Cowboys vs Panthers – Round 16, 2017

Arguably the game of the round takes place on Saturday afternoon with the Cowboys, looking to find some consistency in their form, take on the Panthers searching for their fifth win in a row.

After jumping out to an early lead last week, 20 minutes of poor defence and ill-discipline cost the Origin-ravaged Cowboys a win against an equally depleted Storm side down south, however, there was undoubtedly some positives signs to take away from the game. Jake Granville, for one, played his heart out while Lachlan Coote’s performance was also encouraging as they search for some stability in their backline for the remainder of 2017.

While they welcome back their Origin quartet, the Panthers go in unchanged as they seek to continue their surge up the ladder.

Sitting in eighth spot, Matt Moylan’s move into the halves alongside Nathan Cleary has proved to be an inspired one.

Josh Mansour’s return to top grade football has been another story from the Panthers resurgence in 2017 while youngster Dylan Edwards has been more than capable at fullback.

Defensively, the Panthers remain a little frail however they’re having no troubles outscoring their opponents in recent times with 128 points in their past four games.

This game is a genuinely tough one to pick as a win for the Panthers would see them jump above the Cowboys on the ladder, however in Johnathan Thurston’s 300th NRL game, you would expect the Cowboys to come out firing to give the champion half the win that he deserves.

Cowboys by 4.