2021 NRL – Penrith Panthers vs North Queensland Cowboys Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Penrith Panthers vs North Queensland Cowboys taking place? Saturday 13th March, 2021 – 08:35 (UK)
Where is Penrith Panthers vs North Queensland Cowboys taking place? Panthers Stadium, Penrith
Where can I get tickets for Penrith Panthers vs North Queensland Cowboys? Click here for ticket information on 2021 NRL matches
What channel is Penrith Panthers vs North Queensland Cowboys on? Sky Sports Arena will be televising selected NRL games in the UK and you can find their schedule here. For Australian broadcasters, you can find a list here
Where can I stream Penrith Panthers vs North Queensland Cowboys? If televised on Sky Sports, then subscribers will be able to stream the match live via Sky Go. Alternatively, the match will be available to subscribers of Watch NRL
THE TEAM NEWS
PENRITH PANTHERS
Starting 13: Edwards, Staines, Momirovski, Crichton, To’o, Luai, Cleary, Leota, Koroisau, Fisher-Harris, Kikau, Capewell, Yeo – Interchanges: May, Leniu, Eisenhuth, Martin – Reserves: Jennings, Kenny
Unavailable: Scott Sorensen (Injured), Brent Naden (Suspended)
- Minor premiers Penrith Panthers left themselves with too much to do in last year’s NRL Grand Final as their comeback efforts ultimately fell short against Melbourne Storm but they are likely to be right in contention again with them set to start this season as favourites to claim the Premiership.
- The Panthers allowed plenty of their fringe players to depart in the off-season while they also allowed Josh Mansour to move on to prevent blocking the development of highly-rated youngster Charlie Staines who will line-up on the wing here.
- Staines will be fed by Paul Momirovski who was an off-season acquisition from Wests Tigers and he has won the race to start in the centres ahead of Tyrone May with Brent Naden serving a four-match club suspension.
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Starting 13: Drinkwater, Feldt, Marsters, Tabuai-Fidow, Holmes, Morgan, Clifford, Molo, Robson, McLean, Dunn, Hess, Taumalolo – Interchanges: Granville, McGuire, Jensen, Cotter – Reserves: Burr, Hampton
Unavailable: Kane Bradley (Injured), Tom Gilbert (Injured)
- North Queensland Cowboys missed out on the finals for the third season in succession with just two teams finishing below them in 2020 but they will hope for better with a new man at the helm in a bid to change their fortunes.
- Todd Payten impressed as interim boss of New Zealand Warriors last year so he arrives with a reputation to further enhance but with only a few low-key additions, he will need to get the best out of the majority of last season’s roster.
- Scott Drinkwater has been handed the #1 jersey ahead of Valentine Holmes with the latter starting on the wing with Payten hoping to get the best out of Michael Morgan in the halves having struggled with injuries in the last couple of campaigns.
THE PREDICTION
Penrith Panthers will hope to go one better in this new season after they fell short in last year’s Grand Final with Melbourne Storm. The Panthers built their success in the last campaign on the back of some strong defence with them allowing just 11.9 points per game during the regular season which saw them finish at the top of the ladder as minor premiers. At the other end of the ladder, North Queensland Cowboys were poor for the majority of the season as they finished 14th for the second year in succession but new head coach Todd Payten will be confident of making a run at the finals with the talent at his disposal. However, this is a tough baptism of fire on the road at the Panthers with Penrith going the entirety of last season unbeaten on home soil and they should be able to prevail by at least six points to begin this campaign.
