Jem Nash previews this Sunday afternoon battle between the Panthers and Raiders at BlueBet Stadium.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Penrith Panthers Vs Canberra Raiders
Venue: BlueBet Stadium
Date: Sunday, April 24, 4:05pm AEST
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Related: NRL Team List Tuesday
Embed from Getty ImagesPanthers: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Charlie Staines 3. Izack Tago 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Taylan May 6. Jarome Luai 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Matthew Eisenhuth 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Jmes Fisher-Harris 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo 14. Mitch Kenny 15. Scott Sorensen 16. Spencer Leniu 17. Jaeman Salmon 18. Robert Jennings 19. Chris Smith 20. J’maine Hopgood 21. Lindsay Smith 22. Soni Luke 23. Christian Crichton 24. Sean O’Sullivan
The Panthers have once again named the same 17, with Nathan Cleary cleared to play following his charge for a dangerous tackle.
Embed from Getty ImagesRaiders: 1. Jordan Rapana 2. Nick Cotric 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Semi Valemei 5. Xavier Savage 6. Jack Wighton 7. Brad Schneider 8. Josh Papalii 9. Tom Starling 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Corey Harawira-Naera 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Ryan Sutton 14. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 15. Harry Rushton 16. Adam Elliott 17. Corey Horsburgh 18. Hudson Young 19. Matt Frawley 20. Jarrod Croker 21. Emre Guler 22. Trey Mooney 23. James Schiller 24. Peter Hola
The Raiders have made some backline changes with Jordan Rapana named at fullback and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad moving to the bench. Xavier Savage will start on the wing while Harry Rushton is in line to make his NRL debut with Emre Guler dropping into the reserves.
Referee: Grant Atkins
MATCHDAY PREVIEW
Sitting in 12th position with two wins from six matches, the Raiders need to get their season back on track, but it doesn’t get any easier as they now face the undefeated Panthers at their home fortress. It was an extremely disappointing 18-12 loss to the Cowboys last week, as they conceded three straight tries in the second half after taking a 12-0 lead into the half time break.
Canberra will be hoping their changes to the back line can provide some spark. Xavier Savage is raw but can provide plenty of x-factor on the wing Nicoll-Klokstad can add an impact off the bench. They’ll have their work cut out for them up against the Panthers who remain the best defensive team in the competition, conceding just 13 points per game.
The Panthers just keep on rolling, making it six straight following a big 40-12 win over the Broncos. Nathan Cleary was back to his brilliant best last week and if he can back up that performance, Penrith should be able to walk away with the win
Embed from Getty ImagesINTERESTING FACT
The Panthers have won an incredible 20 straight games at BlueBet Stadium, with the Raiders the last time to hand them a loss at their home ground back in 2019.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Panthers by 10
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