NRL Round 2 Preview - Panthers v Rabbitohs @ Pepper Stadium

Penrith Panthers v South Sydney Rabbitohs @ Pepper Stadium
 
Preview - The Panthers will be looking for two home victories in six days to start season 2018, when they host the Rabbitohs at Pepper Stadium on Saturday night. The Panthers came out snoozing against local rivals Parramatta on Sunday, down 14-0 after 25 minutes, before storming home to record a memorable 24-14 victory. The Rabbitohs could hardly have got the season off to a worse start, losing 36-18 to the Warriors in Perth, despite an impressive pre-season. 
 
History - Last year Souths stunned the Panthers at ANZ Stadium winning 40-14 in perhaps their most electrifying performance of the season after the Panthers led 8-0 early. Recent history shows the Rabbitohs have the wood on the Panthers winning five of the last seven against the Panthers. However at Pepper Stadium the home side have won nine of their last 13 clashes against the Bunnies once the past 15 years. 
 
Penrith Panthers’ Scouting Report - Viliame Kikau has earned a promotion to the starting side following an outstanding performance against the Eels, where some of his powerful runs and offloads helped turn the game. Reagan Campbell-Gillard also starts with Moses Leota and James Fisher-Harris dropping to the bench. Nathan Cleary warmed into the game before becoming dominant, despite his partnership with James Maloney showing signs of needing work. 
 
South Sydney Rabbitohs’ Scouting Report - The Rabbitohs have suffered a huge blow with Adam Reynolds off to have knee surgery, and expected to miss at least the next four weeks. Head Coach Anthony Seibold has sprung somewhat of a surprise with Adam Doueihi named at halfback to make his debut. Doueihi impressed playing for Lebanon as a 19 year old at the Rugby League World Cup last year. Mark Nicholls has been benched in a forward reshuffle, with Sam Burgess moving to prop and Cameron Murray starting at lock. Tyrell Fuimaono replaces Hymel Hunt on the interchange.
 
Verdict - Panthers by 1-8 in a high scoring game
 
I’m expecting a reaction from South Sydney, however I can’t see them getting the chocolates here at Pepper Stadium. I just can't see the halves combination of Walker and Doueihi providing a stable kicking game, or the control under key pressure mounts, that the Bunnies might need in a tight contest. The Panthers were not totally convincing first up; however they definitely showed both character and quality to come from 14 points down, so I think, back at home, they are going to build off that performance and improve here against the Rabbitohs. Overall, Souths’ defence is going to have to be far better this week, and there are just too many question marks over them for me, so I see Penrith getting away with a fairly comfortable win by 10-18 points here to make it 2 wins from 2 attempts to start season 2018.