Nathan Cleary will look to stake his claim for a sky blue jersey as he makes his NRL return at the undermanned Penrith Panthers ahead of State of Origin. Join The Roar for all the news, Round 11 team lists and analysis from 3:30pm (AEST).
The Panthers have the biggest casualty ward in the competition after ten weeks, but with Trent Merrin a surprise inclusion last week and Cleary due back this time around, they will start to get things back on track – not that things are off track, given they are running second on the ladder.
In other positive news around the competition, Paul Gallen, Jason Bukuya, Luke Lewis and Wade Graham are all a show of being named at the Sharks, while Josh Reynolds could be back for the Tigers. Victor Radley will also return from suspension for a Roosters outfit looking to build on their dominant win over the Warriors last week.
That’s about it for the positive news though. The Melbourne Storm will be without both Sam Kasiano and more importantly, the recently-rep-retired Cameron Smith, who have both been suspended for a week.
At Canterbury, Michael Lichaa is set to miss another week with Danny Fualalo to join him on the sidelines, while Jack de Belin will need to prove his fitness after struggling with a rib injury against South Sydney. Ben Hunt may be in the same boat after suffering a corked thigh.
Blake Austin will likely spend some time on the sidelines for Ricky Stuart’s Raiders while Payne Haas for the Broncos and Shaun Fensom at the Cowboys are both unlikely to play after suffering a dislocated shoulder and elbow respectively.
The Warriors will also have a problem in the halves, with both Shaun Johnson and Mason Lino expected to miss their clash with the Eels through leg injuries.
In other news, there has also been talk Broncos coach Wayne Bennett will drop Jack Bird. The utility has been out of sorts this year and after a move from half to centre last week, he might find himself in reserve grade this weekend.
There is also talk surrounding Trent Hodkinson, who the Manly Sea Eagles have signed to try and fix their halves crisis after he was released from the Sharks yesterday. Trent Barrett is expected to name him this weekend.
Penrith Panthers
1 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 2 Christian Crichton, 3 Tyrone Peachey, 4 Dean Whare, 5 Tyrone Phillips, 6 James Maloney (c), 7 Nathan Cleary, 8 Trent Merrin, 9 Sione Katoa, 10 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 11 Corey Harawira-Naera, 12 Isaah Yeo, 13 James Fisher-Harris
Interchange: 14 Wayde Egan, 15 Jack Hetherington, 16 Viliame Kikau, 17 James Tamou, 18 Jarome Luai, 19 Kaide Ellis, 20 Tyrone May, 21 Nick Lui-Toso
Wests Tigers
1 Corey Thompson, 2 David Nofoaluma, 3 Esan Marsters, 4 Kevin Naiqama, 5 Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, 6 Benji Marshall, 7 Luke Brooks, 8 Russell Packer (c), 9 Elijah Taylor, 10 Ben Matulino, 11 Chris Lawrence, 12 Robbie Rochow, 13 Matthew Eisenhuth
Interchange: 14 Alex Twal, 15 Jacob Liddle, 16 Michael Chee-Kam, 17 Sauaso Sue, 18 Tim Grant, 19 Chris McQueen, 20 Josh Aloiai, 21 Tyson Gamble
Parramatta Eels
1 Clint Gutherson (c), 2 Bevan French, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Brad Takairangi, 5 George Jennings, 6 Corey Norman, 7 Mitchell Moses, 8 Daniel Alvaro, 9 Cameron King, 10 Peni Terepo, 11 Beau Scott (c), 12 Tepai Moeroa, 13 Manu Ma’u
Interchange: 14 Will Smith, 15 Suaia Matagi, 16 David Gower, 17 Marata Niukore, 18 Josh Hoffman, 19 Siosaia Vave, 20 Jaeman Salmon, 21 Raymond Stone
