The St George Illawarra Dragons have put up a massive upset win over the Penrith Panters in Round 1, smashing them by 32 points.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
St George Illawarra Dragons 42
Penrith Panthers 10
NRL premiership favourites the Penrith Panthers begin their season with a tough road trip to Kogarah to face the St George Illawarra Dragons. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4:30pm (AEDT).
After making the semi-finals last season, most pundits are backing Penrith to secure their first premiership since 2003.
On paper, they possess a talented and powerful squad that should, at the very least, repeat their 2016 semi-final showing.
The favouritism tag however does bring with it increased pressure and expectation, which could have a negative effect if the Panthers start the season slowly.
As for the Dragons, they are once again expected to miss the top eight. With new recruit Ben Hunt still a year away from joining the Red V, the Dragons will have to once again make do with only one established half, Gareth Widdop.
Former Raiders half Josh McCrone is a solid player who offers great direction at his best, but he and Widdop will have to raise their game into the stratosphere if the Dragons are to address their point-scoring woes.
The Dragons only averaged 14 points a game last season, which simply won’t be enough to win the matches required to make the eight, let alone beat elite contenders like Penrith.
St George Illawarra however are playing at Kogarah, where they are traditionally very difficult to beat. The Panthers themselves have struggled immensely at the ground over their history, but they have won their past two matches at the ground – although their last win here was way back in 2013.
Prediction
If the home team are to cause an upset, they have to beat the Panthers via arm-wrestle, as the Dragons pack is capable of sticking with the Panthers big men.
If Penrith however do win the battle upfront, backline stars Peta Hiku, Dean Whare, Tyrone Peachey and Matt Moylan will take control and lead Penrith to victory.
Panthers by 12
G
Guest
Yew!
ian kirk
Guest
Means nothing if they don't beat parra ... kicker
The spectator
Guest
Nice! Dragons on fire .
Kevin Malone
Guest
thay finished the season great, matured and bought well and have great depth plus the favourite is paying 7.50 so its wide open nice conspiracy theory about Gus - battler
Scott Pryde
Expert
When did I say that? I've said the Tigers are in my top eight since December, the Rabbitohs I'm not sure where they will end up.
The eye
Guest
only 5 months to go before the finals ...doubt Gus will be able to sleep tonight with worry...gee sus...
Oingo Boingo
Guest
Yeah , but Scott has already touted the Tigers as a top 8 cert and the Wabbits as pushing poo up the ladder , on the basis of one game ..... We've seen these early season upsets for as long as I can remember....as we've seen these early season predictions for as long a time , and both will be long forgotten by September.
Longtimereader
Guest
Exactly the point... He's one of their name players, and nothing says premiership contender like a fullback that's a speed bump
Kenw
Guest
Great intensity, probably couldn't do that better, but actually they dropped a fair bit of ball both in good field position and bad. They could certainly tighten that up a fair bit.
sham
Guest
The Dragons targeted Moylan he is not a great defender
BigJ
Roar Guru
exactly correct Scott, no one call tell what is going to happen over the next 25 weeks
BigJ
Roar Guru
Panthers for the preimership hey um?????????
Longtimereader
Guest
I was always completely blown away when anyone said Penrith were favourites. At best they have about 3 'name' players.. Most teams that can actually compete to win the comp are benching players other teams would pay $500k for.... I guess their favouritism just goes to show how helpful it can be in the press when you have a leading NRL commentator wasth a vested interest
SSTID_1970
Roar Rookie
Congrats to the Dragons but neither the Dragons or the Tigers were put under any pressure and were allowed to run riot. The Tigers were allowed way too many offloads and second phase play killed Souths (irrespective of injuries) period. I'm happy to see under dogs prove the critics wrong. At the end of the day it is the unpredictability of the result that makes sport so enjoyable. Still, it's a LONG way to round 26! One game at a time boys.
Zedman
Roar Rookie
Apparently Gus helped out with a bit of coaching during the week.
Scott Pryde
Expert
It's Round 1... Long way to go in this season.
Adam
Guest
And the Roar predicted the Dragons would finish 15th lmao
Scott Pryde
Expert
I was tipping Penrith...
Scott Pryde
Expert
I'm shocked, but I'm beyond happy. What a win! Thompson and Widdop best two on ground, Dugan a close third but hard to fault any Dragons player on ground today. They were absolutely fantastic. What a performance. Plenty to work on for Penrith - attitude at the top of the list - but that will be a wake up call for them. Worst they will play all year.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Wow, is that really the score?!? Didn't watch the game but this is why I made the comment that the panthers will be the most overrated side of 2017.... it's only round 1 but I never understood the pre season hype around them.