The Warriors and All Blacks will do battle at the same time on Saturday night, Kiwi Tim Price wins the Burghley Horse trials and we catch up with Simon Mannering.
1) The 33-year-old Cameron Ciraldo only took over as Penrith head coach a month ago, when club supremo Phil Gould sacked Anthony Griffin in a dramatic NRL moment.
This did not produce immediate dividends but the final round win over the Melbourne Storm will have given the 33-year-old Ciraldo, Griffin'sformer assistant, a boost.
Ciraldo, a lanky forward with a nine-season career in the NRL, is being assisted by famous ex-players Greg Alexander and Royce Simmons.
2) There have been contrasting fortunes in matches between the two side in 2018.
In July, an inexperienced Penrith combination won 36 - 4 at home, with rookie Jarome Luai dominating Shaun Johnson. But in the penultimate round, just 10 days ago, the Warriors triumphed 36 - 16 with Johnson in form.
3)The Panthers are long considered an under-performing club from an outstanding nursery in west Sydney. Famous Penrith products include Brad Fittler, Greg Alexander, the volatile forward Mark Geyer and Tim Sheens, who went on to have a great coaching career.
4) Penrith's most notable person of interest is Gould, who coached the 1991 team to the club's first title, beating the Sheens-coached Canberra in the grand final. (Their other title came in 2003). Gould, among the greatest of league coaches, is a powerful and polarising figure in the Australian game.
5) Like all NRL teams, the Panthers have strong New Zealand links including unusual ones.
James Maloney is arguably the best five-eighth the Warriors have had, his three seasons in Auckland including the 2011 grand final appearance.
Halfback Nathan Cleary's dad Ivan was coach of that Warriors team - Sydney-born Nathan once held a New Zealand passport and considered making himself eligible for the Kiwis before his parents intervened.
Outside back Dallin Watene-Zelezniak's grandfather Steve Watene is a famous Kiwi league figure, and in 1936 became the first Maori to captain the side. The Kiwis' player of the year receives the Steve Watene Memorial Trophy.
The Panthers also include Maori representative James Tamou of Palmerston North, who quit the Kiwis camp to play for Australia in 2012.
Lock James Fisher-Harris from Northland has played a couple of tests for the Kiwis.
Backrower Corey Harawira-Naera from Auckland is a future Kiwis prospect.
Forward Moses Leota was born in Auckland, but raised in Sydney. Leota hit the headlines by presenting his mum with a car when the Panthers played in Auckland recently.
But stalwart Kiwi centre Dean Whare's season is over, having broken his arm against the Warriors last month.
James Maloney...success wherever he goes. Photo / Photosport
6) Watch out for Maloney, a success magnet.
He was pivotal in the Warriors getting to the 2011 grand final, then the much-travelled playmaker helped the Roosters to the 2013 NRL title and then repeated the trick three years later when the Sharks won their first crown.
This year, he and Cleary guided New South Wales to their first State of Origin series win since 2014.
7) Prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard and centre Tyrone Peachey — who is set to leave Penrith — were also in the NSW side.
8) The danger area: the left-side Fijian pairing of centre Waqa Blake and second rower Viliame Kikau. And they will probably be up against the grasping tackles of Peta Hiku who had a shocker against them early in the year.
The 23-year-old Kikau, in particular, is a superstar in the making, a giant tackle busting menace.
Warriors coach Steve Kearney could promote Gerard Beale, a more active defender, to start at right centre. But he seems to have a soft spot for Hiku, who threw a memorable pass to create a try against Canberra on Friday night.
Peta Hiku - great pass, shame about some of the tackling. Photo / Photosport
9) Hiku — an outstanding Warriors junior — will be lining up against one of his former clubs. Recruited from Manly, he had two seasons at the Panthers where he suffered injury problems and dropped out of favour.
10) If the game is tight...Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson has landed four field goals this year, Maloney and Cleary have combined for five. Maloney is kicking goals at an 86 per cent success rate, Johnson (and Cleary) are on 75 per cent.
11) The Panthers used to be famous for their jersey, although not in a really good way. On entering the competition in 1967, they decided to abandon their traditional blue and white because so many other clubs had blue strips. The so-called Chocolate Soldiers, brown with a white V, were born. They were re-fashioned as the Liquorice Allsorts in 1991 - the strip featuring black, red, yellow and green.
12) The Warriors suffered a record 6 - 62 defeat against the Panthers in Sydney five years ago.
