The NRL Round 20 teams are in, with Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown making mass changes to the side narrowly defeated by Wests Tigers at home last week.
Jesse Ramien, Herman Ese’ese, Danny Levi and Jamie Buhrer have all been axed following a poor run of form, with Mason Lino moving into five-eighth, Connor Watson lining up at hooker and Kurt Mann moving onto a wing.
South Sydney will finally welcome back Sam Burgess after some false starts in his quest to return from a shoulder injury. Their opponents, Cronulla, will be boosted by the returns of Andrew Fifita and Wade Graham.
The Cowboys will finally welcome Michael Morgan back from his three-week concussion absence for their round-opening clash with the Tigers.
CHECK OUT THE FULL TEAMS
Thursday, 7:50pm at Leichhardt Oval
Tigers
1. Corey Thompson, 2. Paul Momirovski, 3. Moses Mbye, 4. Esan Marsters, 5. David Nofoaluma, 6. Benji Marshall, 7. Luke Brooks, 8. Josh Aloiai, 9. Robbie Farah, 10. Oliver Clark, 11. Luke Garner, 12. Michael Chee-Kam, 13. Ryan Matterson
Bench/Reserves: 14. Matthew Eisenhuth, 15. Thomas Mikaele, 16. Alex Twal, 17. Chris Lawrence, 18. Jacob Liddle, 19. Tommy Talau, 20. Chris McQueen, 21. Josh Reynolds
Cowboys
1. Scott Drinkwater, 2. Kyle Feldt, 3. Coen Hess, 4. Tom Opcacic, 5. Murray Taualgi, 6. Michael Morgan, 7. Jake Clifford, 8. Josh McGuire, 9. Jake Granville, 10. Jordan McLean, 11. Gavin Cooper, 12. Shane Wright, 13. Jason Taumalolo
Bench/Reserves: 14. John Asiata, 15. Matthew Scott, 16. Scott Bolton, 17. Francis Molo, 18. Corey Jensen, 19. Tom Gilbert, 20. Gideon Gela-Mosby, 21. Reuben Cotter
Friday, 6pm at Mt Smart Stadium
Warriors
1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2. Gerard Beale, 3. Peta Hiku, 4. Blake Ayshford, 5. Ken Maumalo, 6. Kodi Nikorima, 7. Blake Green, 8. Agnatius Paasi, 9. Isaac Luke, 10. Leeson Ah Mau, 11. Adam Blair, 12. Isaiah Papali’i, 13. Jazz Tevaga
Bench/Reserves: 14. Lachlan Burr, 15. Sam Lisone, 16. Bunty Afoa, 17. Chanel Harris-Tavita, 18. Karl Lawton, 20. Joshua Curran, 21. Adam Pompey, 22. Adam Keighran
Raiders
1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Michael Oldfield, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hogdson, 10. Iosia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joseph Tapine
Bench/Reserves: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Corey Horsburgh, 17. Dunmais Lui, 18. Sam Williams, 19. Hudson Young, 20. Sebastian Kris, 21. Royce Hunt
Friday, 7:55pm at Suncorp Stadium
Broncos
1. Anthony Milford, 2. Corey Oates, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Alex Glenn, 5. Jamayne Isaako, 6. Darius Boyd, 7. Jake Turpin, 8. Matthew Lodge, 9. Andrew McCullough, 10. Payne Haas, 11. David Fifita, 12. Matt Gillett, 13. Thomas Flegler
Bench/Reserves: 14. James Segeyaro, 15. Joe Ofahengaue, 16. Rhys Kennedy, 17. Patrick Carrigan, 18. Tom Dearden, 19. Herbie Farnworth, 20. Xavier Coates, 21. Shaun Fensom
Storm
1. Jahrome Hughes, 2. Suliasi Vunivalu, 3. Will Chambers, 4. Justin Olam, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Brodie Croft, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith, 10. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 11. Felise Kaufusi, 12. Kenneath Bromwich, 13. Dale Finucane
Bench/Reserves: 14. Brandon Smith, 15. Christian Welch, 16. Joe Stimson, 17. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 18. Marion Seve, 19. Tui Kamikamica, 20. Tino Faasuamaleaui, 21. Sandor Earl
Saturday, 3pm at Lottoland
Sea Eagles
1. Tom Trbojevic, 2. Jorge Taufua, 3. Brad Parker, 4. Moses Suli, 5. Reuben Garrick, 6. Dylan Walker, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Addin Fonua-Blake, 9. Manase Fainu, 10. Martin Taupau, 11. Joel Thompson, 12. Curtis Sironen, 13. Jake Trbojevic
Bench/Reserves: 14. Lachlan Croker, 15. Corey Waddell, 16. Morgan Boyle, 17. Taniela Paseka, 18. Jack Gosiewski, 19. Apisai Koroisau, 20. Brendan Elliot, 21. Lloyd Perrett
Knights
1. Kalyn Ponga, 2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 3. Hymel Hunt, 4. Tautau Moga, 5. Kurt Mann, 6. Mason Lino, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Connor Watson, 10. Daniel Saifiti, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12. Mitchell Barnett, 13. Tim Glasby
