Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 24 clash between the Penrith Panthers and Melbourne Storm.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Penrith Panthers Vs Melbourne Storm
Venue: BlueBet Stadium, Penrith
Date: Thursday August 15, 7:50pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Panthers: 1. Daine Laurie, 2. Sunia Turuva, 3. Izack Tago, 4. Casey McLean, 5. Brian To’o, 6. Jarome Luai, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. Moses Leota, 9. Mitch Kenny, 10. Lindsay Smith, 11. Mavrik Geyer, 12. Liam Henry, 13. Isaah Yeo, 14. Trent Toelau, 15. Matt Eisenhuth, 16. Luron Patea, 17. Jack Cole, 18. Brad Schneider, 19. James Fisher-Harris, 20. Dylan Edwards, 21. Austin Dias, 22. Luke Sommerton
Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2. William Warbrick, 3. Jack Howarth, 4. Nick Meaney, 5. Grant Anderson, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 9. Harry Grant, 10. Josh King, 11. Shawn Blore, 12. Eliesa Katoa, 13. Trent Loiero, 14. Tyran Wishart, 15. Lazarus Vaalepu, 16. Tui Kamikamica, 17. Alec MacDonald, 18. Kane Bradley, 19. Sualauvi Faalogo, 20. Tepai Moeroa, 21. Dean Ieremia, 22. Chris Lewis
Referee: Ashley Klein
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
The finals have come early in 2024 as the Penrith Panthers take on the Melbourne Storm in a Thursday night top two shoot-out at BlueBet Stadium.
It’s a blockbuster of the highest proportions to kick off round 24, with the match shaping as a potential grand final preview.
The three-time premiers currently sit second on the ladder, two points behind the Storm, but can jump to top spot with a victory by three points or more. A Melbourne victory would all but sew up the club’s sixth minor premiership and fifth in the past nine seasons.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is keeping his cards close to his chest, naming Dylan Edwards and James Fisher-Harris among the reserves as they close in on returns from knee and groin injuries respectively. There will be a couple of changes to the side that came from nowhere to beat Parramatta last weekend, with Scott Sorensen (hamstring) and Liam Martin (suspension) both unavailable, seeing Mavrik Geyer make his first run-on appearance in the back row with Liam Henry. Jack Cole returns on the bench, while Lindsay Smith has been named to start at prop, with Matt Eisenhuth dropping back to the bench.
It’s a much more settled line up for the Storm, with the return of Eliesa Katoa to the back row the only notable change. Trent Loiero shuffles to lock, with Nelson Asofa-Solomona at prop and Tui Kamikamica sliding to the bench and Chris Lewis dropping to the reserves.
Although they’ve won their past five straight, the Panthers haven’t particularly set the world on fire for the most part, just doing enough to get the job done. Against Parramatta last Friday night, three tries in the final seven minutes were enough to overhaul a 34-20 deficit and claim a win reminiscent of their comeback in last year’s grand final.
The Storm too will have something to prove after Craig Bellamy was less than impressed with their 28-16 victory over South Sydney, following their shock loss against St George Illawarra, who in turn had been belted 46-10 by Penrith the previous week in a match that looked to be the Panthers back to their best.
The battle in the halves will be of particular note as arguably the competition’s two best partnerships of Luai/Cleary and Munster/Hughes go head-to-head as they try to one-up each other ahead of the finals. There are plenty of similarities with their form lines in 2024, with Cleary and Munster both missing the entire Origin period through injury, leaving Luai and Hughes to lead their teams’ charge. As such, they’ve been the two form halves for most of the year, guiding their team to the top two positions on the ladder.
Last time these two teams met, it was a defensive masterclass from the Storm to claim an 8-0 round one victory in Melbourne. Their last meeting at Penrith saw the Panthers cruise to a 26-6 victory in round 23 last year, one of three Panthers victories against the Storm in 2023.
Since 2020, the two teams have met 11 times, with the Panthers winning seven, including two of the three at BlueBet Stadium.
In that same time frame, the Panthers have finished first on three occasions and second once. The Storm have finished first once and second twice. Victory in this game would guarantee a top two finish for the Storm once again and open a four-point gap over the Panthers with just three rounds remaining. A Panthers victory would leave the two teams equal on points and at least four points ahead of third by the end of the weekend. Based on current form, these two teams look like meeting again come October 6. In the past four years, they’ve met once in a grand final (2020, won by Melbourne) and twice in preliminary finals (2021 and 2023, both won by Penrith). With that in mind, both sides might be a little hesitant to show off all their tricks. If there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that Craig Bellamy won’t have the Storm wearing Penrith colours for an opposed session this time.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Panthers by 2 points.
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