HE may not be the biggest name player headed to Bathurst’s Carrington Park next week, but as the Penrith Panthers look to continue their impressive campaign with a win over Cronulla at Carrington Park, livewire hooker James Segeyaro could very well be the key.

The Panthers are set to take on the Sharks next Saturday afternoon as part of a five-year deal to see an NRL fixture played annually at Carrington Park.

Not only are they geographically the closest team to Bathurst and share their name with local Group 10 outfit Bathurst Panthers, this year Penrith are very much contenders for the NRL premiership.

After Monday night’s win over the Broncos, the Panthers sit second on the ladder on percentages behind Manly, the two teams having won 11 matches thus far.

But one problem the Panthers must overcome in their run-in to the NRL finals is a halves injury crisis. According to playmaker Jamie Soward, Segeyaro will be crucial in this.

Halfback Peter Wallace remains sidelined with a knee injury for at least a month and his stand-in Tyrone Peachey suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Monday’s win over Brisbane that is expected to rule him out for the rest of the season.

In-form fullback Matt Moylan has been named at five-eighth for tomorrow’s round 19 clash with premiers the Sydney Roosters with Soward again shifted to halfback by coach Ivan Cleary.

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has been listed at the back, however Bryce Cartwright is more likely to fill the pivot role for the Panthers as he did when Peachey left the field against the Broncos.

Either way, Soward said Segeyaro is set to play a key role.

“Last night a guy who didn’t get a lot of wraps was James Segeyaro,” Soward said on Tuesday.

“The way he helped me steer the team around; I haven’t played halfback for a long time and when we lost Peach it was a bit ad lib there for a while and paddled at the back end of the first half.

“But Chiko [Segeyaro] was great, he controlled the ruck when he needed to and forwards went forward when we needed them to and we scored some really good tries.”

Next Saturday’s match between the Panthers and Sharks kicks off at 3pm.