Can Penrith cook the Chooks?

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in action. Photo: Megan Dunn
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There is no question that Penrith’s position on the premiership table does not reflect the side’s effort over the first six weeks of the competition.

Coming out the other side of a tough draw to start the season, the Panthers have won just two matches so far this year but have been far from embarrassed in their losses and in fact probably put in their best performance of the year against North Queensland last Saturday night.

The game against the Cowboys was always going to answer the question about how Penrith are really travelling in this competition. The answer was quite clear – the side can match it with the best teams in the competition, but are just a little off the pace at the moment when it comes to closing out games and taking crucial opportunities.

In simpler terms, they lack the knockout punch.

This Monday night the Panthers travel to Allianz Stadium to take on a Roosters side that finally secured their first win of the season last weekend, jumping out of the blocks and never surrendering their lead against their arch rivals South Sydney.

The Roosters were always going to win eventually and it’s probably a good thing that it happened last weekend so Penrith aren’t faced with a side staring down the barrel of all sorts of awful records.

Matt Moylan in action against the Cowboys. Photo: Megan Dunn
Matt Moylan in action against the Cowboys. Photo: Megan Dunn

But of course, the Roosters would have gained some confidence out of the victory, and particularly the standout performance of Dylan Napa up front.

The Panthers can overcome the Roosters by replicating much of what they did against the Cowboys last weekend. A completion rate of 87 per cent, 18 offloads and three line breaks shows that the Panthers certainly came ready to play against the defending premiers. A similar performance against the Roosters would almost guarantee two competition points.

Penrith could, however, do with some more grunt up front especially from Sam McKendry, who after a reasonable start to the season was pretty poor against the Cowboys last weekend, clocking up just 27 metres from four runs. Compare that to his front row partner Reagan Campbell-Gillard who in less minutes produced 11 runs and 90 metres and you can see that McKendry needs to be delivering more for his team.

Conversely, nobody can be complaining about Penrith’s back three at the moment – Matt Moylan, Josh Mansour and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak were Penrith’s best last weekend with Mansour pushing his claims for a Blues jersey more and more every week. Moylan is getting better every week after returning from a long-term injury and is on the verge of a real stand-out game, while Watene-Zelezniak bagged two tries and is playing safe, reliable yet exciting football.

Effort only gets you so far in this competition and while it’s not time for panic stations yet, the Panthers really do need to string some wins together soon.

If they use the performance they put in against the Cowboys last weekend as a blueprint, they should be able to secure victory against the Roosters and perhaps start a run of victories.

Tip: Panthers by 6.

Photo: Megan Dunn
Photo: Megan Dunn

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