New Zealand Warriors
1. Roger Tuivasa-sheck 2. David Fusitua 3. Peta Hiku 4. Solomone Kata 5. Ken Maumalo 6. Blake Green 7. Mason Lino 8. Bunty Afoa 9. Issac Luke 10. Agnatius Paasi 11. Isaiah Papalii 12. Tohu Harris 13. Adam Blair
Interchange: 14. Jazz Tevaga 15. Chris Satae 16. James Gavet 17. Simon Mannering 18. Gerard Beale 20. Karl Lawton 21. Albert Vete 22. Anthony Gelling
Brisbane Broncos
1 Darius Boyd (c), 2 Corey Oates, 3 James Roberts, 4 Tom Opacic, 5 Jamayne Isaako, 6 Anthony Milford, 7 Kodi Nikorima, 8 Matthew Lodge, 9 Andrew McCullough, 10 Sam Thaiday, 11 Tevita Pangai jnr, 12 Jaydn Su’A, 13 Joe Ofahengaue
Interchange: 14 Sam Tagataese, 15 Gehamat Shibasaki, 16 Korbin Sims, 17 Patrick Mago, 18 Kontoni Staggs, 19 Todd Murphy, 20 George Fai, 21 David Fifita
Sydney Roosters
1 James Tedesco, 2 Joseph Manu, 3 Latrell Mitchell, 4 Mitchell Aubusson, 5 Blake Ferguson, 6 Luke Keary, 7 Cooper Cronk, 8 Siosiua Taukeiaho, 9 Jake Friend (c), 10 Dylan Napa, 11 Boyd Cordner (c), 12 Ryan Matterson, 13 Isaac Liu
Interchange: 14 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 15 Zane Tetevano, 16 Kurt Baptiste, 17 Victory Radley, 18 Nat Butcher, 19 Sitili Tupouniua, 20 Lindsay Collins, 21 Mitchell Cornish
Gold Coast Titans
1 Michael Gordon, 2 Anthony Don, 3 Dale Copley, 4 Brenko Lee, 5 Phillip Sami, 6 AJ Brimson, 7 Ashley Taylor, 8 Jarrod Wallace, 9 Nathan Peats, 10 Ryan James (c), 11 Kevin Proctor, 12 Keegan Hipgrave, 13 Jai Arrow
Interchange: 14 Mitch Rein, 15 Max King, 16 Jack Stockwell, 17 Moeaki Fotuaika, 18 Bryce Cartwright, 19 Konrad Hurrell, 20 Kane Elgey, 21 Morgan Boyle
Newcastle Knights
1 Kalyn Ponga, 2 Ken Sio, 3 Sione Mata’utia, 4 Nathan Ross, 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6 Connor Watson, 7 Brock Lamb, 8 Herman Ese’ese, 9 Slade Griffin, 10 Josh King, 11 Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12 Mitchell Barnett, 13 Aidan Guerra (c)
Interchange: 14 Danny Levi, 15 Chris Heighington, 16 Jacob Saifiti, 17 Daniel Saifiti, 18 Jamie Buhrer (c), 19 Jacob Lillyman, 20 Jack Cogger, 21 Cory Denniss
North Queensland Cowboys
1 Lachlan Coote, 2 Kyle Feldt, 3 Justin O’Neill, 4 Ben Hampton, 5 Antonio Winterstein, 6 Michael Morgan, 7 Johnathan Thurston (c), 8 Matthew Scott (c), 9 Jake Granville, 10 Scott Bolton, 11 Gavin Cooper, 12 Coen Hess, 13 Jason Taumalolo
Interchange: 14 Te Maire Martin, 15 Shaun Fensom, 16 Corey Jensen, 17 Ethan Lowe, 18 Francis Molo, 19 Jake Clifford, 20 Javid Bowen, 21 Enari Tuala
South Sydney Rabbitohs
1 Alex Johnston, 2 Campbell Graham, 3 Greg Inglis (c), 4 Dane Gagai, 5 Hymel Hunt, 6 Cody Walker, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Thomas Burgess, 9 Damien Cook, 10 George Burgess, 11 John Sutton, 12 Angus Crichton, 13 Sam Burgess
Interchange: 14 Cameron Murray, 15 Adam Doueihi, 16 Jason Clark, 17 Tevita Tatola, 18 Robbie Farah, 19 Mark Nicholls, 20 Braidon Burns, 21 Kyle Turner
Melbourne Storm
1 Billy Slater (c), 2 Suliasi Vunivalu, 3 Will Chambers, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Ryley Jacks, 8 Christian Welch, 9 Brandon Smith, 10 Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Ryan Hoffman, 13 Dale Finucane
Interchange: 14 Tim Glasby, 15 Kenny Bromwich, 16 Joe Stimson, 17 Jahrome Hughes, 18 Patrick Kaufusi, 19 Brodie Croft, 20 Harry Grant, 21 Justin Olam
Manly Sea Eagles
1 Tom Trbojevic, 2 Matthew Wright, 3 Moses Suli, 4 Brian Kelly, 5 Akuila Uate, 6 Dylan Walker, 7 Daly Cherry-Evans (c), 8 Addin Fonua-Blake, 9 Apisai Koroisau, 10 Martin Taupau, 11 Joel Thompson, 12 Shaun Lane, 13 Jake Trbojevic
