NRL Finals 2021: Team lists for week two, Sea Eagles v Roosters, Panthers v Eels, judiciary news
The Roosters have lost two key players for their semi-final against Manly, after an unsuccessful fight at the judiciary. PLUS team lists.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Add two more names to Trent Robinson’s ever-growing list of unavailable Roosters stars.
Hooker Sam Verrills and prop Sio Suia Taukeiaho will be forced to watch this weekend’s semi-final against Manly from the sidelines after they were both ruled out of the sudden-death clash on Tuesday.
Verrills’ attempt to have his high-tackle charge downgraded at the judiciary were unsuccessful and the clever rake must now serve a two-match ban.
Ben Marschke is expected to replace Verrills at hooker while Nat Butcher, returning from a three-week lay-off due to a knee injury himself, will fill in for Taukeiaho after the star prop was ruled out due to a knee complaint.
Despite Tricolours counsel James McLeod’s best efforts, the three-man panel of Dallas Johnson, Bob Lindner and Ben Creagh ruled Verrills’ high-shot on Titans centre Brian Kelly was worth a Grade Two charge.
Watch every 2021 NRL Telstra Finals Series match before Grand Final. Live & Ad-Break Free on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free >
McLeod conceded Verrills had taken Kelly high, but argued the hooker did not have time to change his tackling motion to totally avoid contact with Kelly’s face.
“You must ask yourself, what more could Verrills have realistically done?” McLeod said.
The decision to suspend Sam Verrills for two weeks tonight is an utter disgrace. Worse incidents this year have resulted in fines. Verrills is a good, clean player. The NRL judiciary, match review, bunker and football department is an embarrassment.
— BUZZ ROTHFIELD (@BuzzRothfield) September 14, 2021
“He realistically could not have done anything at that point. He held his ground and you’ll see him go backwards at the point of impact. He is really only holding his upper body in position.
“He does not step in before contact. He simply holds his position.
“We say the low force for which Sam is responsible is what he should be held accountable for.
“The level to which he got his involvement wrong is right at the lowest end of the scale. It is minimal carelessness.”
NRL counsel Peter McGrath posited that due to Verrills’ attempts to make a tackle around Kelly’s shoulders he must bear the responsibility of a higher duty of care.
“In setting himself for that tackle, Verrills shoulder and upper arm makes direct contact with the head and neck of Kelly,” McGrath said.
“What we will see from every angle in that setting himself for this tackle, Verrills was always aiming to make a tackle above the ball.
“Perfectly legitimate of course, but it does increase risk of contact to the head or neck area and then it creates a higher duty of care.
“There is very little in the way of mitigating features that would reduce the seriousness of the tackle. It’s above the Grade One level and sits comfortably in Grade Two.
“The risk of injury is not low, it is moderate because of the contact to the front of the face of Kelly.”
TEAM LISTS: MATTERSON RETURNS TO BOLSTER EELS
Ryan Matterson has earned a reprieve from Parramatta coach Brad Arthur with the star backrower named to return for the Eels sudden-death clash with Penrith on Saturday night.
Matterson, who was left out of the 17 for last week’s finals opener against Newcastle, will take his place on the bench for Friday night at the expense of prop Makahesi Makatoa.
The 26-year old was sent off and suspended for a high tackle on Manly’s Brad Parker in Round 22 and has not played since — he was excluded entirely from the squad that beat the Knights in Rockhampton last week.
The Eels are otherwise unchanged for the match against their cross-town rivals, with Ray Stone again selected to start at hooker.
The Panthers have been bolstered by reinforcements with prop Moses Leota and fullback Dylan Edwards, both late scratchings for last week’s shock loss to Souths, named to make their return. Stephen Crichton will move from fullback to wing with Charlie Staines dropping out of the team.
Backrower Scott Sorensen will make an early return from the bench after dislocating his wrist in the regular season finale against the Eels two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the casualty ward at the Roosters has continued to grow with star prop Siosiua Taukeiaho ruled out of their match against Manly on Friday with a leg injury.
Taukeiaho has been replaced on the bench by Nat Butcher, who is making a comeback from a knee complaint.
Ben Marschke has been named on an extended bench and is expected to come into the starting side at hooker should Sam Verrills be suspended.
Rookie sensation Sam Walker will again come off the bench with Lachlan Lam holding his place at halfback.
The Sea Eagles have just one change from the side that lost to Melbourne last Friday with Lachlan Croker returning from a back injury at hooker.
