The Sharks suffered their sixth loss of the season and their third defeat from four starts at home last week, losing 24 – 18 to the Roosters.
Where and when: Saturday, Apr 26, Remondis Stadium, FOX, 3:00pm
The home-side scored early through Ricky Leutele but the Roosters answered almost immediately and again in the 23rd minute to take a 12 – 6 lead into the halftime break.
The Sharks crossed first in the second half to level the scores again but a 90 metre try against the run of play to Shaun Kenny-Dowall kept the Roosters’ nose in front and when he scored again inside of the last ten minutes, it was enough to see the Roosters home.
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It was an improved effort from the Sharks who were coming off a disappointing 24 – 4 loss to Manly in round 6.
It was no surprise to see that the better performance coincided with the return from injury of Sharks’ inspirational Captain Paul Gallen.
He’ll be better again for having the run and the Sharks are now able – for basically the first time this year, announce a full strength line up for this week’s match.
The Panthers secured joint position at the top of the table with a tough win against the Gold Coast Titans on Monday night at Sportingbet Stadium.
The homeside scored first through Dean Whare and opened up a 12 – 0 lead in the first half, a margin that was reduced to 6 points when the Titans registered their first try of the game just prior to the halftime break.
The Panthers could only manage a penalty goal in the second half but that was enough to hold off the Titans who got within two points late with a try in the 77th minute.
The 14 – 12 victory was the fourth from five games at home for the Panthers this year with their two losses coming when on the road.
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This will be the first of three away games for the Panthers and their record against the Sharks isn’t strong, having lost three of the last four games between the two clubs since 2011.
The market for this one is strange with the Sharks – who sit on the bottom of the table with their only win thus far coming over the lacklustre Warriors outfit, the favourite for the match despite Panthers sitting at the top of the table and being competitive in every one of their matches.
On that only, the Panthers at $2.00 are hard to go past and whilst it was a performance the Sharks can build last week and should, having to take the odds-on about a team that has only won one game is a big ask.
TIP: PANTHERS 1 – 12.
Odds Comparison:
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| Cronulla Sharks | 1.77 | 1.78 | 1.80 | 1.78 | 1.77 | 1.80 |
| Penrith Panthers | 2.10 | 2.08 | 2.05 | 2.08 | 2.10 | 2.05 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Teams:
Cronulla Sharks:
Michael Gordon, Sosaia Feki, Blake Ayshford, Ricky Leutele, Jonathan Wright, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Andrew Fifita, John Morris, Bryce Gibbs, Chris Heighington, Wade Graham, Paul Gallen (c). Interchange: Isaac De Gois, Tinirau Arona, Sam Tagataese, Siosaia Vave, Beau Ryan
Ins: Isaac De Gois, Beau Ryan
Outs: Michael Lichaa (dropped)
Other unavailables: Luke Lewis (shoulder/radiation treatment, round nine), Anthony Tupou (knee, round nine), Eric Grothe Jr (back, round nine)
Penrith Panthers:
Matt Moylan, David Simmons, Dean Whare, Jamal Idris, Josh Mansour, Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace, Tim Grant, Kevin Kingston, Brent Kite, Sika Manu, Elijah Taylor, Adam Docker. Interchange: James Segeyaro, Jeremy Latimore, Tyrone Peachey, Nigel Plum, Matt Robinson
Ins: Matt Robinson
Outs: None
Other unavailables: Sam McKendry (ankle, round 12), Lewis Brown (pectoral, round 12), George Jennings (dislocated elbow, season), Wes Naiqama (ankle, round 12), Shaun Spence (knee, indefinite)
