>>> Live odds - Round 21!

The Sheriff's match preview: Cowboys v Panthers
Round 21, 2010 NRL Telstra Premiership

TEAMS

North Queensland Toyota Cowboys: Matthew Bowen, Ashley Graham, Ty Williams, Willie Tonga, Will Tupou, Arana Taumata, Johnathan Thurston (c), Matt Scott, Aaron Payne, Willie Mason, Scott Bolton, Leeson Ah Mau, Luke O'Donnell. Interchange: Anthony Watts, Dane Hogan, Carl Webb, James Tamou. Coach: Neil Henry.

Penrith Panthers: Lachlan Coote, Michael Gordon, Michael Jennings, Adrian Purtell, Brad Tighe, Travis Burns, Luke Walsh, Sam McKendry, Kevin Kingston, Petero Civoniceva (c), Trent Waterhouse, Frank Pritchard, Luke Lewis. Interchange: Wade Graham, Matthew Bell, Nathan Smith, Gavin Cooper, Frank Puletua, Masada Iosefa. Coach: Matthew Elliott.

• Played: 25 – Cowboys 10, Panthers 15
• Head-to-head at CUA Stadium: Played 11 – Cowboys 6, Panthers 5
• Last 10 games head-to-head: Played 10 – Cowboys 5, Panthers 5
• Last game: Cowboys 28 d Panthers 20,
  Dairy Farmers Stadium (Rd 2, 2010)
• Biggest head-to-head wins: Cowboys: 38-18, Dairy Farmers Stadium (Rd 20, 2005); Panthers: 56-6, CUA Stadium (Rd 24, 2004)

Date: 7.35pm, Friday 30 July 2010
Venue: CUA Stadium
Coverage: 4TOFM (live), WIN/Ch 9 (live - 7.30pm Qld), live online (outside Australia only)
Referees: Steve Lyons, Tony De Las Heras
Sideline officials: David Abood, Ricky McFarlane
Video referee: Steve Clark
Toyota Cup: 5.20pm, Friday 30 July

HERE'S WHAT THE SHERIFF SAYS!

Panthers are on a losing streak, the Cowboys are on a winning streak...ok, ok, a winning streak of one...

Regardless, the pundits will have the table-topping Panthers to return to form against a team with only pride to play for!

So, is there any hope for the Cowboys? Well, they played well for 35 minutes against the Eels, then a good 40 minutes against the Tigers, and then including extra time they played well for 45 minutes to get the cookie against the Knights – that’s a trend! Will 50 minutes of playing well against the Panthers be enough for victory? Hmm...

The Panthers defence is not standard-setting and the Cowboys attack will get some joy on the Panthers flanks. The Panthers attack is very dangerous in the air and the Walsh/Coote “kick catch show” is lethal. Coote has crossed for 17 tries this season already!

The Cowboys defence has moments…..the Dane Hogan-led defensive set after scoring against the Knights was outstanding, however the one-on-one defensive misses are moments we would like to forget!

The key to victory will be the Cowboys defence as the Panthers attack, led by their kicking, has the potential to be nullified!

Expect a close game with both teams to score 3-4 tries each and the result to come down to goal-kicking. Statistics point to Coote as first try scorer. There is better value in Graham or Tonga as last try scorer.

Cowboys by 6.