Manly coach Des Hasler has resisted the urge for changes in the backline with centre Morgan Harper holding his place ahead of Moses Suli despite a tough outing against the Storm.
FINALS WEEK TWO TEAMS
SEA EAGLES V ROOSTERS
Friday 17 September, BB Print Stadium, Mackay, 7:50pm
SEA EAGLES: 1. Tom Trbojevic, 2. Jason Saab, 3. Brad Parker, 4. Morgan Harper, 5. Reuben Garrick, 6. Kieran Foran, 7. Daly Cherry-Evans, 8. Josh Aloiai, 9. Lachlan Croker, 10. Martin Taupau, 11. Haumole Olakau’atu, 12. Josh Schuster, 13. Jake Trbojevic
Bench: 14. Dylan Walker, 15. Karl Lawton, 16. Sean Keppie, 17. Taniela Paseka
Reserves: 18. Toafofoa Sipley, 19. Moses Suli, 20. Curtis Sironen, 21. Tevita Funa
TEAM NEWS: No changes for a settled Manly side.
ROOSTERS: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Josh Morris, 4. Adam Keighran, 5. Matt Ikuvalu, 6. Lachlan Lam, 7. Drew Hutchison, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Sam Verrills, 10. Isaac Liu, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Sitili Tupouniua, 13. Victor Radley
Bench: 14. Sam Walker, 15. Nat Butcher 16. Egan Butcher, 17. Fletcher Baker
Reserves: 18. Dale Copley, 19. Ben Thomas, 20. Ben Marschke, 21. Naufahu Whyte
TEAM NEWS: The Roosters have named Sam Verrills at hooker but his availability will hinge on Tuesday night’s bid to have the severity of a high-tackle charge downgraded at the judiciary. Siosiua Taukeiaho is out after a leg injury restricted him to just two minutes off the bench against the Titans last week. Nat Butcher comes into the squad in Taukeiaho’s place.
Drew Hutchison and Lachlan Lam will once again be the starting halves but they swap jerseys from last week.
PANTHERS V EELS
Saturday 18 September, BB Print Stadium, Mackay, 7:50pm
PANTHERS: 1. Dylan Edwards, 2. Stephen Crichton, 3. Paul Momirovski, 4. Matt Burton, 5. Brian To’o, 6. Jarome Luai, 7. Nathan Cleary, 8. Moses Leota, 9. Api Koroisau, 10. James Fisher-Harris, 11. Viliame Kikau, 12. Kurt Capewell, 13. Isaah Yeo
Bench: 14. Mitch Kenny, 15. Scott Sorensen, 16. Tevita Pangai Junior, 17. Liam Martin
Reserves: 18. Spencer Leniu, 19. Izack Tago, 20. Brent Naden 21. Tyrone May
TEAM NEWS: Dylan Edwards is back after being a late withdrawal last week. Edwards’ return sees Stephen Crichton revert to the wing and Charlie Staines drop out of the squad. One change to the interchange with Spencer Leniu making way for Scott Sorensen.
EELS: 1. Clinton Gutherson, 2. Haze Dunster, 3. Will Penisini, 4. Waqa Blake, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. Dylan Brown, 7. Mitchell Moses, 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 9. Ray Stone, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Marata Niukore, 13. Nathan Brown.
Bench: 14. Will Smith, 15. Bryce Cartwright, 16. Isaiah Papali’i, 17. Ryan Matterson
Reserves: 18. Makahesi Makatoa, 19. Oregon Kaufusi, 20. Tom Opacic, 21. Jakob Arthur
TEAM NEWS: Ryan Matterson comes into the side joining the interchange in place of Makahesi Makatoa. Blake Ferguson is named to play despite being clearly hobbled for much of the match against the Knights. Ferguson took a leg injury into the match and it was aggravated when Sauaso Sue twisted the big Parramatta winger’s lower right calf in a tackle.
REAL REASON MATTO MISSED BLOCKBUSTER
— Paul Crawley
It’s the selection mystery from week one of the NRL finals that had rival clubs watching with interest and wondering if something is going on behind the scenes while Parramatta has been locked away in camp in Queensland.
Matterson hasn’t played since copping a three-match suspension in round 22 and while he was available to play against Newcastle he ended up being a surprise omission from the squad altogether.
It is understood he had a couple of minor niggling injuries but no different to what most players are dealing with at this stage of the season.
