After securing their third minor premiership in four years, Penrith Panthers kick off their post-season campaign against a Warriors outfit making a rare finals appearance.
The 18-6 Panthers have won nine of their last 10 games, bouncing back from a shock 32-18 loss to Parramatta in the penultimate round with an authoritative 44-12 beatdown of a desperate North Queensland last Saturday.
Jarome Luai is the Panthers’ only top-liner unavailable, with hooker Mitch Kenny and back-rower Scott Sorensen both returning.
The Warriors’ seven-match winning streak came to a halt last weekend when a team with eight first-choice stars rested went down 34-10 to the Dolphins, where positives came in the shape of strong performances from the likes of Josh Curran.
The Warriors have been struggling to find their best since racking up a string of resounding wins in June and July, scraping past also-ran opponents, but Shaun Johnson, Addin Fonua-Blake and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad have stayed in magnificent touch throughout.
The only contentious selection for the Warriors sees Jazz Tevaga return from another injury layoff at Bunty Afoa’s expense, with Mitch Barnett starting at prop and utility Bayley Sironen retaining a bench spot.
Te Maire Martin made his first NRL start in four months last week and will wear the No.6 here.
The Warriors are on a seven-match losing streak against the Panthers, though they gave the two-time champs a tough test in an 18-6 Magic Round loss despite having two players sin-binned.
The Warriors’ only finals match in the past 11 seasons was a 27-12 elimination final defeat to the Panthers in 2018. Johnson, Harris and Tevaga are survivors of that loss, while Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was playing fullback for a Panthers side that included Cleary, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Tyrone Peachey.
Whichever way you spin it, this is a mountainous assignment for the $4.80 underdog Warriors.
Their momentum has been stunted somewhat, there’s a stack of players on finals debut or with little playoffs experience and they’re in hostile territory.
But they’ve got nothing to lose and coach Andrew Webster knows what makes Ivan Cleary’s Panthers tick as well as anyone.
Grasping any scoring opportunities will be paramount against a team that concedes only 13 points per game – Johnson is the clear key there.
The Panthers enjoy some favourable match-ups on the edges, but if the Warriors can hold their own through the middle they’re every chance of keeping this one close.
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