Melbourne and Penrith finished in the top two positions on the ladder after the regular season and will contest for the NRL premiership in a repeat of the 2020 grand final.
The Panthers lost that day but have since claimed three premierships on the bounce to create a dynasty and will be looking to make it four in a row against the minor premiers.
Nathan Cleary will head into the contest under an injury cloud after copping a knock to his injured shoulder in the preliminary final win over Cronulla, however the halfback declared he would be fine for Sunday.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona won’t feature for the Storm though after he copped a lengthy ban for a high shot in his side’s prelim against the Sydney Roosters.
Melbourne Storm vs. Penrith Panthers
Sunday, October 6 at Accor Stadium (6.30pm AEST)
Melbourne predicted team:
1. Ryan Papenhuyzen
2. Will Warbrick
3. Jack Howarth
4. Nick Meaney
5. Xavier Coates
6. Cameron Munster
7. Jahrome Hughes
8. Tui Kamikamica
9. Harry Grant
10. Josh King
11. Shawn Blore
12. Eli Katoa
13. Trent Loiero
14. Tyran Wishart
15. Christian Welch
16. Lazarus Vaalepu
17. Alec MacDonald
Storm team news:
Nelson Asofa-Solomona has been hit with a ban for a high shot which will rule him out of the decider. The Storm unsuccessfully challenged the suspension in the hope of getting their enforcer off at the judiciary.
NAS will likely be replaced up front by Tui Kamikamica with Lazarus Vaalepu a chance to be added onto the bench.
Sua Fa’alogo and Grant Anderson look set to be the unlucky men to miss out on a place in the 17.
Penrith predicted team:
1. Dylan Edwards
2. Sunia Turuva
3. Izack Tago
4. Paul Alamoti
5. Brian To’o
6. Jarome Luai
7. Nathan Cleary
8. Moses Leota
9. Mitch Kenny
10. James Fisher-Harris
11. Luke Garner
12. Liam Martin
13. Isaah Yeo
14. Brad Schneider
15. Lindsay Smith
16. Liam Henry
17. Matt Eisenhuth
Panthers team news:
All eyes will be on Nathan Cleary this week after the star suffered a knock to his injured shoulder, but the halfback is confident of playing in the decider.
The condition of Scott Sorensen isn’t as clear after the backrower has been ruled out for the past few weeks due to a hamstring injury.
If the Kiwi international remains on the sidelines, Matt Eisenhuth will keep his place on the bench, while Brad Schneider has jumped ahead of Trent Toelau to act as the utility off the pine given Cleary’s condition.
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