NORTH QUEENSLAND TOYOTA COWBOYS v PENRITH PANTHERS
Round 5, 2015 NRL Telstra Premiership
7pm, Monday 6 April, Pepper Stadium
Tickets: ticketek.com.au
Live updates: twitter.com/nthqldcowboys
Referees: Matt Cecchin, Grant Atkins
Touch judges: Nick Beashel, Chris Sutton
Video referees: Ashley Klein, Henry Perenara
Broadcast: Fox Sports 1, 4TOFM, NRL Digital Pass
Times: Gates open 4.30pm, NYC Cowboys v Panthers 4.45pm
TEAMS
Cowboys: 1. Lachlan Coote 2. Matthew Wright 3. Tautau Moga 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein. 6. Michael Morgan 7. Johnathan Thurston 8. Matt Scott 9. Jake Granville 10. James Tamou 11. Gavin Cooper. 12. Ethan Lowe 13. Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 14. Rory Kostjasyn 15. Kelepi Tanginoa 16. Scott Bolton 17. Ben Hannant 18. John Asiata 19. Justin O’Neill.
Panthers: 1. Matt Moylan 2. Josh Mansour 3. Dean Whare 4. Jamal Idris 5. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 6. Isaac John 7. Peter Wallace (c) 8. Sam McKendry 9. James Segeyaro 10. Jeremey Latimore 11. Sika Manu 12. Isaah Yeo 13. Elijah Taylor 14. Tyrone Peachey 15. Nigel Plum 16. Regan Campbell-Gillard 17. Bryce Cartwright 18. Apisai Koroisau.
CASUALTY WARD
• Cowboys: None
• Penrith: Jamie Soward – back; Brent Kite – shoulder; Lewis Brown – ribs
MATCH FACTS
- The Cowboys have scored 58 points the last two times they have played at the Panthers' home ground.
- In their past five games against Penrith, North Queensland has won 4.
- Their last meeting was a Monday night game in round 23, 2014 which Penrith won in golden point 23-22 and ended the Cowboys' four-game winning streak.
- After five rounds the Cowboys are equal top with the Newcastle Knights in completed sets with 118.
- North Queensland’s biggest win over the Panthers was 36-4 at Centrebet Stadium in 2013. Overall they have played 32 times with Penrith winning 18, Cowboys 14.
- Johnathan Thurston is yet to score a try this season, but has 18 points, with 5 goals and 2 field goals.
- Jamal Idris is Penrith’s leading try-scorer this season with 4.
MATCH UPS – THE FULLBACKS
The Lachlan Coote and Matt Moylan show will be a great spectacle if both players are in full flight and cross paths.
Moylan took over the fullback position when Coote left the Panthers, and has made it his own over the past two seasons, with experts already predicting representative honours for the 23-year-old.
Meanwhile Coote, in his two games back in the NRL for the Cowboys, has proved he has all the right ingredients – safe under the high ball and plenty of zip around the ruck – to be a danger running off the hip of Johnathan Thurston and Michael Morgan..
FINAL WORDS
Cowboys coach Paul Green: “We need to be good through the middle as they’ve got a pretty big pack. Peter Wallace is steering them around real well so we need to match them physically.”
Tyrone Peachey (Panthers utility): “They've got big boys in their pack, hopefully we can hold them out, put our combinations together and hopefully everything works out.”