Bench/Reserves: 14. Jacob Saifiti, 15. James Gavet, 16. Sione Mata’utia, 17. Aidan Guerra, 18. Jamie Buhrer, 19. Beau Fermor, 20. Jirah Momoisea, 21. Chris Randall
Saturday, 5:30pm at Bankwest Stadium
Bulldogs
1. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 2. Nick Meaney, 3. Kerrod Holland, 4. Will Hopoate, 5. Reimis Smith, 6. Jack Cogger, 7. Lachlan Lewis, 8. Aiden Tolman, 9. Michael Lichaa, 10. Dylan Napa, 11. Josh Jackson, 12. Corey Harawira-Naera, 13. Adam Elliott
Bench/Reserves: 14. Jeremy Marshall-King, 15. Renouf Toomaga, 16. Danny Fualalo, 17. Chris Smith, 19. Raymond Faitala-Mariner, 20. Brandon Wakeham, 21. Jayden Okunbor, 22. Ofahiki Ogden
Panthers
1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Dean Whare, 4. Brent Naden, 5. Brian To’o, 6. James Maloney, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. James Tamou, 9. Mitchell Kenny, 10. James Fisher-Harris, 11. Liam Martin, 12. Frank Winterstein, 13. Isaah Yeo
Bench/Reserves: 14. Wayde Egan, 15. Jarome Luai, 16. Moses Leota, 17. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 18. Spencer Leniu, 19. Jed Cartwright, 20. Stephen Crichton, 21. Hame Sele
Saturday, 7:35pm at PointsBet Park
Sharks
1. Matt Moylan, 2. Sosaia Feki, 3. Bronson Xerri, 4. Josh Dugan, 5. Josh Morris, 6. Shaun Johnson, 7. Chad Townsend, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Jayden Brailey, 10. Matt Prior, 11. Briton Nikora, 12. Wade Graham, 13. Paul Gallen
Bench/Reserves: 14. Kurt Capewell, 15. Jack Williams, 16. Andrew Fifita, 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele, 18. Billy Magoulias, 19. Blayke Brailey, 20. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 21. Kyle Flanagan
Rabbitohs
1. Adam Doueihi, 2. Dane Gagai, 3. James Roberts, 4. Braidon Burns, 5. Campbell Graham, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Tevita Tavola, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Thomas Burgess, 11. John Sutton, 12. Sam Burgess, 13. Cameron Murray
Bench/Reserves: 14. Liam Knight, 15. Mark Nicholls, 16. Ethan Lowe, 17. Kyle Turner, 18. Connor Tracey, 19. Corey Allan, 20. Jaydn Su’A, 21. Dean Britt
Sunday, 2pm at SCG
Roosters
1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Brett Morris, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Isaac Liu, 9. Sam Verrills, 10. Zane Tetevano, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Mitchell Aubusson, 13. Victor Radley
Bench/Reserves: 14. Nat Butcher, 15. Poasa Faamausili, 16. Lindsay Collins, 17. Sitili Tupouniua, 18. Matt Ikuvalu, 19. Drew Hutchison, 20. Lachlan Lam, 21. Max Bailey
Titans
1. Michael Gordon, 2. Anthony Don, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. Brian Kelly, 5. Phillip Sami, 6. Tyrone Roberts, 7. Ryley Jacks, 8. Jarrod Wallace, 9. Nathan Peats, 10. Jack Stockwell, 11. Kevin Proctor, 12. Sam Stone, 13. Jai Whitbread
Bench/Reserves: 14. Tyrone Peachey, 15. Moeaki Fotuaika, 16. Brenko Lee, 17. Bryce Cartwright, 18. Ashley Taylor, 19. Mitch Rein, 20. Will Matthews, 21. Leilani Latu
Sunday, 4:05pm at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Dragons
1. Corey Norman, 2. Jason Saab, 3. Euan Aitken, 4. Timoteo Lafai, 5. Zac Lomax, 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Ben Hunt, 8. Blake Lawrie, 9. Cameron McInnes, 10. Paul Vaughan, 11. Tyson Frizell, 12. Tariq Sims, 13. James Graham
Bench/Reserves: 14. Jeremy Latimore, 15. Korbin Sims, 16. Patrick Kaufusi, 17. Luciano Leilua, 18. Tristan Sailor, 19. Josh Kerr, 20. Matt Dufty, 21. Mikaele Ravalawa
Eels
1. Clint Gutherson, 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Waqa Blake, 5. Brad Takairangi, 6. Dylan Brown, 7. Mitchell Moses, 8. Kane Evans, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Manu Ma’u, 13. Nathan Brown
Bench/Reserves: 14. Marata Niukore, 15. Daniel Alvaro, 16. David Gower, 17. Tepai Moeroa, 18. Josh Hoffman, 19. Peni Terepo, 20. Jaeman Salmon, 21. Andrew Davey
All times AEST (Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne).
