Melbourne Storm vs Penrith Panthers Preview & Prediction | 2025 NRL | Regular Season

by Rob Esteva · 19 March 2025 at 11:41 pm

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Last year’s grand finalists meet in round three of the 2025 NRL season and the Storm will be desperate to make a statement against the Panthers

Start date/time: Thursday 20th March, 2025: UK – 9:00am / Local – 8:00pm / US ET – 5:00am / US PT – 2:00am

How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports / Australia – Foxtel / US – Some matches are televised live on Fox Sports

How to watch online: UK – Sky Go & Watch NRL / Australia – Kapo Sports / US – Watch NRL, and if the match is televised in the USA it can also be streamed live on Fox Sports platforms

Melbourne Storm Team News: Bellamy’s men fired up to avenge grand final loss

After hammering Parramatta Eels in the opening round, the Storm return to action determined to avenge the loss in the grand final to the Penrith Panthers here. They are boosted by the return of Nelson Asofa-Solomona who is available now that his five-match ban has ended and he is a welcome addition after missing out on that grand final encounter. Will Warbrick is out with concussion so Grant Anderson comes in for him.

Penrith Panthers Team News: Star fullback Edwards misses out through injury

Penrith Panthers are coming off a shock loss at the hands of the Roosters last week so they will be eager to bounce back from that 32-38 loss at home. That was not the start they wished for at their new home ground CommBank Stadium and now they have a tough match to follow in what is a repeat of last year’s grand final. The Panthers have to do without star fullback Dylan Edwards who is injured so Tom Jenkins will replace him following another injury to Daine Laurie.

Melbourne Storm vs Penrith Panthers Prediction

The Storm has started the season impressively following the disappointment of losing the grand final last year and they clearly have that edge in their game. The Panthers on the other hand were poor last week and looked like they had after-effects from the Vegas trip as they conceded 38 points to the Roosters. They are going to have to raise their game notably if they are to get anything here but they have been somewhat sluggish so far and poor defensively. They have some work to do but it seems unlikely they can just flick the switch for this game. While they may have a psychological edge over the hosts, all the momentum and the team news, is in favour of Storm coming into this one and we expect them to run out winners here.