It’s almost a must-win situation for the Penrith Panthers in Round 21 when they host the struggling, out of contention Canterbury Bulldogs. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:50pm (AEST).
The Bulldogs appear to be out of contention for the finals. With six games to go, Canterbury sit on just 18 competition points and are already six points behind the eighth-placed St George-Illawarra Dragons.
A three game turnaround in the limited time remaining seems almost impossible – even with a win here – so all the intrigue and focus around this game switches to Penrith.
They have been inconsistent to say the least this season, but seem to be really hitting the top of their game, particularly in attack over the last fortnight.
Nathan Cleary has been the key man for Penrith, as they picked up a pair of victories away from home against the New Zealand Warriors, then back at the foot of the mountains against the Gold Coast Titans.
Their defence still has issues, given they conceded 38 points across the two games, but their attack is what they can build themselves on and it finally has looked to fire.
What will be interesting is whether they can maintain that with Matt Moylan out. It’s been a spark to play him in the halves over the last few weeks, but he is injured and will be replaced by rookie Tyrone May, who hasn’t done anything wrong in his previous opportunities.
Penrith do sit a single win outside the top eight, but have a great run home. They only play two more games away from home and only one side in the top four.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, have slumped from one low to the next in 2017. As mentioned, they are a long way from the finals and are currently 13th. Even more worrying would be that their season was effectively on the line last week and they got trounced 42-12 by the Brisbane Broncos.
It wasn’t their worst performance of the season. They seemed to be in the contest, throwing it around during the first half but some dumb errors in the second, compounded with too much defense saw the scoreboard skip away.
Whether it was a fair reflection of the contest is irrelevant. The bottom line is that they brought it upon themselves and played a poor game, leading to a loss that all but ended their season.
They seem to be a club with no direction and not nearly enough effort in the forwards. Captain James Graham makes his return this week and could change that, but the Bulldogs will need to rise in the face of adversity with fresh rumours swirling around coach Des Hasler this week.
Prediction
The Panthers are going to win, the only question being by how much. If Cleary plays well, they could skip away with this in the second half.
Panthers by 18.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this Round 21 clash from 7:50pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment below.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I don't know if I'd go that far but it's definitely worth blooding a few guys. I can understand Lichaa being on the bench for injury cover but why not have Woolford or Garvey. They can be cover and add spark. I've only seen a few games but I've been impressed by Rhyse Martin and Renouf To'omaga as backrowers in the NSW cup and Rod Griffen at 13. Elliott's done well but is looking tired. Give RFM a run as a starting backrower and one of these guys a spot on the bench. Fualalo is solid and getting better slowly but he doesn't have to be on the bench EVERY week. Frawleys good but is a bit off the pace, give Cleeland a run for a couple of weeks and Frawley a breather. Holland is not the answer on the wing, give Abbey another crack for a few games. Give him a run at fullback. Hopoate is safe as house, runs tough metres but doesn't look like creating anything. Brenko Lee hasn't played since round 11 but is still leading the team in line break assists, offloads and try assists (he's on 9, Joppa second on 5), is second for line breaks and fifth for tackle busts. Does the Dogs defence look that much better without him that they can sacrifice their (by far) most potent attacking player?
Leon Dimitresku
Roar Rookie
A scrappy win by Penrith with not a lot of reasons to make it to the top four. And that is coming from a proud Panthers supporter. Well, at least everyone has stopped talking about Origin.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Mate - you guys need to improve big time on last nights effort. Still, I'd rather be in your shoes.
catcat
Roar Rookie
I wonder if he struggling with the pace of the game at the NRL level,..and that why Des used him off the bench for the first few weeks. He is only 22 so got time to develop
Long Black
Roar Rookie
I watched for 75 minutes hoping that one of my favourite teams "not the Panthers" would have a win. Sadly, when "not the Panthers" turned out to be the Bulldogs, it was 75 minutes wasted.
Albo
Guest
The Panthers were frustratingly awful yet again ! But I don't know what adjectives to use for the Dogs ?
steveng
Roar Rookie
That Matt Frawley is not much chop, he is one that needs ‘the big chop’ as he's made allot of mistakes in the Dogs last few games. Forward passes in the 10m, ineffective kicks, dropping the ball, its not good enough when every game was crucial and the Dogs needed to win.
Greg
Guest
The world has gone past Des, but there again hang around and pick up a nice million or so!
Danno1
Guest
Agreed.... hopefully now Des will give some second graders or under 20s a shot, and give the old guys a rest. Put Mbye at fullback let him run it's what he's best at, give Brenko Lee another shot, just to give us some semblance of attacking threat (I know his defence is ordinary but at least give us entertainment) Give Graham and Tolman the rest of the season off, start Jackson and Klemmer from the bench and play them for only 20mins, same with Reynolds, he still doesn't look fit. Put Hoppa at 5/8 who knows it may work.... Try identify some talent to surround the gambler and the pillow next year, it can't be any worse than the sludge served up over the last 2 years.
The Barry
Roar Guru
We're not even a mathematical chance any more. Thank god. This season has been an unmitigated disaster. So was the back half of last season. One try this week, two tries next week. It's not even close to good enough for a full time professional football club. Full time. Think about that. These guys do this for a living. I don't want to imagine what would happen if I went into work and put in a performance like that. For a week. Let alone for 18 f..ken months. I certainly wouldn't be pulling down a 500 grand pay cheque. There's no excuses. No injuries. No off field dramas. Hasler has had years to build this team, it's not like he doesn't have his roster. Something needs to happen. I'm not sure swapping Reynolds for Foran and Kasiano for Woods is the answer.
Joe
Roar Rookie
That is a very good description of the Dogs this season. : )
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
What's the point of a quick tap if the ref is just going to yell "He's tapped it! He's tapped it!"?
Magic Lyrebird
Guest
The dogs looked old and slow and tired. And skill-less. And like they'd never really played together before. What the hell are they spending their salary cap on?
Scott Pryde
Expert
Based on the last two weeks, you would say they would give it a shake. Based on tonight you would say they won't make it.
Scott Pryde
Expert
I think it was ruled that the official time actually expired before he played the ball.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cheers JB, Unlucky mate. Been a tough season for your mob - I would say it'll turn around next year, but I can't see that happening unless Des goes.
Johnybulldog
Guest
Come quickly Mr Foran!
willy
Guest
if the panthers make it to the finals i will be very suprised if they make it past the first round
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Annnoying at the end. The ball is played, dummy half passes and siren goes. Ref blows fulltime. The ball was played before the hooter so play should continue until a stoppage. This used to be the interpretation until the kides screamed onto the field in tghe late 70s. It doesn't happen now. It wouldn't havemade any difference tonight but what if Penrith were leading by 4 or 6 points?
Scott Pryde
Expert
Well that'll just about do it here on The Roar for our live coverage of the 2017 NRL Season as the Penrith Panthers fought hard for an eight-point victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage. I'll be back from 6pm (AEST) tomorrow as Round 21 continues with the New Zealand Warriors hosting the Cronulla Sharks. More than likely, I'll then be hanging around for the Parramatta Eels and Brisbane Broncos clash. Bye for now.