{"id":293479,"date":"2023-09-22T09:34:40","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T09:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=293479"},"modified":"2023-09-22T09:34:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T09:34:40","slug":"nrl-finals-live-updates-penrith-panthers-v-melbourne-storm-at-accor-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-league\/nrl-finals-live-updates-penrith-panthers-v-melbourne-storm-at-accor-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL finals LIVE updates: Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm at Accor Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Save articles for later<\/h3>\n<p>Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n<h3>Key posts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span><time class=\"_2_zR-\" data-testid=\"datetime\" dateTime=\"2023-09-22T18:42:51+10:00\">6.42pm<\/time><\/span>Welcome<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>1<\/span> of <span>1<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Grant to start off the bench<\/h2>\n<p>Craig Bellamy is starting Harry Grant on the bench again this week, and Bronson Garlick will be the starting hooker. <\/p>\n<p>It might seem strange to start the game without one of your best players, but it worked a charm for the Storm last week, with Grant injecting some much-needed spice into the game when the fatigue started to set it. <\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what Grant had to say ahead of the game: <\/p>\n<h2>The injured halves<\/h2>\n<p>Two teams, both alike in injury, in fair Olympic Park where we lay our scene. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m talking about our two injured (or not injured) halves of course. <\/p>\n<p>First we have Panthers playmaker Jarome Luai, who has been named to play after just four weeks on the sideline recovery from a dislocated shoulder. <\/p>\n<p>There were doubts Luai would return at all this season, but he\u2019s passed his fitness test and is apparently a certainty to start tonight. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.144%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/90e96419f586fd49871d1dd709ea5a33775d7956\" height=\"390\" width=\"584\"><\/p>\n<p><span>Jarome Luai leaves the field in round 26 with a dislocated shoulder.<\/span><cite class=\"ojLwA\"><span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>Expect Melbourne\u2019s heavy-hitting forwards, like Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Christian Welch, to target Luai and put him through a world of pain. <\/p>\n<p>And then we have Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes who\u2019s returning from a calf injury that sidelined him for Melbourne\u2019s narrow victory over the Roosters last week. <\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s been named to play (at this stage the Storm probably don\u2019t have any other option), but it will be clear in the opening minutes whether he is 100 per cent or not. <\/p>\n<h2>Cool night at Olympic Park<\/h2>\n<h2>Can the Storm cause an upset tonight?<\/h2>\n<p>Penrith have been an NRL powerhouse for the past four seasons, but the Storm were the last club to tame the beast in a decider when they beat them in the 2020 grand final.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt the Panthers have the upper hand tonight, and they\u2019ve beaten the Storm twice already this year. But the Storm have the best preliminary finals record of any club in the NRL era.<\/p>\n<p>Melbourne have appeared in a whopping 14 preliminary finals (too many to list) and have won 10 of them. Coach Craig Bellamy has steered the ship for all but one of them (1999).<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the past three years, the Panthers also have a successful record at this stage of the competition, having won four of their six preliminary final appearances (2003, 2004, 2014, 2020, 2021, 2022).<\/p>\n<p>But heading down the M4 to Accor Stadium, the Panthers record is a little grim compared to that of Melbourne (maybe that\u2019s why they didn\u2019t want to play there).<\/p>\n<p>Penrith still have a reasonable 49-per-cent success rate at the Olympic Park venue, but it\u2019s a far happier hunting ground for visitors Melbourne, who have won two thirds of their games at the stadium.<\/p>\n<h2>Who will win?<\/h2>\n<h2>Welcome<\/h2>\n<p>Good evening footy fans, and welcome to our live coverage of tonight\u2019s semi-final. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s Panthers against Storm at Accor Stadium with the winner booking a spot in next week\u2019s grand final. <\/p>\n<p>Kick off is at 7:50pm and Penrith are the clear favourites &#8211; they\u2019re paying $1.19 compared to Melbourne at $4.75 &#8211; but Craig Bellamy and his team know how to put up a fight, so hopefully we\u2019re in for a close contest tonight. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.253%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_70%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/e5e4da5a94d0a6046f300b79b87d28a732973627\" height=\"390\" width=\"584\"><\/p>\n<p><span>Jahrome Hughes and Jarome Luai.<\/span><cite class=\"ojLwA\"><span>Credit: <\/span>Illustration: Stephen Kiprillis<\/cite><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li>\n<p><span>1<\/span> of <span>1<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Most Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/nrl-finals-live-updates-penrith-panthers-v-melbourne-storm-at-accor-stadium-20230922-p5e6vy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Key posts 6.42pmWelcome <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293478,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NRL finals LIVE updates: Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm at Accor Stadium - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-league\/nrl-finals-live-updates-penrith-panthers-v-melbourne-storm-at-accor-stadium\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NRL finals LIVE updates: Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm at Accor Stadium - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. 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