This week s big questions
Tom Turbo seems like a bargain at $500k. Swap Latrell for him now he s out for 4 weeks?
From Jarrod John Harry
Yep, it looks a good move. Tom Trbojevic clearly has a horror injury record but that discounted price and his ability to produce quality scores like he did on the weekend was the reason he was one of the most-owned players in Fantasy during the pre-season. Even if Turbo can t quite match the very top WFBs in terms of scoring he can go close to earning $150k in price rises – especially if he can put together a few more 60+ scores in the next few weeks.
A disciplined 80 minutes from Newcastle slowed down the Panthers juggernaut but wasn t enough to stop last year s minor premiers claiming their seventh straight win of 2021.
A brilliant return from injury from fullback Dylan Edwards added another dimension to Penrith s attack to guide the home side to a 24-6 win despite a brilliant effort from Kurt Mann to keep Newcastle in the fight for almost 70 minutes.
Edwards ran for 269 metres, busted seven tackles and scored the 67th-minute try that cracked the Knights open after some resilient defence held an impressive Panthers attack at bay for long periods.
Mann created his side s only try and produced some big moments in defence but there were few avenues to breach the staunch Penrith defence with his halves partner Blake Green guilty of some poor last-play options and forced passes and star fullback Kalyn Ponga kept quiet for the first time since his belated round five return.
An official description for the series reveals: Matthew was brought up in the Barum Brethren before leaving to go to university. At 19, he knew he couldn t continue amongst the community and to his mother s shock and dismay, he declared publicly he no longer believed. Now he s back, not just to grieve for his father, but to lead a shocking murder investigation back where it all began for him. Matthew is now forced to re-engage with the community he left, including the most painful and challenging of relationships with his mother. After the body of a man is found on the beach close to Matthew s home, the investigation throws doubt on the whole community. Matthew and his team have to get to the bottom of a case which brings with it old wounds and a deadly secret in order to expose the killer.
But in the big moments, Penrith just keep stepping up and winning. They ve now won 22 straight regular-season matches and haven t been beaten at home since way back in July 2019. Never was their winning habit more evident than in a crucial five-minute period in the second half. Looking on the ropes after a Brian To o error on first tackle, Newcastle had every chance to go 12-10 up and put the pressure on the Panthers with 20 minutes to play. But Penrith s defence stood firm as Ponga put on a poor ball that was dropped by Brodie Jones, letting the Panthers off the hook.