Saturday’s first NRL Round 14 match is between Penrith Panthers and St George Illawarra Dragons with the opening kick to commence at 17:35 local time. The game is to be played at Sportingbet Stadium which see’s home team Penrith Panthers hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Penrith Panthers and St George Illawarra Dragons.

Where and when: 17:35 | Saturday 14/06/2014 @ Sportingbet Stadium

Odds Comparison:

Penrith Panthers	1.20	1.20	1.18	1.20	1.20	1.20
St George Illawarra Dragons	4.75	4.70	5.00	4.70	4.75	4.60

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

Preview:

PANTHERS

A win last week over the Gold Coast Titans away from home, their fourth victory in a row, has earned the Panthers top spot on the ladder due to a better for-and-against half-way through the regular season.

In an arm wrestle during the first half, the Panthers led at half-time 14 – 8 but under the direction of half-back Peter Wallace, the Panthers gained the upper hand in the second stanza and courtesy of three tries in the final 15 minutes, recorded their fourth successive 13+ win.

Winger Josh Mansour continued his good form by bagging a double and has now scored in each of the last four games.

Returning to their home ground for this clash, where they’ve won five from six this year, and largely unaffected by the Origin series, the Panthers are well placed to continue their good form.

The Panthers are mostly unchanged from the past few weeks with only Adam Docker and David Simmons missing from last week’s line-up.

DRAGONS

The Dragons recorded a much needed 30 – nil win over the Sharks last week, their first victory in the past five weeks and only their second since round 3.

With two previous runs under his belt since returning from Rugby Union, Benji Marshall showed good signs at five-eight and combined well with Josh Duggan who was moved into the centres from fullback and the moved paid handsomely with Duggan scoring a treble.

It was just the kind of performance NSW Coach wanted to see and earned Duggan a call up for the second State Of Origin next Wednesday, meaning he’ll be missing for this game with his place taken by debutante Charly Runciman.

The win will relieve some of the pressure that the Dragons have been under this season but it also must be kept in mind that the Sharks were without no fewer than six regulars from their starting line-up.

The Dragons will have to improve again off of last week’s effort against a Penrith side full of confidence.

HEAD TO HEAD

After several season on the losing side of these clashes, the Panthers have turned the situation around in more recent times, having won four of the last five matches between the two sides, the last three in succession.

In both games last year, the Panthers won comfortably, by 19 and 15 points, keeping the Dragons to a combined total of 10 points.

In fact, only once in the past five matches have the Dragons registered more than 12 points against the Panthers.

With the Panthers likely to dominate the middle with a bigger pack and a strong bench, the Panthers again should produce too many points.

Tip : PENRITH 13+

Teams:

Panthers: Matt Moylan, Josh Mansour, Dean Whare, Isaah Yeo, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace, Sam McKendry, James Segeyaro, Brent Kite, Tyrone Peachey, Elijah Taylor
Interchange: Lewis Brown, Jeremy Latimore, Nigel Plum, Bryce Cartwright

Dragons: Adam Quinlan, Peter Mata’utia, Charly Runciman, Gerard Beale, Jason Nightingale, Gareth Widdop, Benji Marshall, Ben Creagh, Mitch Rein, Mike Cooper, Leeson Ah Mau, Joel Thompson, Tyson Frizell.
Interchange: Jack de Belin, Will Matthews, Shane Pumipi, Bronson Harrison, Craig Garvey (one to be omitted).

 News: NSW vice-captain Robbie Farah is urging his ageing Blues teammates to seize the moment on Wednesday night and finally clinch a State of Origin series – before it’s too late.

With six Blues forwards already into their thirties, including battered skipper and eight-time series loser Paul Gallen, who turns 33 this year, Farah admits time is running out for the side’s long-time core to break Queensland’s near-decade-long reign.

Along with Gallen, fellow pack members Farah, Luke Lewis, Anthony Watmough, Ryan Hoffman and Beau Scott, all 30, are also in the twilight of their careers and multiple Origin series losers.

Greg Bird, 29, a six-times Origin series loser is also yet to enjoy interstate bragging rights.

“It’s always in the back of your mind. You only get so many chances and, as every year passes, the end is nearer,” Farah said on Thursday.

“We’re all pushing 30 and, in Gal’s case, 32, so there’s not many chances left.

“So it’d be nice to win one, especially for those guys as well. They’ve been through the tough times and they carry that load of all the losses.

“Some of the new guys that come in probably don’t feel as much hurt as the older guys do.

“For us older blokes, it’d be nice to win one before we retire.”

One-nil up and playing at home against an injury-hit Maroons line-up in Sydney, the Blues have rarely had a better chance to snare a series after a painful eight-year run of outs.

“We’ve just got to learn from what’s happened in the past and try and take our opportunity,” Farah said.

“We had a decider last year that we let slip and even the previous year we lost by a point up there.

“It’d be nice to wrap it up in front of the home crowd down in Sydney.”

But if they don’t, Farah refuses to believe the Blues couldn’t win the series in a decider in front of more than 60,000 diehard Queensland fans at Suncorp Stadium.

“Everyone wrote us off going up there before game one. No one gave us a chance,” the veteran hooker said.

“We went up there against the odds and won.”

While this year’s series could spell the end for the likes of Gallen, Watmough, Lewis, Scott, Hoffman and Bird, Farah has no plans of farewelling Origin in 2014.

“I’m alright. I’m feeling good. I’ve got a couple of years left,” he said.

“I’ll keep putting my hand up until they don’t want me. I don’t get guys who retire from rep footy and that. You play your club footy to play rep footy.

“That’s what it’s about – to be an athlete to play on the biggest stage.

“If the day comes that someone will do a better job than me, I’ll step aside because that’s what would be best for NSW.”