Wests Tigers v Panthers preview

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Wests Tigers v Penrith Panthers Friday 7:55pm at Leichhardt Oval, Lilyfield / Wanngal

Wests Tigers host the "Penrith Panthers" this Friday Night at ...wait... *checks which one of the Tigers 500,000 home grounds* ... .OK it's at Leichhardt Oval, in a match that makes a mockery of the NRL competition and any semblance of integrity it may claim to have.

We finally got it right in 2020, with State of Origin moved to a showpiece event at the end of the season, ensuring that the NRL competition was not robbed of its best players for 3-6 weeks a year - but no - we're back to Rugby League cannibalising its own sport. You gotta love it.

Anyway, the Tigers come into this one on the back of a massive win over the St George Illawarra Dragons, a very impressive performance in a 34-18 win. The Panthers beat Canterbury comfortably 30-4, but that game was played by a completely different team so...

In team news, the Tigers have one major change from their winning side last week, losing Joe Ofahengaue to State of Origin, with Balmain junior Alex Seyfarth named as lock to replace him. Stefano Utoikamanu comes onto the bench, and Michael Chee Kam, Jake Simpkin and Kiah Cooper join the squad as reserves.

For the Panthers, well, where do you start. A victim of their own success, with seven Origin selections. From last week's side Moses Leota is suspended, the Origin outs are Koroisau, To'o, Yeo, Luai, Martin and Cleary. Wow.

Dylan Edwards comes in at Fullback, pushing Stephen Chrichton to the centres, Matt Burton moves from the centres to five-eighth, Tyone May will join him in the halves. Robert Jennings and Mitch Kenny also come straight into the starting lineup. Jaeman Salmon, J'maine Hopgood and Lindsay Smith come in on the interchange bench. Interestingly, Bulldogs-bound Brent Naden is that out of favour, that he will have to settle for a spot in the reserves, despite all the outs.

For what its worth, the Panthers have won 4 out of the last 5 matches between these two teams, with the most recent being a 30-6 win for Penrith in Round 16 of the 2020 Covid Cup.

Last meeting: Round 16 2020 - Panthers 30 Wests Tigers 6

Who to watch: For the Tigers, the whole team. This is a massive chance for them to show that they can string two decent performances together. They backed up a quality Magic Round performance with a disappointing loss to the Warriors. Another impressive, high scoring win last week needs to be followed up.

For the Panthers, my main focus will be on how Matt Burton performs in the halves. He has been in absolutely sensational form in the centres, but this is a chance for him to take full command of a game. It will be very interesting to see. 

The favourite: At the time of writing, the Panthers are $1.50 favourites. 

My tip: The Tigers should win, everything is setup for them to get two in a row….I'll tip the Tigers, but with the lingering thought in my head that it's just waiting for a secnd string Panthers ambush. Because Tigers... Even so, Wests Tigers by 6.

1. Daine Laurie 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Adam Doueihi 4. Tommy Talau 5. James Roberts 6. Moses Mbye 7. Luke Brooks 8. James Tamou 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Alex Twal 11. Luke Garner 12. Luciano Leilua 13. Alex Seyfarth 14. Stefano Utoikamanu 15. Shawn Blore 16. Tom Amone 17. Thomas Mikaele 18. Michael Chee-Kam

1. Dylan Edwards 2. Charlie Staines 3. Stephen Crichton 4. Paul Momirovski 5. Robert Jennings 6. Matt Burton 7. Tyrone May 8. Spencer Leniu 9. Mitch Kenny 10. James Fisher-Harris 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Scott Sorensen 13. Matthew Eisenhuth 14. Jaeman Salmon 15. J'maine Hopgood 16. Lindsay Smith 17. Izack Tago 18. Brent Naden

Referees: Grant Atkins; Sideline Officials: Chris Sutton, Nick Beashel; Video Referees: Alan Shortall;