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Cronulla Sharks vs Penrith Panthers: NRL finals live scores, blog

14th September, 2018
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Sharks

21

Match Complete

Panthers

20

80
SHA21 : 20PAN

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14th September, 2018
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Sharks

21

Match Complete

Panthers

20

C. Townsend74
69N. Cleary
67W. Blake
66N. Cleary
65I. Yeo
V. Holmes58
49N. Cleary
48N. Cleary
39N. Cleary
L. Lewis30
V. Holmes15
V. Holmes14
V. Holmes11
V. Holmes6
C. Townsend4

3
Tries
3
2
Conversions
3
2
Penalty Goals
1
1
Field Goals
0

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The Cronulla Sharks will need to overcome the loss of two representative players and bounce back from a loss to keep their NRL season going when they face the Penrith Panthers in the first NRL semi-final. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:40pm (AEST).

The Sharks will head into this game without Wade Graham and Josh Dugan. Graham is out for the season after injuring his ACL last week, while Dugan has also picked up a shoulder injury 24 hours out from the game to be excluded.

Dugan will be replaced by a returning Jesse Ramien, which means the Sharks may not lose a huge deal. Graham meanwhile is a huge loss, with Scott Sorensen to start and Kurt Capewell into the side.

After their loss to the Roosters last week where the Sharks bombed opportunity after opportunity, they will need to be better with the ball in hand against the all dangerous Panthers side.

While the Sharks have had a pretty ordinary week off the field, it’s been the complete opposite for the men from the foot of the mountains.

They haven’t had to make a single change to the team who were victorious against the Warriors. While they found themselves behind again early in the contest, they fought their way back strongly throughout, ending up with a convincing win.

James Maloney’s influence over the side in the halves has been clear to see in their last two victories and if he continues with that today, the Sharks will never feel comfortable.

Maloney’s battle with his opposite number and the man he was traded for during the pre-season, Matt Moylan, will also be intriguing to watch.

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Moylan went missing a little bit during last week’s loss, and along with Chad Townsend and Valentine Holmes, needs a big performance to allow Cronulla into the lead – a lead which they should be able to defend given their grittiness in doing so throughout the season.

That’s the problem with playing Penrith though. The Sharks enjoy getting into a scrap and playing up the middle third of the park – Penrith are the complete opposite, so if they get to play the game up tempo and at their pace, they could tire out the Sharks middle men and run away with the win.

The Sharks have won eight of their last ten against Penrith, but as we saw last week when the Dragons broke a ten-match losing streak at Suncorp Stadium, it matters little in finals.

Prediction
The Sharks might come in as favourites, but injuries will stand in their path, with the Panthers confident after last week.

Panthers by 8.

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this first NRL semi-final from 7:40pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

Gameinfo

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Kick-off: Friday, September 14, 7:40pm (AEST)
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
TV: Live, Fox League and Nine Network
Online: Live, Foxtel app, Foxtel now, 9Now, NRL digital pass
Betting: Sharks $1.68, Panthers $2.20
Referees: Ashley Klein, Adam Gee
Overall record: Played 90, Sharks 49, Panthers 38, drawn 3
Last meeting: Round 18, Panthers 12 defeated by Sharks 24 at Panthers Stadium, Penrith
Last five: Sharks 5, Panthers 0
Record at venue: Never played
Record in finals: Never played

Cronulla Sharks
1 Valentine Holmes, 2 Sosaia Feki, 3 Josh Dugan, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Edrick Lee, 6 Matt Moylan, 7 Chad Townsend, 8 Andrew Fifita, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Luke Lewis, 12 Scott Sorensen, 13 Paul Gallen (c)
Interchange: 14 Kurt Capewell, 15 James Segeyaro, 16 Aaron Woods, 17 Jayson Bukuya, 18 Jesse Ramien, 19 Ava Seumanufagai, 20 Joseph Paulo, 21 Kyle Flanagan

Penrith Panthers
1 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 2 Josh Mansour, 3 Waqa Blake, 4 Tyrone Peachey, 5 Christian Crichton, 6 James Maloney, 7 Nathan Cleary, 8 Trent Merrin 9 Sione Katoa, 10 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 11 Villame Kikau, 12 Isaah Yeo, 13 James Fisher-Harris
Interchange: 14 Tyrone May, 15 Moses Leota, 16 Corey Harawira-Naera, 17 James Tamou, 18 Wayde Egan, 19 Jack Hetherington, 20 Kaide Ellis, 21 Tyrone Phillips

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