League: Warriors must watch out for Panther claws

Complacency may be the Warriors' worst enemy when they line up against the Penrith Panthers at Mt Smart Stadium tonight.

The Warriors have had a disturbing tendency to lose games they should win when the opposition turns up without key players.

Penrith captain Tony Puletua (rib injury) and halfback Craig Gower (NSW Origin team) as well as their top try-scorer, fullback Rhys Wesser (playing for Queensland), are out of this game and there is the opportunity for the Warriors to take the visitors lightly after the high of a 66-0 win last weekend.

The Panthers retain plenty of attacking power through Luke Priddis and his dummy-half runs and ball delivery. They also have impact forwards Frank Pritchard and Trent Waterhouse, who both have power and speed, nippy Preston Campbell who loves dissecting the big guys, and Luke Swain who shifts to the halves.

The Warriors are basically unchanged over recent games, barring the coming-and-going of their skipper Steve Price to State of Origin.

They beat Wests Tigers 34-12 when Price was away for Origin One and they beat the Roosters 22-12 ahead of Origin Two.

The teams have similar results in the competition, the Warriors having won seven of 15 games and Penrith six of 14. The Panthers sit higher on the ladder because of four points from two byes. The Warriors have one of those to come, plus the four-point deduction due to the penalty for salary cap breaches.

But the Warriors have the far superior record when the wins and losses are broken down to attack-and-defence.

They have scored 372 points, including 65 tries, to Penrith's 273 points and 49 tries. And the Panthers have let in 331 points, including 60 tries and the Warriors have allowed in 281 points and 50 tries.

So the Warriors' average game is a 25-19 win against a Panthers' 19-24 loss.

So close that it's worth putting an exact-score bet on at the TAB.

NZ Warriors vs Penrith Panthers
Mt Smart Stadium, 7.30 tonight

NZ Warriors

Brent Webb
Patrick Ah Van
Tony Martin
Simon Mannering
Manu Vatuvei
Jerome Ropati
Grant Rovelli
Ruben Wiki (c)
Nathan Fien
Evarn Tuimavave
Louis Anderson
Sione Faumuina
Interchange: Lance Hohaia, Sam Rapira, Wairangi Koopu, Micheal Luck.

Panthers

Nick Youngquest
Michael Gordon
Danny Galea
Lee Hookey
Luke Rooney
Luke Lewis
Preston Campbell
Joel Clinton
Luke Priddis (c)
Craig Stapleton
Matt Cross
Luke Swain
Trent Waterhouse
Interchange: Frank Puletua, Bryan Norrie, Matt Bell, Paul Aiton, Craig Trindall 18th man,