But the coach decided to stick with Marata Niukore as the right edge backrower given how he played in the Eels’ shock round 24 win against Melbourne.
What was an even bigger shock though was that Matterson couldn’t even win a place on the bench.
Arthur instead went for Bryce Cartwright and 28-year-old NRL rookie Makahesi Makatoa ahead of the player who is on a reported $470,000-a-season.
This is where the issue has pricked interest with rival clubs.
Matterson has taken up a player option to stay at the Eels next season, but how this pans out in the coming days and months might tell another story.
Niukore has played centres, back row and the middle this year as the Eels’ Mr Fix It.
He is also the target of rival clubs given he is free to start negotiating for 2023 come November 1.
Arthur told the media last week that the decision not to play Matterson came down to the fact he hadn’t played in recent weeks.
“Matto’s been out for a month … We weren’t ready last year in that second final — we had three or four players that hadn’t played for two months and that was unfair on them.”
Arthur has named Matterson on the interchange for the Eels’ clash against Penrith on Saturday night.
The Eels have to come up with a better plan to stop leaking tries on their right edge.
Newcastle pulled apart the combination of Blake Ferguson and young Will Penisini and it’s fair to say Penrith’s left edge is next level compared to the threat of the Knights’ attack.
Penrith’s left edge consists of Jarome Luai combining with Nathan Cleary along with Viliame Kikau, Matt Burton and Brian To’o.
As tough a night as the Panthers had on Saturday against Souths, they would have been buoyed watching how Kalyn Ponga terrorised the Eels with his bullet passes as winger Enari Tuala finished with a hat-trick.
Niukore was playing the centre role when the Eels beat Melbourne earlier in the season so that is another available option that may be considered.
Matterson is the only forward in the Eels team who has won an NRL grand final having come off the bench for the Sydney Roosters in 2018 before his ill-fated move to Wests Tigers.
MAJOR FINALS BOOST FOR EELS
— Russell Jackson
Parramatta have breathed a sigh of relief after Junior Paulo escaped with just a fine after being put on report for a high tackle on Newcastle’s Kurt Mann in the Eels’ 28-20 elimination final win over the Knights in Rockhampton on Sunday.
Teammate Marata Niukore and Waqa Blake are also free to face Penrith on Saturday night after escaping bans for their own high shots.
Paulo was placed on report in the 56th minute and subsequently hit with a grade one careless high tackle. However, despite having two prior non-similar offences in the past two years, the match review committee deemed the incident not severe enough to warrant a suspension.
Paulo and Niukore can escape with fines of $1600 and $1800 respectively.
Meanwhile, Sauaso Sue has copped a two-week suspension for a leg twist on Eels winger Blake Ferguson. The ban will be served at the start of the 2022 season.
The Sydney Roosters have entered an early guilty plea for hooker Sam Verrills’ grade two careless high tackle charge for his shot on Gold Coast’s Brian Kelly but will seek a downgrade at the judiciary in a bid to have him free to face Manly in their semi-final in Mackay on Friday.
CLEARY ‘FINE’ AFTER BRUISING BUNNIES HIT
— Fatima Kdouh
Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary insists he is “fine” after copping a hard hit from South Sydney’s Kaeon Koloamatangi ahead of Saturday’s blockbuster elimination final against western Sydney rivals Parramatta.
Koloamatangi zeroed in on Cleary after he put up a fifth tackle kick in the second half, with the playmaker hitting the deck with force after the contact.
Cleary was spotted wincing and clutching his chest and shoulder after falling to the ground.
But the 23-year old, who spent six weeks on the sideline after suffering a shoulder injury in Origin II, finished Saturday night’s game in Townsville.
“I’m fine,” Cleary responded when asked about the health of his right shoulder.
Cleary suffered a labrum tear after partially dislocating his right shoulder during Origin. Historically, there is a high risk of shoulder dislocation if the injury is not repaired surgically. It’s believed Cleary will go under the knife in the off-season to fix his right shoulder.
Cleary is expecting fullback Dylan Edwards to overcome a minor foot injury to take on the Eels next Saturday.
Centre Stephen Crichton, who has been filling in at the back when Edwards has been out injured, has been a revelation with the No. 1 jumper on his back.
Crichton not only scored a try on the weekend, he ran for a huge 277 metres and made six tackle busts.
