Penrith Panthers

The Storm dominated for 32 minutes to set up a 14-0 lead before the defending premiers made a statement of their own with three tries in eight minutes to take a two-point advantage into half-time.

It was a remarkable turnaround from the competition leaders during the match, who were without Nathan Cleary but had the likes of Origin stars Jarome Luai and Liam Martin stand up in his absence while Izack Tago was enormous in the win. 

Tied on competition points having each picked up 10 wins from 15 games to date, the winner of Friday night's clash is a good chance of finishing Round 18 at the top of the ladder. 

The Panthers have been nothing but impressive through the Origin period so far, toughing out a handful of wins to go with a golden point loss to the Cowboys a fortnight ago, despite the absence of plenty of talent at different stages.

Melbourne too have been tracking well, with wins in their last three games, where their defensive efforts have been standing out.

With Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo, Stephen Crichton, Brian To'o and Liam Martin watching from the sideline with injured halfback Nathan Cleary, Peachey stepped up to help ensure the premiers remain in the top two.

Dylan Edwards took over the captaincy and the fullback set the tone for the match when he stepped Knights opposite Kalyn Ponga to score in the ninth minute after an angled Peachey run towards the posts created an opening near the line.

After playing out a golden point thriller two months ago, the Panthers and Knights meet again after both suffering narrow losses in Round 16. 

The Panthers on the other hand were the competition's hottest team prior to suffering defeat at the hands of the Cowboys in golden point last Friday, in what was their first loss since the end of April. 

Penrith have had it all over the Knights in recent times and haven't lost to them in their past seven meetings, while stretching back to 2014 Newcastle have tasted victory over this week's opponent just twice in 16 meetings. 

The Cowboys continued their resurgence with a thrilling 27-23 golden point victory over the Panthers in Townsville on Friday night.

In the absence of their Origin stars it was playmaker Tom Dearden and returning big man Jason Taumalolo who came to the fore as the Cowboys racked up a seventh win of the season.

In the early going it was the Panthers striking first after just three minutes on the back of a penalty against Chad Townsend for late contact on Jack Cogger after he had put in a kick.

While North Queensland will take the field refreshed from a Round 15 bye, the Panthers head to Townsville on the back of a comprehensive, but physically taxing, 30-6 victory over the Roosters. 

Penrith haven't lost a game in six weeks, while the Cowboys' last performance – a 45-20 win over the Storm – was arguably their best of the season. 

At Queensland Country Bank Stadium this year the Cowboys have won five of seven games and they were winners the last time they faced the Panthers too. 

Brisbane's top spot on the ladder has been overtaken by the Rabbitohs after their loss to Melbourne at AAMI Park but Kevin Walters' side will be buoyed by the performance despite coming home empty-handed. 

The Broncos return to Suncorp Stadium for the eighth time in 12 matches this year and will want to make a statement of their own by knocking off the defending champions twice in a season after the Round 1 clash earlier this year.

With Jarome Luai staking an undeniable claim for the NSW No.6 jersey and Scott Sorensen producing the best game of his career, the Panthers put the match to bed by half-time with four unanswered tries.

Having conceded the opening try in their previous four matches, Penrith ended that streak in emphatic fashion in the 10th minute when James Fisher-Harris put Sorensen over with a nice offload.

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.

The Warriors lost winger Ed Kosi, second-rower Jackson Ford and prop Bunty Afoa to injuries during the match and twice had to play with a man in the sin-bin but the game wasn't decided until Spencer Leniu scored in the 75th minute. 

The class of Cleary proved the difference, with the Kangaroos halfback running 129 metres with the ball, having a hand in two of Penrith's three tries and maintaining pressure on the Warriors defence with his kicking game.