Penrith, who after two poor losses to Newcastle and Cronulla in recent weeks, find themselves in tenth spot on the competition ladder, one win behind eighth placed Newcastle and in desperate need of a win here.
Penrith strung together a few wins during the middle of the season when the draw was a favourable one to them however, in recent weeks against sides in the top half of the competition, the Panthers have fallen well short.
They don’t get much more to the top than this week’s opponents, the Sydney Roosters.
The Roosters have won their last five outings, all in good style, and that form has seen the boys from Bondi installed as the new favourites for this year’s premiership.
The Roosters have won their last three games by margins of 36, 40 and 16 points however the most impressive statistic registered by the Roosters is their points conceded.
They’ve only allowed a total of 24 points to be scored against them in the past four matches and with the Panthers struggling to produce their best, it’ll be hard to see anything bar a Roosters victory here.
The two sides last met in round 8 this year with Roosters recording a 30 – 6 win and even though they’ll be without the attacking abilities of Sonny Bill Williams who is serving a two game suspension, the Roosters will again prove too strong for the home side.
TIP: ROOSTES 13+
Odds comparison by NRL Odds:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Penrith Panthers | 4.50 | 5.00 | 4.60 | 5.00 | 4.50 | 4.50 |
|
Sydney Roosters
|
1.20 | 1.18 | 1.21 | 1.18 | 1.20 | 1.23 |
Teams:
Penrith Panthers:
Matt Moylan, James Roberts, Lewis Brown, Dean Whare, David Simmons, Isaac John, Luke Walsh, Jeremy Latimore, Kevin Kingston (capt), Tim Grant, Clint Newton, Sika Manu, Adam Docker. Interchange: James Segeyaro, Cameron Ciraldo, Mose Masoe, Ryan Simpkins, Josh Mansour (one to be omitted).
Sydney Roosters:
Anthony Minichiello (capt), Daniel Tupou, Michael Jennings, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Luke O’Donnell, Boyd Cordner, Mitchell Aubusson, Frank-Paul Nuuausala. Interchange: Daniel Mortimer, Aidan Guerra, Sam Moa, Isaac Liu.
Referees: Shayne Hayne, Jason Robinson.