Minor premiers Penrith want the honour of opening the finals series at their suburban fortress even if it puts them at a disadvantage against potential rivals Melbourne or Parramatta, who would have two extra days of recovery.
The overwhelming title favourites travel to Townsville for a final-round game against the Cowboys on Saturday but are going to extreme lengths to ensure they’re prepared for their qualifying final by chartering a plane for the flight home.
While the NRL is still yet to put together the schedule for the first week of the finals, the Panthers are facing a significant hurdle being poised to play the winner of the top-four shootout between the Storm and Eels. Both those teams will have an extra two days to prepare for their week one final, given they play on Thursday night in round 25.
But Panthers Group chief executive Brian Fletcher said Ivan Cleary’s side is comfortable if the NRL determines the runaway minor premiers must open the play-offs at BlueBet Stadium on the Friday night.
“We’ve got to get a charter flight otherwise we wouldn’t get back from Townsville until Sunday, but I think the football department is still comfortable if we were scheduled to play on Friday night,” he said.
Cleary is likely to send a heavily depleted team to North Queensland, who need to win to retain an outside chance of overtaking the Sharks in second spot and securing two home finals at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
Jarome Luai and the Panthers insist they want to open the finals series at Penrith.Credit:Getty
The Panthers and Cowboys could also meet the following week in the finals if the Storm beat the Eels at CommBank Stadium and Penrith win their 21st game of the regular season in Townsville.
The same scenario is also on the cards for the Roosters and Rabbitohs, who could be on a collision course in a do-or-die final eight days after they face off open the new Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
The sides will essentially be using their final round clash to vie for hosting rights in a week one final if the Eels sew up fourth spot with a win over the Storm at home. But either the Roosters or Rabbitohs will vault into fifth if Craig Bellamy’s side can win in Sydney.
The Rabbitohs have indicated they will play any home final at Accor Stadium despite wrangling to make Allianz Stadium their new base from 2023.
Panthers star Nathan Cleary predicted the tricolours will be a huge finals threat on the back of a seven-game winning run. Their last loss was against the Panthers before the State of Origin series decider.
“They’re playing some great footy and obviously the other night the game against the Storm was a cracker,” Cleary told The Footy Show.
“With their line speed they’re really coming into their own, and they’ve got some big game players in that team as well. I think this year it’s probably the closest finals series it’s been for a while. Just about any team could win it.”
The Raiders will seal eighth spot if they can beat condemn the Tigers to the wooden spoon at Leichhardt Oval in the final game of the regular season, meaning the Broncos will miss the finals.
The NRL will work on the week one finals schedule this week, which will be played adjacent to round four of the NRLW season.
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