If Crichton has to line-up at fullback against the Sea Eagles, Cleary is backing his teammate to stand up and deliver against Parramatta.
“I thought Critta [Crichton] was unbelievable. He was very brave, every time he brought the ball back you could tell he put so much work in,” Cleary said.
“But you obviously miss someone like Dyl [Edwards]. I think his value to the team is very much overlooked outside our team. He is very valued and hopefully we will get him back.”
Penrith are also hopeful Moses Leota, who was also a late withdrawal, will return from a calf strain.
In a further boost, co-captain and lock Isaah Yeo and utility Liam Martin avoided charges after both were penalised for crusher tackles. Fijian powerhouse Viliame Kikau has also escaped a ban, and received a $2150 fine for dangerous contact.
Penrith’s 16-10 loss to the Rabbitohs on Saturday night now means Ivan Cleary’s men must beat Parramatta and then Melbourne to reach the grand final. It’s a feat Cleary believes the Panthers can achieve in the next two weeks.
“We have full belief in each other as a group,” Cleary said.
“We’ll fine tune a couple of things.
“It was one of those tough finals games, you have to take your chances when you get them and we didn’t take our chances. We created a few, but bombed a few tries. On top of that there were a few errors while we were in good ball didn’t help us. Then there were the penalties.
“You obviously never like to lose, but we are lucky we earned ourselves a second chance.
“We’re just going to have to do it the hard way now, leave no stone unturned and just have no regrets as a group.”
PANTHERS CAPITALISE ON CRUSHER CONFUSION
— Paul Crawley
More confusion has erupted over what constitutes a crusher tackle and what doesn’t after the NRL match review committee decided not to suspend Penrith’s Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin for incidents that were placed on report in the loss to South Sydney.
This is despite the tackles looking remarkably similar to previous incidents that cost the Sydney Roosters’ Angus Crichton a three match suspension and Souths’ Keaon Koloamatangi two games late in the season.
But the news wasn’t so good for Sydney Roosters dummy half Sam Verrills who was hit with a grade two careless high tackle charge for his shot on Gold Coast’s Brian Kelly.
Verrills will now miss this week’s sudden death clash against Manly if he takes the early plea, leaving Ben Marschke as the likely starting hooker for the Roosters.
But despite the Panthers’ duo being placed on report by the match officials, they escaped charges on Sunday with MRC boss Michael Robertson determining “both players did not forcefully bend or apply unnecessary pressure in a careless manner.
“In Martin’s tackle the players clashed heads before the tackle went to ground, where it was deemed Martin did not apply excessive flexion of the head or neck,” Robertson said in a statement.
“In Yeo’s tackle, other players involved caused the sudden drop to player (Tevita) Tatola.
“While Yeo had a grip, he showed a duty of care to the player attempting to place his weight to the side and release his grip.
“The MRC deemed there was minimal force applied.”
Yet that explanation is sure to raise eyebrows among Roosters and Rabbitohs fans given what happened to both Crichton and Kolomatangi in tackles that, coincidently, were made on two Panthers players.
Crichton’s tackle was on Martin while Kolomatangi’s was on Brent Naden.
In both cases most would consider the banned players extremely unfortunate given they did not appear to apply unnecessary pressure.
In Crichton’s case he copped an extra game for loading.
But at the time it had his coach Trent Robinson claiming that he no longer understood what constituted a crusher and what didn’t.
“I thought I did (understand a crusher),” Robinson said at the time.
“But from one end they (the match review committee) will put out an excuse that there was mitigating factors therefore someone didn’t get charged.
“And when there is mitigating factors on the other end they’ll say that was a traditional crusher.
“There was pressure on Liam in that tackle, but we thought that he worked his way into that position and we thought that they could see that.
“But they obviously couldn’t.”
It didn’t help that in the same match Viliame Kikau escaped suspension for a similar tackle.
In Kolomatangi’s tackle Naden spun into the tackle and dropped to the ground looking for a quick play-the-ball.
As soon as Kolomatangi noticed the tackle was going wrong he pulled back.
NRL star charged with threatening police
Canberra Raiders veteran player Josh Papalii has been charged over an ugly confrontation with police inside a licensed venue, just weeks before he won a prestigious award.
‘Sprays me every game’: How Luai’s tough love transformed Penrith star
Panthers young gun Paul Alamoti has praised Jarome Luai for helping turning his NRL career around, crediting some of the five-eighth’s savage sprays for turning him into a grand final player.