Penrith V Newcastle Preview

Penrith v Newcastle Preview

The Newcastle Knights have lacked some forward muscle in recent seasons but that won’t be the case in 2011 with former Dragon Neville Costigan and the returning Chris Houston adding starch and size to the pack.


It’s like adding an extra cylinder to the engine and that should allow creative types such as Jarrod Mullen and Kurt Gidley extra space and time to work their magic. It should also allow for a comfortable transition to the NRL for another former Dragon, Beau Henry, who has been given the opportunity to debut at five-eighth.

The Knights have enjoyed plenty of success at Penrith, even if they failed to come away with two competition points in 2010.
The Panthers will miss the strike-power supplied for so long by second-rower Frank Pritchard but they will still open up with a powerful pack, spearheaded by veteran skipper Petero Civoniceva and Test stars Luke Lewis and Trent Waterhouse. Fans will be watching closely to determine if the Panthers will persist with their concentration on kicking in 2011. The ploy proved profitable in 2010 especially when fullback Lachlan Coote was sniffing for opportunities supplied by the boot of Luke Walsh.

Take a Penrith try as First Scoring Play but consider a Panthers/Knights or Knights/Panthers outcome in the Half/Full Double.
For First Tryscorer look to Michael Gordon, Sandor Earl or Lachlan Coote for Penrith or Akuila Uate, Junior Sa’u or Kurt Gidley for Newcastle.
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