Roosters eye statement win in Penrith showdown
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The Roosters have set their sights on their first minor premiership in eight years as they look to unseat the Panthers at the top of the table.
The two teams are level on 36 points heading into a Thursday-night showdown at CommBank Stadium, with the winner to claim pole position in the run to the finals.
The Roosters have closed the gap with the Panthers throughout the past month and drew level with a scratchy victory over the Bulldogs last Friday night just a couple of hours after Penrith fell to the Warriors in Auckland.
Smith steps up
This season looms as the Roosters' best chance to win the premiership since their last title in 2019 and they're eager to climb to first on the ladder with a win on Thursday night.
"To finish first at the end of the regular season is a cool achievement," winger Billy Smith said. "That's our most important thing at the moment.
"We're happy but we're definitely not content with where we're at. We're still chasing our best and we were a long way from home [last week]. It's good we're still winning games and not playing our best footy so we've got a lot of room to improve.
"We're going to have to be on our best against Penrith because we're pretty clear on where we want to get to this year."
Match: Panthers v Roosters
Round 24 -
home Team
Panthers
1st Position
away Team
Roosters
2nd Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Thursday's match marks the 10th top-of-the-table clash after Round 20 in the NRL era. According to stats compiled by rugby league historian David Middleton, the team sitting second on the ladder has a slight edge, winning five of the nine games.
Remarkably, at least one team from each of the nine previous matches has gone on to play in the grand final, with three sides lifting the trophy at the end of the year.
The last late-season top-of-the-table clash occurred two years ago, when the competition-leading Storm travelled to Penrith and came away with a two-point win in a game best remembered for Nathan Cleary's shoulder injury.
The Panthers bounced back to defeat Melbourne in the decider a couple of months later.
After a slight hiccup last year, Penrith have set the standard this season and have sat on top of the ladder since Round 4.
The Roosters, in contrast, have managed to fly under the radar despite boasting one of the most star-studded rosters in the competition.
Trent Robinson's side has hovered between third and sixth for much of the season before climbing into second a fortnight ago.
Perhaps the scariest part of the Roosters rise is the fact they sit equal first despite some wild swings in form this year.
The players were disappointed with their performance in last week's win over the Bulldogs but Spencer Leniu said Thursday's match is a chance to make a statement against the competition favourites.
Roosters v Bulldogs - Round 23, 2026
"They're a well-oiled machine and they've been the benchmark for the competition the last couple of years," Leniu said.
"Playing the Bulldogs will put us in good stead, they play a similar style and it's a preview of what we're going to come up against this week. They're our biggest competition and this week we'll see what this team's about."
The Roosters are set to receive a major boost with fullback James Tedesco likely to return on Thursday night.
Penrith received a dose of good news on Monday morning with captain Isaah Yeo avoiding season-ending surgery, but the lock will still miss this week's match and is unlikely to return before the finals start.
The Panthers claimed a dominant 40-4 victory when the two sides played in Round 3 earlier this season but plenty has changed since that night.
Roosters v Panthers - Round 3, 2026
It was hooker Reece Robson's first game at the club, while five-eighth Daly Cherry-Evans was still finding his feet at the Roosters.
The veteran playmaker said the team has come a long way since March but acknowledged they must be at their best to topple the Panthers on Thursday night.
"That was a long time ago," Cherry-Evans said. "You'd like to think as a side we've improved defensively and improved attacking-wise. [Last Friday] shows while we got the result, we're still trying to find our best 80 minutes.
"That will be the focus for us this week, looking at our game, finding improvements and then leaning into it, no matter who the opposition is."
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