The NRL preliminary final teams have been revealed.
All four remaining NRL premiership contenders have elected to play it safe, coming off finals wins, with very little changes across the four line-ups.
Melbourne have taken the biggest risk in naming Cameron Munster to start despite his nasty-looking knee injury against the Eels in their qualifying final.
Penrith have moved Kurt Capewell to the starting second row and brought Spencer Leniu onto the bench as cover for the suspended Villame Kikau.
Canberra and South Sydney go in unchanged.
CHECK OUT THE FULL TEAMS
Friday, 7:50pm at Suncorp Stadium
Storm
1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2. Suliasi Vunivalu, 3. Brenko Lee, 4. Justin Olam, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith, 10. Christian Welch, 11. Felise Kaufusi, 12. Kenneath Bromwich, 13. Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Bench/Reserves: 14. Brandon Smith, 15. Tino Faasuamaleaui, 16. Tom Eisenhuth, 17. Nicho Hynes, 18. Dale Finucane, 19. Paul Momirovski, 20. Ryley Jacks, 21. Chris Lewis
Raiders
1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Semi Valemei, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Jordan Rapana, 5. Nick Cotric, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Iosia Soliola, 11. John Bateman, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joseph Tapine
Bench/Reserves: 14. Siliva Havili, 15. Dunamis Lui, 16. Hudson Young, 17. Corey Harawira-Naera, 18. Sam Williams, 19. Matthew Timoko, 20. Ryan Sutton, 21. Michael Oldfield
Saturday, 7:50pm at ANZ Stadium
Panthers
1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Brent Naden, 4. Stephen Crichton, 5. Brian To’o, 6. Jarome Luai, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. James Tamou, 9. Apisai Koroisau, 10. James Fisher-Harris, 11. Kurt Capewell, 12. Liam Martin, 13. Isaah Yeo
Bench/Reserves: 14. Tyrone May, 15. Spencer Leniu, 16. Moses Leota, 17. Zane Tetevano, 18. Mitch Kenny, 19. Dean Whare, 20. Matt Burton, 21. Jack Hetherington
Rabbitohs
1. Corey Allan, 2. Alex Johnston, 3. Campbell Graham, 4. Dane Gagai, 5. Jaxson Paulo, 6. Cody Walker, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Tevita Tavola, 9. Damien Cook, 10. Tom Burgess, 11. Jaydn Su’A, 12. Bayley Sironen, 13. Cameron Murray
Bench/Reserves: 14. Mark Nicholls, 15. Liam Knight, 16. Jed Cartwright, 17. Keaon Koloamatangi, 18. Steven Marsters, 19. Hame Sele, 20. Troy Dargan, 21. Patrick Mago
All times AEDT (Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne).
Brendon
Roar Rookie
Come on Willie, you must be used to it. Same as people saying the Storm didn't suffer in 2020 because they got to live in QLD. Nevermind being forced away, playing in foreign territory, having 0 home finals advantages... The big bad Storm deserve it all mate :p
Peter Ellis
Guest
Rabbits will be happy . The vegemite / jaffa man in the middle is one of the better ref's .
Willie La'ulu
Roar Guru
Smith looking slow? Did you say this after they lost to Canberra in the first game back after the COVID break, then watch him terrorise teams every week afterwards? The disrespect to Melbourne is unreal on here. So much hate lol.
sven
Roar Rookie
great song that - last resort i think it is, yeah remember those winter mornings when the puddles were still frozen at 10am - brrrr. hopefully a good game & storm win by 15 odd points
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
We sort of don't mind people having the impression of Canberra as a boring bleak city sven. If people knew how good the place was it would probably get overun! How did the old Eages Hotel California song go - "... call some place paradise - kiss it goodbye". Calling Canberra paradise might be a bit of a stretch - especially those -5C Winter mornings. Usually turns into a nice sunny day by about 10 am though. Anyway - go the Raiders - had to throw that in.
sven
Roar Rookie
just joking, have spent a bit of time in canberra & found it very nice, & the surrounding area fantastic. lucky enough to have travelled a bit & there are some great places but for me u cant beat australia, even the bleaker places like melbourne
Harry
Guest
As a Canberra lad born-and-bred who's been living in Melbourne since 2004 - Melbourne's a genuinely great city to live in but my god the weather is awful. Truly bleak. If it's not grey and windy and wet for six months of the year it's 40 degrees and blowing a hot dusty north wind like being in a fan-forced oven. Give me the constant sunshine and clear blue skies and still clean high country air of Canberra any day!
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
For a few years, I had a girlfriend who lived in Canberra (Narrabundah) and I went down often from Sydney to visit. Canberra is a beautiful place. Like you said, a city but no traffic. Climate nice. Parks and the lake. Plenty of cultural life. Very good place to live!
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
God's own country Duncan - only Canberrans know what a great place it is. The rest of Australia has no idea. You have to live here to realise it. It has all 4 seasons, big enough to have all the amenities you want, but not too big to have the traffic problems of Sydney in particular. Been here for 20 years and wouldn't want to be any else. Maybe the South Coast eventually. And your right - its absolutely gorgeous at the moment after all the rain and temperatures in the low to mid 20s.
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Canberra is very nice at this time of year. You should visit!
Walter Black
Guest
Melbourne v Penrith for mine. Melbourne to win it for all those Victorians doing it tough this year. We might not be able to be there but we are cheering you boys from in front of our screens. Go Storm for all we have had to put up with in this very strange year.
Tony
Roar Guru
good point Sven. When it comes to being bleak, both Melbourne and Canberra are in the grand final
sven
Roar Rookie
question for ya hard yards, which of melb & canberra is bleak city ? i know theyre both pretty dismal (& im from melb so i know), maybe canberra is mournful to melbs bleakness ?
Ambrose Morgans accountant
Guest
I like the idea of a Melbourne V Souths GF. With Souths winning with a field goal at the death. Would make up for all those losses to Melbourne and a nice way to send Smith off. I know i am dreaming.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Yess.. good choice.
Phil
Roar Rookie
Souths v Canberra GF!!!!!!!!! Not a chance, Melbourne v Penrith to light up the turf on GF day.
Hard Yards
Roar Rookie
I’m not a gambler - that’s not strictly true because I go to sleep each night - but I would be putting my money on a Bleak City and Panthers GF. But I’m happy to be wrong.
Succhi
Roar Rookie
Agree Big Mike. I think Munster is busted and Smith looking slow. Panthers haven’t played a “must win” game yet - pressure might get to them if Souths hit the lead.
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
2020 - a crazy year for many reasons, who would have picked the Bronco's to come last and Panthers a minor premiers at the beginning of the year? Or for that matter the Storm playing Canberra in a Preliminary Final at Suncorp Stadium! Crazy stuff and for the same reason, who would ever pick two teams outside the top 4 to be in the Grand Final? It's 2020. I'm seeing Souths v Canberra Grand Final.