FIVE BIG QUESTIONS HEADING INTO THE NRL SEMI-FINAL BETWEEN CRONULLA AND PENRITH
Cronulla v Penrith
NRL first semi-final
Allianz Stadium, 7.40pm, Friday, September 14
* Who gets the better of the Matt Moylan and James Maloney player swap?
Maloney was hailed as the form player of the competition early in the year, did enough to be the NSW five-eighth, and has been the key to their past two wins. Moylan started slowly in his new digs but has found his feet at the business end, and carved up his former club in his return to Penrith in round 18. But a preliminary final would be the difference everyone remembers.
* Can the Sharks tread water without Wade Graham?
He’s been a critical part of the Sharks’ left edge, and his left-foot kicking game has also proven valuable. He’s come up with 21 offloads to go with his 11 line break assists, but is averaging only 76m a game. The Sharks have also won seven of the eight games he’s missed this year, including one against the Panthers early in the season.
* How do the Panthers stop Valentine Holmes?
Holmes has emerged as one of the league’s most in-form players over the past month, carrying the ball for more than 200m in three of his past four contests, including a mammoth 295m in last week’s loss to the Sydney Roosters. The kicking games of Panthers halves James Maloney and Nathan Cleary has to be on point to limit Holmes’ kick returns.
* Who wins the battle of the forwards?
Penrith boast some representative power in former NSW stars Trent Merrin, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and James Tamou. But Cronulla see that triple, and have raised them with Andrew Fifita, Matt Prior, Luke Lewis, Paul Gallen and Aaron Woods. The loss of Graham takes away a little punch but, on paper at least, it seems the Sharks may have the edge in the middle.
* Will the Panthers be slow off the blocks again?
You can almost put your house on it. They were at their sleepy best to fall into an early 12-2 hole in last week’s elimination final against the Warriors, but this time recovered quickly to take a halftime lead. The Sharks are 11 wins from 12 matches when leading at the break.
