Penrith skipper Matt Moylan will face his biggest defensive challenge yet as a five-eighth when he comes face-to-face with South Sydney juggernaut Angus Crichton.
Crichton is fast emerging as one of the rising stars of the NRL after his hat-trick in the Rabbitohs' last-start win over Gold Coast took him to seven tries in as many games.
The former rugby union sensation proved unstoppable against the Titans, breaking ten tackles and making four line breaks on his way to a 197-metre effort.
It was the kind of display that had some labelling him as NSW's answer to Queensland State of Origin giant Coen Hess.
"It's unreal," Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire said of his forward's tryscoring ability.
"Watching his last try (against the Titans), just the effort that was required in our last game, he had to go through about four or five players and he bounced off them.
"It's just his determination - and that's what makes great players - the determination of wanting to do those things in the game. It was right at the death of the game, he didn't have to do that."
Maguire stopped just short of calling Crichton a Blues star in the making.
"I don't want to put that sort of title around a player but if he progresses the way he's going, there's no reason why he can't," he said.
And now the Rabbitohs are hoping the 21-year-old continues his NRL rampage in Sunday's crucial encounter against Moylan and the Panthers.
Moylan's mid-season move from fullback to five-eighth has been the catalyst to Penrith's resurgence over the past three games - two of them resulting in victories.
But Maguire didn't shy away from predicting the Panthers captain would encounter a torrid time from Crichton at ANZ Stadium.
"Every halfback knows that's coming. It doesn't matter who you are or what team you play for, every half, there's always plenty of traffic going around there," he said.
The 12th-placed Rabbitohs need to win to stay in touch with the top eight, while the Panthers are just one win ahead of them in ninth place.
Rabbitohs captain Sam Burgess, Aaron Gray and Dave Tyrell will line-up after missing their team's last game through injury, while the Panthers are unchanged from last week.
STATS THAT MATTER
* The Rabbitohs have won just one of seven matches at home this year, their worst start to a season at home since 2006.
* Penrith are missing the most tackles in the NRL (32.4 per game), completing the second least sets (73.3 per cent), and making the second most errors (12.4 per game).
* Three of the past four matches between these teams at ANZ Stadium have been decided by 20 points or more.
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