Sharks
21
Match Complete
Panthers
20
| C. Townsend |  | 74 | ||
| 69 |  | N. Cleary | ||
| 67 |  | W. Blake | ||
| 66 | | N. Cleary | ||
| 65 | | I. Yeo | ||
| V. Holmes |  | 58 | ||
| 49 | | N. Cleary | ||
| 48 | | N. Cleary | ||
| 39 | | N. Cleary | ||
| L. Lewis | | 30 | ||
| V. Holmes | | 15 | ||
| V. Holmes | | 14 | ||
| V. Holmes | | 11 | ||
| V. Holmes | | 6 | ||
| C. Townsend | | 4 |
| 3 | Tries | 3 | ||
| 2 | Conversions | 3 | ||
| 2 | Penalty Goals | 1 | ||
| 1 | Field Goals | 0 |
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.
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
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
Chace prior
Guest
Go panthers
MCPC
Roar Rookie
Agreed. And this is supposedly the best halves-pairing in NSW.... Maloney played like a first year player, not a tenth year player. The whole side got overwhelmed. Credit to them for the comeback though.
thomas c
Guest
Panthers looked good when they were going through the middle. Once Gallen went off the sharks seemed to lack go forward necessary to re-seize the momentum. Luke Lewis being off the field was also noticeable. Kikau is such a big strong runner, you need someone like Lewis to hit him hard enough that he doesn't want the ball.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Panthers desperately need a good hooker with good service for next season. There was one play in the first half wher the Panthers were deep out to the left, Maloney at first receiver and the dummy half - under no pressure - threw it out over Maloney’s right shoulder so he had to stop and turn and it wrecked the whole movement. A few time Penrith’s kickers were taking the ball on the opposite side of their kicking foot. Also happened for Cleary’s first FG attempt. Makes a massive difference.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Also on the list. Fixing the site isn't my domain though. People far above my talent level are on that job. Please bear with us. There is a lot to get right and improve upon and it's time consuming. We will get it done as soon as possible
The Barry
Roar Guru
Rush it through Editor. I’ve had some howlers go through to the keeper...! Emojis would be good too... ????
The Barry
Roar Guru
Agree. Great game from him tonight. Touches of skill, laid on two tries, some really brave tackles and tough runs. But it must be frustrating as hell for a coach (and a fan) that a player like that delivers so conclusively when it’s personal but then he’s a bit all over the shop when it’s not.
JVGO
Guest
Moylan has been great the entire second half of the season. So has Doogs when he's played. Woods has been fantastic too, just needs to cut out the cheap penalties and the odd crucial mistake.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Awful last few minutes by the Panthers - with everything to play for they just completely lost the plot. Credit to the Sharks - steadied when it mattered. But the Panthers have a bit of soul searching to do. Their ad lib footy might be good to watch but sometimes they need to just need to play the percentages, get back to basics and grind it out
The Barry
Roar Guru
Townsend set up and scored the first try, gave the last pass for the second try and kicked th3 field goal....but still gets “yeah, Chad’s been working hard on his game”
Concerned Observer
Roar Rookie
Just rubbish from the Panthers in those last few minutes. Reeks of a side that fired its coach with a top four finish in sight then proceeded to white ant its top playmaker when they expressed an opinion contrary to Gould So, 2016, 2017, 2018, the phil Gould led panthers have had the exact same exit, disposing of a weak finals team before themselves meekly being disposed of by an actual contender. At this point it feels like they’ve entered the 2nd millennium of the 5 year plan and there is still no tangible result apart from a great set of juniors that they continuously haemorrhage. Wins in the U20s and ISP are all well and good but I specifically remember that Gould promised a premiership for the Panthers and the fat failure is yet to deliver Good stuff from the sharks though, dealt with the garbage early on and just slowly strangled the cats until the buzzer
The Barry
Roar Guru
It’s pretty simple...but still strange...when they’re in a c8nteast they have no idea what to do and how to play to a structure. Once they’re “no chance” they play free and easy and instinctual. The hard part is how they channel that so that not every game is a 50/50. Guys like Peachey, Blake and Kikau are completely different players once they’re playing with no shackles.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thanks for joining me this evening on The Roar for our live coverage of the 2018 NRL finals series as the Cronulla Sharks edged out the Penrith Panthers. Hopefully you enjoyed the call. Tomorrow, it'll be Andrew Jackson - probably a very upset Andrew Jackson right about now - to bring you live coverage of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons. I'm sure I'll pay for that barb about this time tomorrow. Be sure to join him from 7:40pm (AEST). Before that, Riley Pettigrew will take you through the NRLW game between the Dragons and New Zealand Warriors from 5:15pm (AEST). I'll be around for Winx at the George Main Stakes from 3:10pm (AEST) tomorrow, then the JLT one-day cup as Queensland take on Victoria on Sunday from 10am (AEST). Talking points for this game will be up in the morning. Bye for now.
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
Especially when the plan is field goal and your half back is now calling for it...
The Barry
Roar Guru
Poor old Chad Townsend can’t buy a wrap...even his teammates sling him back handed compliments after he’s iced the game for them.
Scott Pryde
Expert
PRELIMINARY FINALS Melbourne Storm vs Cronulla Sharks, Friday September 21, 7:40pm (AEST) at AAMI Park, Melbourne Sydney Roosters vs South Sydney Rabbitohs/St George Illawarra Dragons, Saturday, September 22, 7:40pm (AEST) at Allianz Stadium. The Rabbitohs and Dragons semi-final will be played tomorrow night.
Nat
Roar Guru
So I'm at the pub putting the bet on for my 1pt win. "Wait that's the home team, cancel that one please, I want the away team..."
Scott Pryde
Expert
Moylan really rose tonight. Great game, but there are still moments. He was pretty poor next week. The true test is next week.
Scott Pryde
Expert
How good have the finals been!
Brendon Waldron
Roar Pro
And if you do want a square-up field goal, you need to actually pass it to a kicker on the last...