Dominic Brock | rugbyleaguelive.com | 04/09/08 | 0
Penrith Panthers v Manly Sea Eagles
Saturday 6th September, 5.30pm
CUA Stadium
Referee: Jared Maxwell
HEAD TO HEAD
Panthers 24 wins, Sea Eagles 44 win, 1 drawn.
FORM GUIDE
Panthers: LLWWLWBLWWBWLLLDWLWWLLWLL
Sea Eagles: LLWWLWWBWWLWWBWWWWWLWLLWW
Penrith’s season will finish on Saturday afternoon, as will the Panthers careers of Luke Priddis, Luke Rooney, Rhys Wesser and Tony Puletua.
Despite being out of the finals race, the boys from Bathurst can still spoil the party for Manly, who are chasing a minor premiership.
The Sea Eagles will guarantee a top-two finish and a finals second-chance with a win, can secure top spot with a big victory (they shade Melbourne by eight points in for-and-against), but are also in danger of slipping to third place if they lose.
Jamie Lyon returns to the side in place of the suspended Steve Matai for the visitors.
Manly thrashed Penrith 30-10 a month ago – before the Panthers’ season went off the rails.
Everything points to a similar result here.
THE BURNING QUESTION
Can Manly secure the big win they need to hold on to the minor premiership?
KEY MATCH UP
Rhys Wesser v Brett Stewart
Wesser will play his final game for Penrith before leaving for South Sydney – even though he had another year left on his contract and wanted to stay.
He can’t have fond feelings for the club’s management but he still does for its fans, and he would love to go out on a high in front of a home crowd.
While Wesser’s star is fading Stewart’s continues to shine. As the only current Origin player in the side, Stewart is Manly’s biggest star and remains the Eagles’ best strike weapon.
His combination with Matt Orford can be lethal, and these days his ball-playing skills pose just as many problems for defenders as his fierce pace.
COACHES CORNER
Des Hasler will have all guns blazing for the Sea Eagles, but the no-nonsense mentor will be keen to erase any traces of complacency.
Manly will need to focus on the little things, rather than how many points they need to score.
But complacency is rarely an issue for Manly, as it can be for Melbourne, and they should simply have too much skill for the Panthers.
Penrith do have a lot of points in them but have struggled to gel in the back end of the season, suffering embarrassing drubbings at the hands of the Raiders, Storm and Warriors.
Matt Elliott will be flat out getting his players excited about playing this game.
PUNTERS GUIDE
Head-to-head: Panthers $3.75 – Sea Eagles $1.25
Manly’s mentality appears to be the only thing that can let them down. And it rarely does.
The Sea Eagles should win big here. Whether it will be big enough to hold off the Storm (who take on the lowly Rabbitohs on Monday) is another question.
CASUALTY WARD
Panthers: Lachlan Coote – knee (season), Wade Graham – knee (season), Frank Pritchard – shoulder (season).
Sea Eagles: Michael Bani – shoulder (indefinite), Luke Williamson – hamstring (indefinite).
BAD BOYS
Panthers: -
Sea Eagles: Steve Matai (Finals Wk 2)
TEAM LISTS
Panthers: Rhys Wesser, Luke Rooney, Michael Jennings, Brad Tighe, Michael Gordon, Luke Lewis, Jarrod Sammut, Tony Puletua, Luke Priddis, Petero Civoniceva (capt), Daniel Penese, Trent Waterhouse, Nathan Smith. Interchange: Matthew Bell, Maurice Blair, Adam Woolnough, Paul Aiton, Frank Puletua, Masada Iosefa (two to be omitted)
Sea Eagles: Brett Stewart, Michael Robertson, Steve Bell, Steve Matai, David Williams, Steve Menzies, Matt Orford (capt), Brent Kite, Matt Ballin, Josh Perry, Anthony Watmough, Glenn Hall, Glenn Stewart. Interchange: Heath L'Estrange, Mark Bryant, Adam Cuthbertson, Jason King
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