Penrith Panthers

The reigning premier Panthers and winless Wests Tigers are a total mis-match on paper but both head to Bathurst in Round 9 reeling from heart-breaking losses last week. 

Having taken an in-form Sea Eagles side to the wire last week, the Tigers should be walking that little bit taller despite their 0-8 start, but meeting Ivan Cleary's Panthers off the back of a last-gasp loss to the Rabbitohs is a tough ask for Tim Sheens' men.

A key area the Rabbitohs will need to improve if they are to take down the premiers is their completion rate, which was down at 68 per cent (24 of 35 sets) that night, making their task extremely tough.

The fact they stayed in the fight and had a chance to draw level in the dying minutes is cause for optimism heading into a game on their own turf and coming off two big wins over the Bulldogs and Dolphins.

After an up and down opening few games, the defending premiers have returned to form in impressive fashion over the last two rounds, scoring 97 points and conceding just 24 in wins over the Raiders and Sea Eagles. 

With Dylan Edwards firing at the back and Nathan Cleary pulling all the right strings in the halves, the Panthers have shaken off any suggestion of a Premiership hangover and now sit second on the Telstra Premiership ladder. 

Edwards got the ball rolling in just the fifth minute and had a hat-trick by half-time as the premiers sent an ominous warning to the rest of the competition with their second big haul in as many weeks.

After Edwards had crossed, a penalty against Panthers hooker Mitch Kenny for a steal gave the Sea Eagles a chance to hit back immediately but Jason Saab was denied by a desperation cover tackle from Sunia Turuva.

With Nathan Cleary running the show and Brian To'o running for 235 metres the Panthers moved on quicky from the disappointment of a golden point loss to the Eels in Round 4 to take their record to 2-2 for the season.

The Sea Eagles also had their attack working in a free-flowing contest against the Knights in Mudgee but were forced to settle for a draw after 90 minutes of pulsating action.

While you wouldn't have known it by watching the second half, the game was closely contested through the opening 40 minutes, and the Panthers led by just seven points after a Sunia Turuva double and a Nathan Cleary field goal. 

But after an admirable first-half effort, the Raiders had no answer for what the defending premiers came out of the break with, as the Panthers found their attacking mojo and ran in seven tries to their opponent's one. 

The premiers opened the round with an epic 17-16 loss to the Eels in a match that went down to the wire and beyond while the Raiders had a Sunday afternoon to forget as they gave up a 14-8 half-time lead to go down 24-14 to the Knights.

Compounding matters for the Raiders was the sin binning of five-eighth for high contact on Jackson Hastings, with the star No.6 charged on Monday and facing a two-game ban.

The premiers find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having lost two games in a row after going down in golden point to St Helens in the World Club Challenge and by a single point again to Brisbane in round one.

The last time Penrith lost back-to-back premiership matches was round 13-14, 2021 when they were hit hard by Origin representation, an incredible record they will be keen to protect this week when the Bunnies come calling.

Both sides have been in the headlines over the summer with star players already sorting out their futures elsewhere in 2024 with coaches Ivan Cleary and Kevin Walters sure to want the focus to being back on the field. 

Penrith's golden point loss in the World Club Challenge to St Helens less than a fortnight ago will sting the two-time champions, who will officially start life without the services of Api Koroisau and Viliame Kikau. 

Welsby fumbled before Samoa’s Stephen Crichton kicked the match winning field goal and he put down a Nathan Cleary bomb that led to Brian To’o’s 79th minute try for the Panthers.

“I thought ‘what have I done’. It was reminiscent of the Samoa game where I knocked on and I thought ‘I have done it again for Saints’,” said Welsby, who was man-of-the-match in the 13-12 triumph.

“It is a similar group of lads who just worked so hard to get to where they are, and I have gone and bombed it again.”