With gun playmakers Shaun Johnson and Nathan Cleary both sidelined by injury, the call to arms will go out to their understudies to stand tall on the Magic Round stage.
Johnson’s pectoral injury could not have come at a worse time for a Warriors side floundering in 14th position and looking a shadow of the high-octane attacking juggernaut that took the NRL by storm in 2023.
The loss of Cleary is certainly a blow for Penrith but the premiers have a knack of dealing with adversity and still finding a way to win games without their main man.
Currently sitting second on the ladder, the Panthers have manufactured three of their seven victories with Cleary out of the side and they’ll need to manage without him for the next eight weeks after scans confirmed a Grade 2 hamstring tear.
With Brad Schneider also injured the keys to the side will be handed to youngster Jack Cole in just his fourth NRL game.
The Warriors have lost four in a row since a draw against Manly in Round 6 and must turn things around quickly before their season slips away completely.
After downing the Dragons in the inaugural Magic Round in 2019 the Warriors have lost their past three matches at the festival of football so history isn’t in their favour as they confront the defending champions.
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