Two of the NRL's powerhouses come together in a Friday night blockbuster that will reveal plenty about their premiership credentials.
Defending champs Penrith boast the best defence in the competition after 10 rounds but their attack has been below its fluent best in recent weeks, while the Roosters took 79 minutes to post their lone try in Sunday's loss to the Cowboys.
Both sides enter Round 11 with 5-4 records to sit in the logjam of seven teams on 12 competition points but the table topping Broncos and rampant Rabbitohs have looked a cut above the rest in the past month.
This week's clash provides the perfect opportunity for the Panthers to make a statement against a fellow contender and send a warning to the Broncos ahead of their Round 12 showdown at Suncorp Stadium.
For the Roosters it's a chance to take another big scalp after knocking off the Rabbitohs in Round 3 and the Eels in Round 5, but much will depend on Joseph Manu, Joseph Suaalii and James Tedesco finding their mojo in attack.
Only Wests Tigers have scored less points than the Roosters through 10 rounds and they'll be acutely aware that a repeat of what they served up in Magic Round will make it a very long night at BlueBet Stadium.
Team News
Panthers: A change on Thursday with Spencer Leniu ruled out and Liam Henry added to the squad on the bench for his second NRL match. Back-rower Liam Martin remained in the squad when it was trimmed to 19 and he looks set to return after three games out with a hamstring injury.
Roosters: Egan Butcher (concussion) will miss the game under the NRL’s mandatory 11-day stand-down policy so Angus Crichton moves into the starting side and Fletcher Baker joins the bench. Halfback Sam Walker will play NSW Cup for the third week running. Jake Turpin is 18th Man. No changes in Thursday's 24-hour update.
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Story first published by: NRL.com