About last night
Minor premiers Melbourne couldn’t have made a much more emphatic statement in its 48-18 preliminary final win over the Sydney Roosters.
The scoreline may have been slightly flattering, but it was still an utterly electric performance by the Storm, with the only downside being Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s four-game ban for a high shot in the first tackle of the game.
Cronulla’s rough record against Penrith
The Panthers have beaten the Sharks a combined 70-0 in the past two seasons.
In fact Cronulla has beaten Penrith just once in seven meetings since 2020, and in that round 14 clash in 2021, the Panthers were without Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo and Brian To’o.
And look, there’s no shame in having a losing record against Penrith in the past five years, that’s just another monkey the Sharks are going to have to get off their back if they’re to win this one.
Tonight we learn our final finalist
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the second NRL preliminary final between the Panthers and Sharks at Sydney’s Olympic stadium.
Tonight we see Penrith shooting for its … checks notes … FIFTH STRAIGHT grand final berth, while Cronulla, fresh from a drought-breaking finals win, tries to do what only one team has done since 2020 and beat the Panthers in an elimination game.
I’m Jon Healy and I’ll take you through tonight’s action as we find out who will join the Melbourne Storm in next Sunday’s grand final.