Interchange: 14 Trent Hodkinson, 15 Frank Winterstein, 16 Lloyd Perrett, 17 Toafofoa Sipley, 18 Tom Wright, 19 Lewis Brown, 20 Jorge Taufua, 21 Tevita Funa
St George Illawarra Dragons
1 Matt Dufty, 2 Nene Macdonald, 3 Euan Aitken, 4 Tim Lafai, 5 Jason Nightingale, 6 Gareth Widdop (c), 7 Ben Hunt, 8 James Graham, 9 Cameron McInnes, 10 Paul Vaughan, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Jack De Belin
Interchange: 14 Jeremy Latimore, 15 Kurt Mann, 16 Leeson Ah Mau, 17 Blake Lawrie, Reserves: 18 Reece Robson, 19 Zachary Lomax, 20 Mitchell Allgood, 21 Hame Sele
Canberra Raiders
1 Jack Wighton, 2 Nick Cotric, 3 Jarrod Croker (c), 4 Joseph Leilua, 5 Jordan Rapana, 6 Blake Austin, 7 Aidan Sezer, 8 Iosia Soliola, 9 Siliva Havili, 10 Shannon Boyd, 11 Joseph Tapine, 12 Elliott Whitehead, 13 Josh Papalii
Interchange: 14 Ata Hingano, 15 Luke Bateman, 16 Charlie Gubb, 17 Dunamis Lui, 18 Liam Knight, 19 Michael Oldfield, 20 Sam Williams, 21 Craig Garvey
Cronulla Sharks
1 Valentine Holmes, 2 Sosaia Feki, 3 Jesse Ramien, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Edrick Lee, 6 Matt Moylan, 7 Chad Townsend, 8 Andrew Fifita, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Kurt Capewell, 11 Jayson Bukuya, 13 Paul Gallen (c)
Interchange: 14 Joseph Paulo, 15 James Segeyaro, 16 Ava Seumanufagai, 17 Jack Williams, 18 Kurt Dillon, 19 Braden Uele, 20 Luke Lewis, 21 Josh Dugan
Canterbury Bulldogs
1 Moses Mbye, 2 Brett Morris, 3 Josh Morris, 4 Will Hopoate, 5 Marcelo Montoya, 6 Matt Frawley, 7 Kieran Foran, 8 Aaron Woods, 9 Jeremy Marshall-King, 10 David Klemmer, 11 Josh Jackson (c), 12 Raymond Faitala-Mariner, 13 Rhyse Martin
Interchange: 14 Adam Elliott, 15 Clay Priest, 16 Renouf Toomaga, 17 Kerrod Holland, 19 Greg Eastwood, 20 John Olive, 21 Asipeli Fine, 23 Michael Lichaa
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of team list Tuesday from 3:30pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment
Matt
Guest
Hi Scott, I do hope I am totally wrong. Whenever else though has a coach not been so sheepish and secretive about an injury, so much so, but impossible not to arouse suspicion? Hi Tim, I just don't know when the last time was that a coach wasn't open and honest about a player's injury? Every other player in the game is man enough to go into a game knowing the opposition know about their injury. Why not here? Is this the Dragons ploy from here on in? No injuries will be disclosed to the media ? I hope not.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Yeah, fully agree 3Hats but, the boys will have to have a real go and not be complacent up there! The Cows are a mystery this year? They have had some shockers but have proven that they can topple some of the top teams. Funny things happen up there at 1300smile and we haven't looked good against them lately. Matches at venue: Played 16; Cowboys 9 wins, Rabbitohs 7 wins 2017 results: Cowboys won 20-6 at 1300Smiles Stadium in round 5 and 23-10 at Barlow Park in round 19 which is not a good look and could be a worry if the boys don't have a real go, especially after last weeks game against the Tigers where the Cows looked pretty strong but were out muscled by the Tigers. Go the Bunnies!
tim
Guest
Maybe he has an injury that McGregor won't disclose because he doesn't want to embarrass DeBelin (think ruptured testicle, etc). Either that, or there's the fear that opponents will target the injury.
