “which player is under pressure in 2016″. I said the club could be in dire trouble should he suffer a serious injury and sure enough, a fractured forearm has left coach Anthony Griffin with limited options to replace him at hooker.
Nonetheless Griffin has resisted the urge to promote either Junior Kiwi Te Maire Martin or Zach Dockar-Clay to make their NRL debut and has opted instead to start with Tyrone Peachey at hooker, in preference to Peter Wallace or Elijah Taylor. That said, it won’t surprise if Wallace ends up playing at dummy half).
Griffin has however brought Taylor back into the fold via an extended bench that also features former Wests Tigers forward Sitaleki Akauola. The man who replaced Taylor to make his NRL debut last Saturday, James Fisher-Harris, has retained his bench spot.
Although not named, Dean Whare resumed running on Monday and is some chance to return to the starting side. However Matt Moylan, George Jennings, Leilani Latu and Sione Katoa are at least a week away from being available.
Although the Panthers do miss Moylan’s attacking spark from the back, Will Smith showed last Saturday that he is a more than capable replacement. With the skipper due back next week, expect Smith to put in another strong performance in order to demand being kept in the 17 regardless.
In fact it promises to be a battle of two Wills, Smith and Hopoate this Thursday night with both fullbacks starting the season with impressive performances.
Smith made several incisive kick-returns against the Raiders, and his speed could trouble Canterbury’s big pack of forwards while Hopoate was solid at the back, defusing several kicks on the night.
Both players have the ability to ball play and often jump into dummy-half to take advantage of quick play-the balls and catch out unsuspecting defences on the hop.
The Bulldogs have also been hit hard by injury, with hooker Michael Lichaa (knee) out for an extended period. This allows ex-Dragon Craig Garvey, who played in the Indigenous All Stars clash, to make his club NRL debut. Garvey played just 10 NRL games in his time at St George-Illawarra.
Like Penrith, the Bulldogs are now without two members of their spine with Lichaa joining fullback Brett Morris in the casualty ward. The question coming from Bulldogs fans will be whether Garvey can play the eighty minutes in the NRL?
An injury to Chase Stanley (hamstring) allows off-season recruit from the Newcastle Knights Kerrod Holland make his NRL debut at right centre. David Klemmer returns from suspension via the interchange bench with Lloyd Perrett making way.
It remains to be seen however whether Hasler entrusts Holland with the goal-kicking duties or sticks with Moses Mbye.
Bulldog bookends, Aiden Tolman and James Graham played extended minutes, while back-rowers Josh Jackson and Tony Williams both played out the 80.
Key match ups
Will Smith v Will Hopoate
Moses Mbye v Peter Wallace
Bryce Cartwright v Tony Williams
Trent Merrin v Greg Eastwood
Craig Garvey v Tyrone Peachey
Key stats
Overall: Played 88; Bulldogs 50, Panthers 35, Drawn 3.
Penrith’s first ever NRL (then NSWRL) game was against the Bulldogs at Belmore Sports Ground where the Panthers went down fighting 15-12.
At Penrith: Played 43; Bulldogs 22, Panthers 20, Drawn 1.
Since 1998: Played 32, Panthers 16, Bulldogs 15, Drawn 1.
2015 results: Panthers 24-18 at Pepper (Round 1), Bulldogs 24-12 at ANZ Stadium (Round 15).
Penrith have won six of the last ten clashes including four of the last five played at Pepper Stadium.
Canterbury’s 17 have played 1,092 games for the club, Penrith’s 17 just 573 games and have overall NRL experience advantage by 334 games.
Both sides have 11 players returning from last year’s Round 15 clash, but Penrith have nine players with less than 50 NRL games experience compared to just six for the Bulldogs.
The final view
The Panthers have talked down the effects of the Canberra heat saying they’ve trained all summer in similar conditions.
But one can’t help to think that with a limited preparation on the back of five-day turnaround, it could be a long night at the office against one the best performed teams in Round 1, especially if the Bulldogs again make an empathic statement that they can handle the new interchange rules.
Klemmer’s inclusion to an already impressive Bulldogs pack tips the result in their favour and while the Bulldogs also have two spine players missing they have the luxury of being able to play replacements who have the NRL experience / expertise to cover those key positions.
Bulldogs by 4
The teams
Penrith Panthers
1. Will Smith 2. Josh Mansour 3. Waqa Blake 4. Peta Hiku 5. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 6. Jamie Soward 7. Peter Wallace (C) 8. Sam McKendry 9. Tyrone Peachey 10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 11. Bryce Cartwright 12. Isaah Yeo 13. Trent MerrinInterchange: 14. James Fisher-Harris 15. Jeremy Latimore 16. Suaia Matagi 17. Elijah Taylor 20. Sitaleki Akauola (One to be omitted)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
1. Will Hopoate 2. Curtis Rona 3. Josh Morris 4. Kerrod Holland 5. Sam Perrett 6. Josh Reynolds 7. Moses Mbye 8. Aiden Tolman 9. Craig Garvey 10. James Graham (C) 11. Josh Jackson 12. Tony Williams 13. Greg EastwoodInterchange: 14. Sam Kasiano 15. Tim Browne 16. David Klemmer 17. Adam Elliott 19. Lloyd Perrett (One to be omitted)
The match officials
Referee: Ben Cummins. Gavin Badger. Assistant Referee: Adam Devcich. Touch Judges: Jeff Younis and Chris Sutton. Review Officials: Luke Patten and Ashley Klein. Senior RO: Bernard Sutton.
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