Roar Guru
Penrith Panthers
30
Match Complete
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
18
K. Falls | 70 | |||
K. Falls | 65 | |||
J. Salmon | 63 | |||
58 | M. Burton | |||
57 | M. Burton | |||
51 | M. Burton | |||
49 | J. Addo-Carr | |||
K. Falls | 34 | |||
V. Kikau | 32 | |||
T. May | 26 | |||
20 | M. Burton | |||
19 | J. Addo-Carr | |||
K. Falls | 14 | |||
D. Edwards | 12 | |||
K. Falls | 6 | |||
C. Smith | 4 |
5 | Tries | 3 | ||
4 | Conversions | 3 | ||
1 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
0 | Field Goals | 0 |
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The Origin hit Penrith Panthers host the desperate Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs in Friday night footy in Penrith. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7.55pm AEST.
The Panthers have been at their electric best to start 2022, with just the one loss to their name. They made an easy meal of a third placed Cowboys last week to go into the Origin period exactly how they would have wanted. After parting ways with coach Trent Barrett after Magic Round, the Bulldogs have been competitive and shown a lot of fight in defeats to the Tigers and Dragons.
The Panthers have six players in the Blues squad and have a vastly different team this week as a result. Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton are replaced by Charlie Staines and Robert Jennings respectively. Kurt Falls makes his debut alongside Sean O’Sullivan in the halves, replacing Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary. Matt Eisenhuth takes the place of Issah Yeo at lock, while Chris Smith slots into the second row for Liam Martin. The bench for the Panthers remains unchanged from last week.
For the Bulldogs, Raymond Faitala-Mariner swaps with Corey Waddell in the run-on side. Ava Seumanufagai is the new man on the bench for Joe Stimson.
These two have already played once this year, the Panthers running out comfortable winners at CommBank Stadium, 32-12. The Panthers have a healthy recent record over the Bulldogs, winning 8 of the last 10 between the two. The Bulldogs haven’t won in Penrith since 2016 and have only won 40% of their games in Penrith.
Prediction
It was this time last year that the Panthers started to struggle. Obviously they still won the premiership, but disruption over the Origin period started to affect them and they dropped a few games after being a juggernaut to start the season.
They look better equipped to deal with it this year. They lost a few players over the off-season but it has hardly hindered them. Isaack Tago and Taylan May have been two of their best and they are players in their rookie season. The big outs are the halves and Issah Yeo, what is essentially the control and core of their attack.
The Panthers won’t be at their best this weekend, any side that has six new faces in a week will struggle with combinations and consistency. But the Bulldogs are running last, and for good reason. They have struggled on both sides of the park and while they have been competitive the last couple of weeks they still haven’t been able to jag a win. Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr will be highly motivated this week, and the Bulldogs will score some points just due to the Panthers personnel changes.
Ultimately though, at home again and with a number of strike weapons on the park, the Panthers will keep on keeping on.
Panthers by 8
Kick-off: 7:55pm AEST
Venue: BlueBet Stadium, Penrith
TV/Stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Odds: Panthers $1.31, Bulldogs $3.50 – odds via PlayUp
Penrith
1. Dylan Edwards 2. Taylan May 3. Izack Tago 4. Robert Jennings 5. Charlie Staines 6. Kurt Falls 7. Sean O’Sullivan 8. Moses Leota 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. James Fisher-Harris 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Chris Smith 13. Matt Eisenhuth 14. Mitch Kenny 15. Scott Sorensen 16. Spencer Leniu 17. Jaeman Salmon 18. Soni Luke 19. J’maine Hopgood 20. Lindsay Smith 21. Sunia Turuva 22. Preston Riki
Canterbury
1. Matt Dufty 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Aaron Schoupp 4. Jake Averillo 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Matt Burton 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Luke Thompson 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Josh Jackson 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 13. Max King 14. Zach Dockar-Clay 15. Corey Waddell 16. Chris Patolo 17. Ava Seumanufagai 19. Jackson Topine 20. Bailey Biondi-Odo 21. Joe Stimson 22. Corey Allan 25. Kurtis Morrin
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