Round 9: Wests Tigers v Panthers preview
Battle of the big cats to open Friday night proceedings.
Kicking off Magic Round's Friday night festivities at Suncorp Stadium will be a clash between two sides desperate for a win.
The Panthers are now coming off four straight losses and whilst still only two wins out of the eight thanks to the closeness of the competition, they really need to find a win to keep their finals hopes alive.
Good news is, they've been close against some good teams in recent weeks. They should probably have beaten the Sharks three weeks ago after giving up a good lead, went within four of the high flying Rabbitohs and despite the score line blowing out a bit last week, looked better in attack and it was only the Raiders impressive defence that kept them at bay.
Bad news is, they suffered some heavy blows on the injury front in that contest, losing both their edge back-rowers in Viliame Kikau (ankle) and Isaah Yeo (shoulder). Replacing them will be Frank Winterstein and James Fisher-Harris who moves from lock to an edge. Hame Sele has been named to start at lock. In other changes, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak shifts back to the wing to cover the loss of his brother Malakai (ribs) with Dean Whare returning from injury himself in the centres. Young forward Liam Martin is out through suspension with Tyrell Fuimaono taking his place on the bench. Finally, Reagan Campbell-Gillard has been rewarded for a strong game last week, getting his starting spot at prop back with Tim Grant shuffling back to the bench.
It's worth noting Kikau has been named in the reserves and Panthers fans will be praying he can get on the park after his rampaging form in recent weeks, but he would have to be long odds after the way he hobbled off at Wagga Wagga only six days prior to this match.
The Tigers, after a strong opening to their season are sitting just outside the eight but are struggling to find any real consistency in their game and have now gone Loss Win Loss Win Loss the past five weeks.
Coach Michael McGuire will be hoping the experience of Benji Marshall will help after naming him to return from a hamstring injury that has kept him out for the past five weeks. His return will see Ryan Matterson moving back to the second-row which sees Elijah Taylor drop out of the 17. Workhorse forward Matt Eisenhuth has been named at lock in place of Josh Aloiai who's been ruled out following a concussion and young prop Oliver Clark comes onto the bench for his NRL debut.
Last meeting: Round 4 2019 - Panthers 9 Wests Tigers 8
In a game which the Tigers dominated for much of the contest, the Panthers snuck out of jail with a late try setting up the opportunity for Nathan Cleary to again step up in the clutch moments. And step up he did, nailing a sideline conversion to send the game into golden point before kicking the match winning field-goal from 40 metres out.
Who to watch: One of the more under-rated signings this season, Ryan Matterson has had an impressive start to his time at Tiger town. Was a key member in the Roosters premiership campaign on the right edge last season and has slotted in seamlessly for his new club. A hard working back-rower who gets through plenty of defensive work, Matterson also has a skill-set that sees him cover a number of positions as evidenced last week. With Marshall back on his attacking edge, don't be surprised to see him sneaking through a hole out wide in this one.
Winning his battle at the judiciary on Tuesday night might just prove the turning point in James Maloney's season. The centre of debate around whether he will retain his place in the New South Wales halves this year, he made it clear when interviewed after his hearing that his sole focus was on turning Penrith's season around. The last few weeks have looked a lot crisper in attack for the mountain men and Maloney will be confident of turning that form into points on Friday night. Look for him to be play the magician as he schemes around looking to expose the Tigers recent weaknesses in defence.
The favourite: The bookies can't split them with both teams sitting at $1.90 in the market.
My tip: The time is now for Penrith. Not being far away with an improved attack in recent weeks, they should be able to convert that into points against a Tigers team who've leaked 107 points in the last three weeks. The Panthers have won their last five clashes against the Tigers and should also be more desperate for the win. Panthers by 8.
