The Penrith Panthers know they are in the last chance saloon when they face the St George Illawarra Dragons in Saturday’s Jersey Flegg Cup Minor Semi-final.
This match along with three other games – the Major Semi-final in Jersey Flegg Cup and both Major and Minor semi-finals in The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup - will be live streamed on NSWRL TV from Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday.
The Panthers scored the same number of tries as the Newcastle Knights in last weekend’s 22-16 loss with the match decided on kicks at goal.
The Dragons have momentum despite a narrow 26-22 win to end the Wests Tigers’ season in week one of the finals.
But it’s crunch time as the loser of this Panthers-Dragons clash will bow out of 2022. The winner will move onto the Preliminary Final.
Their opponent will be the loser of the Knights-Sydney Roosters Jersey Flegg Major Semi-final on Saturday. The winner moves to the Grand Final at CommBank Stadium on 25 September.
The Roosters have enjoyed a week’s rest since their 66-0 thumping of the Victoria Thunderbolts in the last game of the regular season to secure the Minor Premiership.
Damage that day was largely done by fullback Luke Knight and winger Xavier Chatfield-Mooka, who each scored a hat-trick and have been named to face the Knights on Saturday.
The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup will also decide who moves through to next week’s Preliminary Final from Minor Premiers Newtown Jets or the Panthers in the Major Semi-final; and who will be eliminated from the North Sydney Bears or Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the Minor Semi-final.
The Panthers left everyone a little in awe of their depth, when they had to use SG Ball players to plug the holes from nine NSW Cup players promoted to the NRL side – four on debut - as coach Ivan Cleary chose to rest key personnel for the last club game.
Regardless the Panthers beat the Bears 22-14 scoring four tries to three.
And now the Panthers retrieve players like Charlie Staines, Christian Crichton, Robert Jennings, and Thomas Jenkins in the back five, halves Kurt Falls and Sean O’Sullivan, hooker Soni Luke and forwards Liam Henry and Eddie Blacker alongside utility Jack Cole.
The Jets are still on a high from their penalty kick after the fulltime siren against the Bulldogs to give them top spot on the ladder.
They will come down to earth on Saturday and will be looking once more at five-eighth Billy Magoulias to spark a lot of their attack. They also boast NRL players Kade Dykes, Matt Ikuvalu, Mawene Hiroti and Kayal Iro in their back five.
Luke Metcalf also returns from his first NRL game for 2022, when he was called up for the Round 25 match against the Knights.
In the Bears-Bulldogs Minor Semi-final, England international Oliver Gildart is in the centres for North Sydney with the competition’s leading try scorer Tom Carr out on the wing.
The Bulldogs were steered cleverly in the 18-6 win over Parramatta last week by NRL halves Brandon Wakeham and Zach Dockar-Clay.
NSWRL TV SCHEDULE
Saturday 10 September
Finals Week Two, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah
Jersey Flegg Cup, Minor Semi-final: Penrith Panthers (3) v St George Illawarra Dragons (4) at 11am
The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, Major Semi-final: Newtown Jets (1) v Penrith Panthers (2) at 1pm
Jersey Flegg Cup, Major Semi-final: Sydney Roosters (1) v Newcastle Knights (2) at 3pm
The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, Minor Semi-final: North Sydney Bears (3) v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (4) at 5pm
