Team Talk with Marcho: Rd 14
Welcome to Team Talk round 14. A few more players have been ruled out for the rest of the season in Matt Ballin and Brenton Lawrence. The Warriors are having their mid-season resurgence around Origin and with the Knights this week you can almost bank those two points, while the Tigers, Broncos and Bulldogs are set to cause headaches with changes to their first choice kickers over the next few weeks.
Brisbane v Canberra
The Broncos return home and welcome back Origin duo Corey Oates and Matt Gillett. Travis Waddell was a late scratching last week and will start at hooker with Andrew McCullough not expected back until after the Origin period. Bad news for Jack Reed owners with the centre expected to miss the next month with a shoulder injury. Greg Eden will play his fifth game on the wing and will get a position update finally. Joe Ofahengaue has been dropped with Tevita Pangaa Junior retaining his spot on the bench. I assume Corey Parker will be the first choice kicker, but that’s only when he is on the field.
The Raiders lose Jack Wighton and Shannon Boyd to suspension for one week each. Zac Santo will play just his second NRL game, slotting in at fullback. Paul Vaughan returns to the front row after being rested last week. Junior Paulo and Luke Bateman retain their starting spots as the great Shaun Fenson is rested for yet another week. Could this be Ricky Stuart telling the NRLCEO superstar that he isn’t wanted in the Nationals Capital?
Balmain-Wests v South Sydney
Matt Ballin needs another ACL operation, but that isn’t guaranteeing Robbie Farah a start or more minutes with Dene Halatau and Elijah Taylor potentially filling in. Jordan Rankin is still back in NSW Cup despite Josh Addo Carr announcing he is off to the Storm next year. Mitchell Moses will take back the kicking duties.
Somehow Nathan Brown escaped suspension after clearly stomping on a Titans player last week, I’m regularly left shaking my head at the judiciary’s decision making skills. GI got a five-eighth update this week, with Cody Walker due for a fullback update after this game. Luke Keary has really been a spark in attack when he comes on for the Rabbits, but is under an injury cloud for this game. If Keary is ruled out expect Damian Cook to come onto the bench.
Newcastle v New Zealand
The Knights are set to rush in both Brendan Elliott and Mitch Barnett for this weeks game. Elliott will play in the centres as Nathan Ross is battling a calf injury. I’m not sure how Barnett will impact the likes of Tariq Sims and Pauli Pauli’s minutes but it can’t be great for either player. Korbin Sims and Jacob Saifiti will join the bench.
The Warriors have named the same side that got the job done against the Broncos. It’s widely expected that if Shaun Johnson is on his game, then the Warriors will rack up a cricket score, so make sure you get your Warriors players in your starting line-up. Kata, Johnson and Lolohea are all worthy captains this week.
Parramatta v Gold Coast
The Eels are a bit short in the halves department after Brad Takairangi hurt his hamstring. As Luke Kelly and Kieran Foran are already out for the season, Kenny Edwards will have to play five-eighth. Tim Mannah is expected back next, so Danny Wicks should continue to see 50+ minutes and more workhorse points.
The Titans are building nicely. Is this the week Konrad Hurrell makes his club debut? Ryan James absolutely smashed it last week in all departments and is going to have a target on his back this weekend. Last weeks performance had people calling for James to be included on the NSW Origin bench but I would like to see him perform like that on a more consistent basis. I’m not sure how much longer Neil Henry can keep Nathan Peats on the bench for.
Sydney City v Melbourne
Latrell Mitchell is only rated a 50/50 chance of playing at this stage. Isaac Liu has an ankle issue and won’t be playing this weekend. Trent Robinson has thrown up a bit of a surprise with prop Kane Evans named at lock. Dylan Napa will sit out this week after fighting and losing at the judiciary, Sam Moa will start. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves returned to the starting line-up with a bang last week with his first workhorse of the year and 200+ metres, meaning he also got a double metre eater – he is a must start this week. Mitchell Pearce, Shaun Kenny-Dowal and Isaac Liu are aiming for a return next week.
The well-oiled Storm machine keeps rolling on. Their no nonsense forward pack keeps churning out workhorse and the odd try but Marika Koroibete and Cam Munster are the only two backs to get excited about. Will Chambers isn’t too far away from a return, pick him up if he is available, but only if you can. Injured players won’t win you games around this time of the year so it’s best to get as many starters in your squad as possible around the Origin period.
Manly v Penrith
Well I couldn’t care that the Sea Eagles are crippled by injury and controversy at the moment. Everybody hates Manly. Steve Matai is joining Brenton Lawrence on the sidelines for the rest of the season and Jamie Lyon and DCE will also be missing the next month of action. Jorge Taufua will return from a broken collarbone and Jamie Buhrer will be right to play after being on the receiving end of yet another monster hit. I had my doubts over Buhrer with a completely new forward pack and coach around him this year but he sure proved me wrong with 2 WH’s and try in his first two weeks back from injury. Finally Brett Stewart needs to lift his game with only eight points so far this year, come on Snake.
Penrith have dropped another top player to reserve grade, this time it’s Jamie Soward. Coach Anthony Griffin is putting the sword though a few players and making way for the future with young Nathan Cleary and Te Marie Martin making their NRL debuts this year and not looking out of place. Bryce Cartwright will play in the halves this week. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is in doubt with a shoulder injury.
St George Illawarra v Canterbury
The Dragons could welcome back Jack De Belin this week as he has trained so far this week, but a final decision will be made come Friday if he will play of not. Benji Marshall has trained all week and will play at halfback. Jason Nightingale will need one more week for a positional upgrade to a fullback as well as a winger. I expect Will Matthews to drop out if JDB returns. The Dragons are still chasing Tariq Sims for this year, but the Knights want a half decent player in return if the deal is going to happen.
The Dogs will be unchanged from their last minute loss to the Sharks. Brett Morris is close to a return that would push Will Hopoate to the centres and Kerrod Holland out of the side. Holland’s days are numbered. James Graham keeps churning out big points and is currently the best fantasy player this year, (106 points) surpassing Anthony Milford. (100) I’m expecting this to be forward dominated game, which means plenty of workhorse tries and metre eater to go with it.
Cronulla v North Queensland
The last game will no doubt be the game of the round. The Sharks are unchanged with Sosaia Feki the only player in doubt with a groin injury this week. Ricky Leutele will come into the backs if Feki doesn’t recover in time. Look for a strong game in defence from Origin hopefuls Wade Graham and Mick Ennis.
The Cowboys keep marching out the same side each week. Michael Morgan returns after being rested after Origin. James Tamou finally announced he will be leaving the Cowboys at the end of the season. It would be a little fishy is the Cowboys managed to resign all their off contract premiership winning players this year.
Make sure you keep a look out for any more late mail across the weekend. Good luck to all those coaches out there, unless of course you’re playing me.
Will Marchinton
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