Unfortunately for the Roosters, this is probably the round the Panthers are drawing a line in the sand saying "enough is enough".
After losing two on the trot without their Origin players, the dynamic duo of Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai will be back in the halves alongside their link-man Isaah Yeo at lock to right the good ship Penrith.
A proud side that won 12 in a row won't want to lose three straight, and instead will be focused on restoring normal transmission. The Panthers normally only concede eight points a match but last week dropped 19 against the Sharks and 26 to the Wests Tigers the week before.
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The Roosters are far from full strength but have rallied the past two weeks to post wins against the Raiders and Titans. Their luck might run out before a full-bodied BlueBet Stadium crowd in full voice on Friday night.
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The rundown
Team news
Panthers: Nathan Cleary (facial laceration) will play after joining his teammates for training this week.
Origin trio Isaah Yeo, Kurt Capewell and Liam Martin will replace Viliame Kikau (hamstring), Scott Sorensen (interchange) and J'maine Hopgood (reserves) in the back row.
The only change to the 17 named on Tuesday comes on the bench with Spencer Leniu (No.18) replacing Matt Eisenhuth. Brent Naden is the 18th man.
Rookie second-rower Izack Tago has retained his place on the interchange and will play his third NRL game.
Hopgood and Tyrone May dropped off the extended bench 24 hours before kick-off.
The Panthers have won three of their past four games against the Roosters.
Roosters: In a raft of changes announced an hour before kick-off, Joseph Suaalii will start at centre, Joseph Manu moves to five-eighth, Adam Keighran goes back to hooker, Siosiua Taukeiaho moves to lock and Fletcher Baker into the front row.
Benjamin Thomas is on the interchange bench and Billy Smith is the 18th man.
Halfback Sam Walker (shoulder) and back-rower Sitili Tupouniua (foot) are out.
Ben Marschke has been suspended for two games for dangerous contact.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson has a 9-5 record against Panthers rival Ivan Cleary.
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Key match-up
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves v James Fisher-Harris: Kiwis to the core, Waerea-Hargreaves and Fisher-Harris are arch-enemies this week and will rock the stadium with the hits they're about to put on each other.
It's hard to pick who is "top prop" - Fisher-Harris is slightly ahead in average metres (174) and hit-ups (14) per game. But last week against the Titans, in his 250th match, Waerea-Hargreaves covered 202 metres from 19 runs. And he played the entire 80 minutes.
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Stat attack
Try picking a winner from these two when from their last 10 meetings, dating back to 2015, the win-loss between the Panthers and Roosters sits at 5-5. The fact the Panthers have won three of the past four since 2019 might help.
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