Seventeen wins was nice, but like the theme song goes, we’re now close enough to score!
The mighty Panthers take the field on Sunday with a chance to add a third trophy to the cabinet case against everyone’s favourite arch nemesis: the Melbourne Storm.
Bookmakers fancy us the outsiders heading in, but they’ve failed to account for 40,000 screaming Penriff fans cheering the mountain men all the way to the line.
The Storm are a tough customer, that much we know. But with a chance to be great, we’re confident our boys can bring it home.
Go the mighty Panthers, let’s put them to the test!
Ivan Cleary’s done it once already this year, so what’s stopping the mighty mountain men from winning another?
To refresh your memory, the Panthers defeated the Storm back in Round 6 as Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o and Viliame kikau had their way with Melbourne down in Campbelltown.
That said, we’re a realistic bunch here in Penrith, so we know things won’t come easy this time around.
What we also know is that our club loves playing in the underdog role, particularly this season where we’ve won three of our four games.
Basic math mightn’t come easy to you Melburnian’s, so you may have also forgotten the Panthers have won two of their last three games against your lot.
With a chance to send Cameron Smith, Josh Addo-Carr and maybe even Bellamy packing with one last loss, we’re all over Penny at the margin!
Fact: guys with beards are 10-times more likely to cross the line first.
Mansour has been the First Try Scorer twice already this season and is looking to bounce-back from an unusually quiet game last week against the Bunnies.
Sauce cost our boys a try with a silly forward pass, something you know he’s been stewing on leading into Sunday’s game.
Melbourne, we know you guys are tough to crack out wide, but with seven tries in his last eight games, you’re about to have your hands full with the league’s best winger.
Good luck stopping Clez in his 100th game.
The bloke was practically born ready for the big stage, not that you Storm scum need a reminder.
Our star halfback was instrumental in our 21-14 win over you guys back in Round 6, and after scoring a hat-trick a fortnight ago against the Chooks, we’re confident he can replicate that performance on Sunday.
In case you guys missed it, Cleary also finished the season ranked second in points scored, so it’s almost criminal to find him @ $5.00 to score Anytime.
You Storm fans may remember the way Bellamy targeted him on debut back in 2014, and we sure as hell haven’t forgotten.
With his old man chasing his first Premiership, that should be all the added motivation Cleary needs.
Storm fans should be used to watching Crichton score four points.
Critta found the line when we last met back in Round 6 where he also carved up your sorry defence for 108 total metres.
Crichton has been an on absolute tear since then scoring in 11 of his 15 games on his way to finishing the season ranked second in intercepts and fourth in total tries.
This kid has absolute lengths on Justin Olam in terms of talent, and if we’re being honest, this race shouldn’t even be close.