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The Panthers have begun their premiership campaign in style, defeating the Eels this afternoon after trailing 14-nil early in the first half.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Penrith Panthers 24
Parramattsa Eels 14
A cracking local derby awaits as NRL premiership aspirants the Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels do battle at the foot of the mountains. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match from 4pm AEDT.
The Panthers and Eels head into season 2018 with plenty of expectations to fulfill. Both rosters are strong and fans will be expecting these two teams to feature in the finals come September.
Despite losing Matt Moylan and Bryce Cartwright to the Sharks and Titans respectively, the Panthers have secured the services of NSW Origin and two time premiership winner James Maloney.
The former Sharks and Roosters star is a terrific addition to the Panthers line-up because he has a proven track record of infinitely improving the attack and structure of a team.
Indeed numbers do not lie. Maloney in his first season at the Sharks and Roosters was able to guide both clubs to premiership glory.
He is a blue-chip signing and he should develop a terrific partnership with the likes of Peter Wallace and Nathan Cleary.
On this front, the Panthers have every reason to believe that they are a premiership threat.
On the other side of the ledger, the Eels did extremely well to finish inside the top four last season, and were very close to upsetting the Melbourne Storm in the first week of the finals.
They blew a great opportunity though to make a preliminary final after losing to the Cowboys and coach Brad Arthur will be keen to go one better this season.
The biggest inclusion to the Eels line-up is none other than Jarryd Hayne. On his day, he is a magnificent player that will take the Eels game to the next level.
At his worst, he is a real liability both on and off the field and any character issues may destabilise the Eels dressing room.
If Arthur can get the best out of Hayne this season and build on the good work he produced last year, the Eels will be a definite premiership threat.
Prediction
This contest should go down to the wire. Both teams appear evenly matched and both have high hopes of producing a campaign that could very well last late into September.
In a tight and entertaining contest, the Panthers at home should get the spoils, particularly if Maloney’s continues his terrific track record of performing brilliantly in his first season at new clubs.
Panthers by 6