R N
Roar Rookie
I feel for O’Neil... when in form he’s not bad. But at the moment he is the league equivalent of Ian baker finch. Pretty sure he dropped the ball more times than he caught it the other night! I m going to play a drinking game this weekend, -O’Neil drop ball, drink -Coote not beating 1st man on kick return, drink -Martin forward pass from dummy half, drink -Morgan in the clear and forgetting how good he is, drink -Thurston caught with ball when looking for support, drink - Thurston giving away a 7 tackle set, drink - Completed set with all one out hit ups with no offloads, drink - Lowe looking to offload to no support, drink - Feldt and Hampton looking good , showing some ticker and embarrassing their more highly paid teammates, drink Can’t wait for the game... on current form I won’t be conscious by the 20th minute! Hope they prove me wrong.
Concerned Observer
Guest
Excellent showcase of psychological warfare by Paul Green. Reading that Justin O’Neil has again been allowed within 100 feet of an innocent NRL team gave me a severe extra-dural haemorrhage so Imagine what must be going through the minds of South Sydney. Master stroke
Joe
Roar Rookie
Good to see Jahrome Hughes on the bench. The more NRL time he gets the better. I think he will be the Storms next fullback. Harry Grant in the 21 as well means he could be on the bench to give Smith a spell. The alternative is Kenny or Hughes to have a stint at hooker for Brandon. Good to see the next gen getting some game time.
farkurnell
Guest
I'd prefer Gal to start on the bench,coming on to replace Prior /Faf ..Hodko leaving to Manly leaves the Sharks light on for backup halves -only young rookies available to replace
Scott Pryde
Expert
I strongly, strongly doubt de Belin doesn't want to play for the Blues. Even more than that, Mary was one of the only coaches who wanted his players to play City-Country last year. He thought the rep experience could only help the Dragons. Sorry, but your theory is more than likely totally wrong.
Matt
Guest
Hi Scott I’ll be the nark and say De Belin will be out until the Blues go into camp, and then he will be good to go for the Dragons. I have a gut feeling they thought they could spare him v Souths, and v Raiders as well as avoid Origin selection. and super suspicious that a coach cannot elaborate or comment on an injury calling it ‘part of the body’. Never a sign of a more guilty word spoken is to say nothing. If it turns out as above, the guy is going to wear mud for a long time just like Jamie Lyon. Only difference is Lyon was open and honest about not wanting to play for the Blues. If De Belin simply doesn’t want to play State/ or moreso wants to put the Dragons first, then just come out and say so. Don’t make up stories. Let’s all hope he is seriously hurt and I’m wrong. To compare, niggly injuries never stopped Thurston from taking the field.
3_Hats SSTID 2014
Roar Rookie
Are you blokes starting to take my Rabbitohs seriously? Sure it is still early in the season but it is damn good to be in our position. I wrote last week we will beat the Dragons easy and we did. I expect the Cowboys to aim up this week so I doubt the game will be easy. The Cows have won the last 4 games plus 8 out of the past 10. Curiously before that, the Rabbitohs had won 8 out of the previous 10 games and 4 in a row twice. History Played 32 Games: Cows 17 wins, Souths 14 wins and 1 Draw. In Townsville Played 16 Games Cows 9 wins, Souths 7 wins Souths by 8
Scott Pryde
Expert
Hi Andrew, Jack de Belin has a hip injury and really shouldn't have played last week. Only got 28 mintues in as it was. Hunt has a cork he picked up against Souths. So, neither of them are serious.
Emcie
Roar Guru
It's a head scratcher
andrew
Guest
Hi Scott, whats the damage on Ben and Jack?
Jason Hosken
Roar Guru
Thanks mate.
R N
Roar Rookie
Really Cowboys.... no changers?
Emcie
Roar Guru
Wow, didn't even notice Fifita on the extended squad. Good to see he's getting closer to a call up. Some good young guys getting a chance this week, it's almost a pitty Origin only affects one round this year. They all deserve a chance to show what they've got
Aardvark62
Roar Rookie
24 hours out may tell a different story, we might see numbers 18, 19, 20 & 21 in the starting 17.
Emcie
Roar Guru
...no worries...
Scott Pryde
Expert
You could be 100% right Emcie - thanks for that by the way. Working wonders!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Manly have announced three to four weeks Jason.