Sunday’s third NRL Round 9 match is between Penrith Panthers and Melbourne Storm with the opening kick to commence at 6.30pm local time. The game is to be played at Centrebet Stadium in Penrith with the away team Melbourne Storm holding short priced favouritism in the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Penrith Panthers and Melbourne Storm.

Centrebet Stadium

Featured Bookmakers:

Penrith Panthers $5.85 vs Melbourne Storm $1.13 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Penrith Panthers $5.75 vs Melbourne Storm $1.15 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by NRL Odds:

Penrith Panthers	5.85	5.50	5.75	5.50	5.85	5.90
Melbourne Storm	1.13	1.15	1.15	1.15	1.13	1.14

Preview:

You have to go all the way back to Round 15, 2005 – eleven clashes ago, to find the last time the Panthers got the better of their rivals this weekend.

Melbourne are coming off their first loss last week when playing host to the Canberra Raiders and by their own admission, it wasn’t an effort that met Melbourne’s high expectations.

With Manly and Roosters waiting for them in rounds ten and eleven respectively, just before the Origin period unfolds, it is imperative that Melbourne bounce back here.

After demolishing Parramatta in round seven to register their second win of the season, the Panthers faced the Roosters and despite the final score-line reading 30 – 6 it was only the last quarter of the game that the Roosters were able to get the better of the Panthers.

Unfortunately for Penrith though, it only gets harder and being the team that faces Melbourne after a loss is not an enviable position to be in.

Melbourne will just have too many guns that will be out to right the wrongs of last week.

Teams:

Penrith Panthers:
Matt Moylan, Travis Robinson, Lewis Brown, Dean Whare, David Simmons, Isaac John, Luke Walsh, Nigel Plum, Kevin Kingston (c), Tim Grant, Sika Manu, Matthew Robinson, Adam Docker
Interchange: Mose Masoe, Sam Anderson, James Segeyaro, Clint Newton, Nathan Smith (one to be omitted)

Melbourne Storm:
Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, Will Chambers, Justin O’Neill, Mahe Fonua, Gareth Widdop, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith, Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Tohu Harris
Interchange: Jason Ryles, Junior Moors, Maurice Blair, Brett Finch, Slade Griffin, Lagi Setu, Kenneath Bromwich (three to be omitted)

Storm attitude a big focus for Bellamy

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy is hoping their shock first loss of the NRL season has sharpened his side ahead of their clash with Penrith on Sunday.

The Storm’s 15-match unbeaten run ended at AAMI Park with a 24-20 upset at the hands of Canberra last Saturday.

Their usual staunch defence was leaky, particularly on the edges, and Bellamy said it had been a focus at training this week before their Centrebet Stadium match.

“Defence has been a pretty big issue for us this week so hopefully we’ve fixed that up,” Bellamy said.

“We need to make our opposition work hard to score tries and not give them a saloon passage through.”

Bellamy dismissed talk of complacency heading into the loss, but hoped some good came of it.

“You’d like to think it would make us a little bit more determined.

“We know there’s a couple of areas that we need to improve and our attitude to defence is one of those areas.”

Despite the disappointment Bellamy retained the same run-on line-up in an extended squad.

He felt that they had earned a second chance.

“We need to act a little bit here but we don’t need to over-react,” he said.

“We won seven games this year so the group hasn’t done too bad a job.”

The loss was the first for winger Mahe Fonua since he made his NRL debut in round 23 last year, while fellow newcomers this season including Tohu Harris and Junior Moors also hadn’t tasted defeat.

Bellamy said it was hard to get a read on the young players but mostly praised their contribution.

“There was a couple of young guys that played really well for us and there were a couple who need to pick up their act a little bit,” Bellamy said.

“They’re pretty cool dudes these days, the young blokes.

“I haven’t noticed a whole heap of difference from them this week.”