Panthers & Tigers secure pre-season challenge wins in Sydney

The Wests Tigers and Penrith Panthers both bagged wins in the NRL Pre-season Challenge on Friday night, prevailing over the Parramatta Eels and Manly Sea Eagles respectively at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney.

NRL betting sites had the Panthers as heavy underdogs heading into their clash against the Sea Eagles, considering their A-team had already flown to Las Vegas to prepare for round one of the competition.

But the four-time defending champions proved they have plenty of depth, putting on a spectacle to beat Manly 38-22 in wet weather.

The Sea Eagles opened the scoring through Navren Willett but were unable to trouble the scoreboard any further over the first 40.

David Fale, Trent Toelau and Thomas Jenkins ran in four unanswered tries for the Panthers over the first half, with Fale picking up a brace before the break.

While Manly hit back quickly after half-time through Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega and Ethan Bullemor to make the score 22-16, the Panthers soon pulled away again, scoring three tries in the final quarter.

Both club’s odds of winning the NRL Premiership remain unchanged, however, with Penrith paying $4.50 to lift the trophy at most rugby league bookmakers and Manly returning $15.

In the evening’s other match, the Tigers showed brilliant form despite stars Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva not playing.

The home side scored five tries to beat the Eels 30-18, with a strong finish to the first half largely responsible for the victory.

After Isaiah Iongi crossed over first for Parramatta to open the scoring, the Tigers quickly built a lead through tries to Brent Naden, Jack Bird and Jeral Skelton.

Sean Russell added another for the Eels to make it 18-12 at half-time, but the hosts were able to keep building on their advantage in the second half.

Despite Jack Williams scoring first for the Eels after the break, two more four-pointers were added for the Tigers Tristan Hope and Solomana Faataape while Adam Doueihi remained perfect off the tee.

Outright betting odds for the Eels and Tigers heading into the 2025 NRL Premiership remain steady as well, with Bet365 pricing Parramatta at $23 to win the competition and Wests at $41.

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