Paramatta Eels

Having now lost two games in a row after going down to Wigan in the World Club Challenge and kept scoreless by Melbourne in Round 1, Ivan Cleary's Panthers will be desperate to get back to their winning ways when they meet with their Western Sydney rivals.

Conceding nine penalties and coughing up 12 errors, the Panthers will welcome back hooker Mitch Kenny into the starting side and ensure the three-time premiership winning spine is back to the well-oiled machine we know come Friday.

The Titans posted an impressive upset win over the Sea Eagles last week with the likes of David Fifita and Tino Fa'asuamaleaui firing on all cylinders in a warning for the Eels, who had their own forwards dominating against the Knights.

The Eels had 12 of 17 players post more than 100 metres against the Knights last week in a promising performance without Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Ryan Matterson. 

The Eels, coming off grand final defeat to the Panthers in October, looked strong in their Pre-season Challenge win over Newcastle with Josh Hodgson slotting into the dummy half role alongside premier halves Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown. 

Storm coach Craig Bellamy faces perhaps his biggest challenge to get his new-look squad back to a premiership threat after a first-week finals exit in 2022. 

The Eels lead the Rabbitohs by four competition points in sixth spot and if results go their way they could be in the top four by the end of the round. 

South Sydney are producing a very inconsistent season and must find some form if they're going to make a dent in this year's competition after going down to the Dragons by 20 points in round 15. 

Latrell Mitchell's return will help but overall Jason Demetriou's side can't rely on the fullback's comeback from a long-term hamstring injury to spark a resurgence. 

The Tricolours, fresh off a big 44-16 win over the Titans, are about to enter an interesting four-week block that includes matches against the Eels, Sharks, Panthers and Raiders (away and without Origin stars). 

Roosters coach Trent Robinson has urged patience over his star-studded side and their attack. They delivered in spades to score eight in Mackay.

However, they face no tougher ask in the NRL at the moment than the Eels, who have upset the Panthers and Storm this year in big matches.

And now former Storm haflback Cooper Cronk has pinpointed a moment in Parramatta’s win over Melbourne on the weekend that proves that spirit is still there.

The moment in question was Ray Stone’s match-winning try, which came at a cost for the utility, who tore his ACL in the process of chasing after the Mitchell Moses field goal.

“He scored two tries in ten minutes, obviously the match sealer too and he is one tough dude,” Cronk said of Stone.

The match featured some fairly stilted attack and low completion rates – plus high penalty counts – from both teams.

The Eels had no shortage of attacking opportunities and enjoyed the lion's share of the ball but asked very few questions of the Penrith defence, which regularly rushed up to shut down the time Eels halves Corey Norman and Mitch Moses had to look for options.

Viliame Kikau came off the pine and blew the game wide open in the second half with an amazing period of play which ultimately got his side the round one points.

MATCH CENTRE: Panthers 22 d Eels 14

Kikau scored a barnstorming try in the 43rd minute when he barged over a couple of sorry defenders.

That kickstarted the comeback for Penrith, who went to half time trailing 14-6 after a horror opening half-hour.

Most encouragingly for Eels fans, the oft-maligned defender was steadfast off the ball, linking well with fellow right-edge men Kenny Edwards and Michael Jennings.

When French twisted his left knee at training back in Round 6, there were initial fears of a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury.