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NRL finals preview: Sydney Roosters vs Canterbury Bulldogs

17th September, 2015
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The Bulldogs take on the Roosters for Friday night footy. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Robb Cox)
Roar Guru
17th September, 2015
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Can the Sydney Roosters continue their surge toward their second premiership in three years or will the Canterbury Bulldogs emulate their finals run of last season?

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>> HOW TO WATCH NRL FINALS

The Roosters and Bulldogs meet at Allianz Stadium on Friday night to determine who will take on the Brisbane Broncos in the preliminary finals.

The Roosters will be looking to bounce back from their 18-20 loss at the hands of the Melbourne Storm last week and prove they’re worthy contenders for the Provan-Summons Trophy.

This hasn’t been helped by the withdrawal of Mitchell Pearce from the Roosters’ side, however his replacement is breakout rookie Jackson Hastings who was impressive deputising for Pearce in the regular season and in Week 1 of the finals.

Sam Moa must again lead the forward pack who will be required to stop the ferocious Bulldogs forwards, including international stars James Graham, David Klemmer, Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Josh Jackson and Sam Kasiano.

Last week, Moa was below his best in terms of run metres, and will need to step up this weekend, particularly in the absence of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck remains the key for the Roosters. Last week the Warriors-bound fullback made 20 runs for a total of 207 metres averaging 10.35 per run. He also managed to set up a try, continuing his scintillating form over recent weeks.

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It was still a sub-par performance for Tuivasa-Sheck, and again if he performs to his average the Roosters will be much harder to stop.

The Bulldogs haven’t lost since meeting the Roosters in Superhero Round, eight weeks ago. This winning streak however is not indicative of good performances, with the Bulldogs struggling over the past three weeks, only just edging the Dragons, Warriors and Knights.

However the Dogs are finals specialists, and are expected to have the backing of more than half of Allianz Stadium – the Roosters’ home ground – with an anticipated 25,000 Bulldogs supporters.

Des Hasler has named only one change from last week’s side that defeated St George Illawarra 11-10, with Lloyd Perrett added to an extended bench as cover for Pritchard.

Josh Reynolds proved to be the difference last week and will once again be required to step up and deliver for the Bulldogs. The passionate five-eighth has now played two consecutive games without a tripping incident and will be hoping to keep it that way. His field goal in the 84th minute of last week’s win over the Dragons kept Canterbury’s finals hopes alive.

The Roosters and Bulldogs have played each other 34 times since 1998. The Bulldogs have 19 wins to their name, the Roosters 15. In Round 10 the Roosters defeated the Bulldogs 24-10, and again in Round 21 the Chooks were victorious, 38-28.

Prediction
This match will go right down to the final siren.

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Roosters by 2.

Kickoff: Friday, 7:55pm (AEST)
Venue: Allianz Stadium
TV: Live, Nine Network
Last meeting: Roosters defeated Bulldogs 38-28 (Round 21, 2015)
Head-to-head: 34 played – Roosters 15, Bulldogs 19
Roosters’ last three games: 18-20 versus Storm, 30-0 versus Rabbitohs, 46-10 versus Sea Eagles
Bulldogs’ last three games: 11-10 versus Dragons, 26-22 versus Warriors, 20-18 versus Knights

Sydney Roosters
1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2 Daniel Tupou, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Blake Ferguson, 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6 James Maloney, 7 Mitchell Pearce (c), 8 Sam Moa, 9 Jake Friend (c), 10 Dylan Napa, 11 Boyd Cordner, 12 Aidan Guerra, 13 Sio Siua Taukeiaho
14 Jackson Hastings, 15 Isaac Liu, 16 Kane Evans, 17 Mitchell Aubusson, 18 Suaia Matagi

Canterbury Bulldogs
1 Brett Morris, 2 Curtis Rona, 3 Josh Morris, 4 Timoteo Lafai, 5 Sam Perrett, 6 Josh Reynolds, 7 Moses Mbye, 8 Aiden Tolman, 9 Damien Cook, 10 James Graham (c), 11 Josh Jackson, 12 Frank Pritchard, 13 Greg Eastwood
14 Sam Kasiano, 15 Shaun Lane, 16 David Klemmer, 17 Tim Browne, 19 Lloyd Perrett

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