Live: Panthers and Roosters locked in tight heavyweight battle

Round 24 of the NRL season kicks off tonight with Penrith Panthers hosting the Sydney Roosters. With the teams sitting equal on competition points, the winner will go a long way to securing the minor premiership. Dylan Edwards has been passed fit for Penrith but the Roosters have not been so lucky, with their fullback James Tedesco ruled out for the second week in a row. Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:30pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:30pm34' Roosters can't convertWalker forces a drop out with a nice grubber and at the end of the next set Cherry-Evans goes high for Nawaqanitawase only for him to lose the ball.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:27pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:27pm31' Walker saves the dayWatson drops a simple one on his own 40 and the Panthers are on the attack.Alamoti has a shot to put To'o over but he holds it and then Lussick's pass is sharply intercepted by Walker. Roosters are doing a great job in defence thus far.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:16pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:16pm21' DCE opens Penrith upWalker very nearly puts Foketi over and two plays late Cherry-Evans straightens off his right foot and curs through from close range to score!He caught Henry and Papali'i a little flat-footed and what a score for the Roosters after all that defence.Walker converts and it's 6-0 Roosters.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:14pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:14pm19' Roosters with a stand for the agesAlamoti taps back a Cleary bomb, it falls for Martin and he finds Cogger who swings it left, it gets to Jenkins and comes back inside Henry, then to Cleary, Alamoti and To'o for the corner and he's claiming it!I think his feet hit the sideline and the Bunker confirms it. No advantage from the knock on though, so the Panthers retain the ball.Cogger forces a drop out with a nice grubber and there's another repeat set when Radley knocks on Lussick's kick. Two more restarts and a Nawaqanitawase knock on gives them even MORE ball.Geez, they've had a mountain of possession, almost five minutes straight. But in the end the Roosters hold as a loose Cleary pass falls for Toia! What a stand by the Roosters! And they get a penalty to boot!Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:02pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:02pm10' Roosters hold fast againA set restart on the third puts Penrith on the attack.Cleary goes high for Jenkins but Cherry-Evans does very well to come down with the ball. Roosters hang on.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:58pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:58pm6' Panthers can't convert first chanceThe Roosters get a restart late in the count but drop the ball seconds later to put Penrith on the attack.Panthers go left on the last and Alamoti tries to position To'o but the pass is no good. Roosters hang on.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:52pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:52pmPenrith kick us off!The Panthers are running left to right.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:50pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:50pmTipsWith Edwards back it's hard to go past Penrith, even without Isaah Yeo.No Tedesco also tips the scales in the Panthers favour but given how many points the Roosters have in them you'd be a fool to write them off.Let's go Brian To'o to score first and Penrith to win by ten.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:32pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:32pmLast time they metIt was much earlier in the season but the last time the Panthers played the Roosters was perhaps the former's most impressive performance of the season.This was back when they looked invulnerable. After a shaky few weeks they'd do well to get some of this back tonight.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:28pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:28pmFinal teams: Panthers vs RoostersBig changes for both teams.Dylan Edwards will start at fullback for the Panthers with Jaxen Edgar dropping back to the bench.The Roosters, meanwhile, will again be without James Tedesco with their skipper succumbing to an ankle injury. He will again be replaced by Cody Ramsey.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:22pmThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:22pmHello and welcome to the ABC's live blog of Panthers-RoostersHey team, welcome to one of the good ones.Tonight we've got first vs second on the NRL ladder when the Panthers take on the Roosters.The winner will go a long way towards securing the minor premiership with just three rounds remaining.Plenty of stars will be out, so let's have some fun out there.