Penrith Panthers v North Queensland Cowboys
Brave Bunnies boil over rusty Roosters
4 hours ago | Justin Davies
Panthers v Cowboys preview
Slow starters meet on neutral turf!
After a rough start to season 2025, both the Penrith Panthers and North Queensland Cowboys are hoping to set the tone for the next phase of the season when they play at CommBank Stadium.
Penrith has returned from it's Las Vegas adventure and struggled with some fundamentals of the game. They've been making errors that this team simply wouldn't have made once in the last four years. Meanwhile, defensively they are leaking points at an alarming rate, conceding 20 points in each of it's opening four NRL matches. That being said, yes, they have been interrupted with injuries with Origin stars Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards missing games, now they can join Brian To'o to the list as he misses a month with a hamstring injury.
To get their season back on track, Penrith need to get back to their fundamentals. Which is the following, complete well, kick to corners and frustrate teams into submission with their ruthless defence. Middle defence has been of significant importance for the Panthers, but several times already, they have conceded crash ball or dummy half tries, something of which is very un-Penrith like. The forwards need to take it right up to the Cowboys pack and then shift the ball outwide to strike weapons such as Paul Alamoti and Izack Tago.
Onto team news, Nathan Cleary gets the call to return from a concussion which is timely given the knee injury to Trent Toelau. Elsewhere, Casey McLean returns on the wing to replace Brian To'o (hamstring) while Isaiah Papali'i starts for Scott Sorensen (concussion protocols) with Matt Eisenhuth the new face on the bench.
For the Cowboys, they picked up a maiden win for the season against a disappointing Raiders outfit at home and it was a great way to end what has been a rough opening to the season. Coach Todd Payten can feel somewhat justified in his decision to recall Jake Clifford after two sound performances, culminating in an epic 15-minute spell before the break last week which turned the game on its head.
To beat the Panthers in this one, they need to go back to the playbook from last week. They need to win contact from the opening whistle, if they do that and get over the advantage line, this will allow Reece Robson and Tom Dearden to take the game to Penrith like they did against the Raiders. Outwide, they will look to strike down Penrith's defensively poor right edge, it has been a growing problem for several seasons for the Panthers with teams going at them relentlessly.
Onto team news and Todd Payten has kept Jeremiah Nanai on the bench despite an improved showing the last fortnight, opting for Kai O'Donnell on the edge. Elsewhere it is the same side that was successful on Saturday night.
Last meeting: Round 17 2024 - Panthers 6 Cowboys 16
The favourite: Penrith are the favourites for this one. North Queensland have won three of the last five matches against the Panthers.
Players to Watch: Looking at the Panthers, the focus is on Lindsay Smith. Smith's name has come up in Origin discussion (yes we are getting close to that time) after his Australian debut towards the end of last year. To start this year, he has been strong and reliable up front. He seems to have taken to task the role that James Fisher-Harris left him and has had an uptick in attacking stats to start the year.
For the Cowboys, we are going to focus on John Bateman. Yes, he had a bad defensive showing against the Broncos, no one is disputing that. But with that aside, he has actually shown some pretty good signs in a Cowboys jersey, averaging well over 100 metres a game and getting through a bulk of defensive work. It is good signs to see Bateman dial into what Todd Payten wants and away from the crocodile rolls that saw him depart Concord. The challenge comes this week against the four-time-premiers, if he holds up than it is impressive to see what a change in scenery can do for a player.
My tip: Penrith have to be better than the first month of the year. Given the longer turnaround from Thursday night, it will be enough time for Ivan Cleary to shoot a rocket up his side to improve on their neutral home ground. North Queensland will go after Cleary in this one but it will be a matter of time to see how effective that will be. Penrith by 8.
1. Daine Laurie 2. Paul Alamoti 3. Izack Tago 4. Thomas Jenkins 5. Casey McLean 6. Jack Cole 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 11. Isaiah Papali'i 17. Luke Garner 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo 10. Lindsay Smith 14. Brad Schneider 15. Matt Eisenhuth 16. Liam Henry 18. Blaize Talagi
1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Robert Derby 3. Jaxon Purdue 4. Viliami Vailea 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Tom Dearden 7. Jake Clifford 8. Jordan McLean 9. Reece Robson 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. John Bateman 12. Kai O'Donnell 14. Sam McIntyre 15. Jeremiah Nanai 16. Griffin Neame 17. Coen Hess 18. Harrison Edwards 20. Thomas Duffy
Referees: Peter Gough; Sideline Officials: Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski, Daniel Luttringer; Video Referees: Gerard Sutton;