Paul
Roar Guru
thanks for the interpretation Emcie. I can't say I agree with his comment but at least I understand a tad better.
Emcie
Roar Guru
He’s saying that in any given game the Storm are guarunteed to have less of their cap sitting on the sidelines due to how much of the cap each club has invested into a limited set of positions, which would suggest that the Storm are using their cap more efficiently. The irony is that overinvesting in the spine should have been an advantage for the Dragons given Widdops injury, but, well, it hasn’t exactly worked out that way…
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
something about having to pay overs for players or not the right players...or the quality of the system/coach...
Paul
Roar Guru
so you're saying the Dragons, with a Test player and two SOO players are underperformers, the Tigers with at least one SOO player and a Test player are poor, compared to the Storm because the Storm have one SOO player and that's it? Not sure I can see how you come to the conclusion you have BA?
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
You have a point about Dufty and it's hard to argue, yet I do because the rest of the 'attack plan' is so impotent. Dufty has his issues, yet he's been the major part of any decent attack we have had this year. In defensive positions in our half you can put Dufty in the centres or 5/8 spot with a bit of big protection and have a bigger, taller body at back. In attack give him a roving role to follow the forwards - especially Leilua - through the ruck. See that scorching try he scored against Canberra from like 15 out by backing up Leilua? We have this weaponry and it sits idle on the friggin' bench. Mary has no imagination and his play book is bash and barge. If Lafai or Aitkin were creating opportunities or the forwards offloading more to some speedy back-up, or if Hunt ran more we could live without Dufty's input. But they don't, so we can't. And Dufty is unlikely to put in the work to become a Billy while he is treated like boat refuse and tossed overboard at any opportunity. There are many guys delivering less than Dufty and getting a better ride.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
One of the key differences in why the Storm have been so good for so long and the Tigers so poor (and the Dragons under performers). All three teams have at least four first grade quality players to fill the 3 positions of fullback/5/8 and halfback. Storm (Papenhuyzen, Hughes, Munster, Croft) Tigers (Reynolds, Thompson/Mybe, Marshall, Brooks) Dragons (Dufty, Norman, Widdop, Hunt) The total chunk of salary cap consumed in those groups (and thus part being wasted in reserve grade) Storm - about $1million Tigers - about $2million Dragons - about $3million
KenW
Guest
I've given Mary the benefit of the doubt for a long time - not his greatest fan but thought much of the criticism unfair. I'm baffled though at his team selection recently and what he's aiming at. Ravalawa was a total liability early in the season but has come good. But now he's dropped. Lomax is back in the team at his expense, despite the fact that he's clearly a centre and our 2 incumbent centres (Lafai especially) have been the weakest links in the team for ages. I don't have any hate for Latimore, think he does a good job, but Kerr offers more and surely we want him to stick around? Nope, dumped for the retiring player. The Dufty/Widdop/Norman puzzle is a bit more difficult. I personally think Dufty is the right one to make way right now. At his size, he either has to develop an elite all-round game (Billy Slater style) or he will live his career as a fringe first-grader, regardless of his ability to weave some solo magic every now and again. Slater got around his size disadvantage by being the best at defensive positioning and building his play-making skill - Dufty will have to do similar. Unfair it may be, but if you weigh 83kgs and want to play 1st grade, you've got to have more skill than someone that weighs 100kgs.
Chris Love
Guest
Fifita named on the bench? What’s that all about?
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Dra-gonskis are finished for the year, need to plan for 2020 and Mary dumps Josh Kerr, a young up-and-comer who (according to rumours) is looking at a new club, thus adding to the young gun exodus from the Dra-gonskis. Yet rushes back from injury the retiring Latimore. Keeps 2 under performing centres and dumps his best weapon to reggies. I won't be shocked when Dufty asks for a release. Widdop isn't helping the team for 2020 and should be on the bench. And that's just the beginning. This team is in such a bad place.....
Chris.P.Bacon
Guest
"South Sydney will finally welcome back Sam Burgess...." ....I know one Bunny who'll be a very happy camper tonight! (...you know who you are..) :)