The Bombers are top of the Black Diamond Cup table and come into the match full of confidence after notching four wins from as many games this season.

They haven't beaten the Panthers since early in the 2010 season but Shackleton feels his side, boosted by a number of experienced recruits this campaign, are the best chance since that last victory of breaking the long-running drought.

"I think so," the coach said.

"The last two or three years we've had some good juniors come in and we've been building.

"We've felt the last couple of years, on our day, we could get close but this is probably the first time from a coaching perspective I've looked at our best 22 and gone, we're as good as they are.

"It's just now, can we play our best brand of footy under the pressure they bring?

"They're a good side that's been together for a long time."

The Bombers lost to the now third-placed Panthers in the 2014 grand final and Shackleton admitted "since then there's been plenty of miserable days".

"They're always the benchmark and as you do every year, you're always keen to see where you sit against them," he said.

"They bring a lot of pressure and in the past, we've held up to it for a quarter or so and then all of a sudden we start to crack and they wear away at us.

"But we feel we're a genuine chance this year."

Shackleton said his side would love to end the hoodoo on Saturday as it will be the first time the Bombers use upgraded facilities at Adelaide Street Oval.

The more than $1.2 million project has created dual home and away change rooms, enabling men's and women's teams to use seperate spaces at the same time.

Additional improvements have also been made.

"There's a room for trainers and all sorts of goodies in there," Shackleton said.

The Bombers and Panthers were meant to clash in round one but their match was washed out. As part of an agreed swap, today's round-seven game that Terrigal-Avoca was due to host has been switched to Adelaide Street Oval. The earlier washed-out match will now be played later in the season at Hylton Moore Oval.

In other games, Maitalnd will be out to hit back against Newcastle at home after City ran away with a 69-12 victory in round four. Warners Bay host the winless Singleton, while Cardiff have the bye.