NRL Round 5 Early Mail: Predicted team changes
Greg Inglis ruled out, Panthers backline shuffle, Manly confirm Turbo fears, Melbourne ace faces suspension, injury concerns for Cronulla, and more — get all the latest team news ahead for Round 5.
Get all the latest team news ahead of Tuesday’s team announcements in the Round 5 edition of NRL Early Mail.
Star winger Suliasi Vunivalu will miss Melbourne’s trip to North Queensland unless he can beat a dangerous contact charge at the NRL judiciary.
Vunivalu was on Monday charged with a grade-two offence for a leg pull on Canterbury fullback Nick Meaney early in Sunday’s narrow win over the Bulldogs.
Meaney got up gingerly but the incident was not penalised by on-field officials, before Vunivalu was picked up by the match review committee.
The Fijian will miss just one match if he pleads guilty to the charge but would risk sitting out the Storm’s grand final rematch against the Sydney Roosters in round six if he contests it at the judiciary and loses.
— AAP
Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is expected back for Saturday night’s match against Cronulla after he was withdrawn late last week with rib cartilage injury.
Halfback Cooper Cronk also stressed he would be fit to play, despite being whacked late by Brisbane enforcer Tevita Pangai Jnr in Thursday Night Football, and then coming from the field in the second half.
Despite suggestions the No.7 had suffered a back injury, Cronk stressed his withdrawal was merely “precautionary” after a troublesome hamstring tightened up at halftime.
— Nick Walshaw
BRONCOS v WESTS TIGERS
7.50pm Thursday at Suncorp Stadium
Broncos: Anthony Seibold will take the first gamble of his Brisbane coaching career by throwing debutant forward Pat Carrigan into the NRL furnace and recalling rookie prop Payne Haas.
Rather than summoning veterans such as grand-final campaigners Shaun Fensom and Sam Tagataese to stabilise the Broncos, Seibold is investing in Brisbane’s future.
With Tevita Pangai Jr suspended for two games, Seibold will blood 21-year-old Carrigan against the Tigers alongside 118kg prop Haas, who returns from a club-imposed four-game ban for the vital showdown at Suncorp Stadium.
The Broncos coach will decide whether to drop Jaydn Su’A, Tom Flegler or utility Gehamat Shibasaki to make way for the Carrigan-Haas alliance to bolster Brisbane’s midfield.
READ THE FULL STORY ON ANTHONY SEIBOLD’S BRONCOS GAMBLE
— Peter Badel and Paul Malone
Tigers: Winger David Nofoaluma could return to action this week amping up pressure on the outside backs, but it’s likely he’ll be eased back through reserve grade. Benji Marshall (hamstring) remains several weeks away giving Josh Reynolds another opportunity to cement his starting spot.
TITANS v PANTHERS
6pm Friday at CBus Super Stadium
Titans: Tyrone Roberts didn’t train with the Titans on Tuesday as the club manage his Achilles injury, however the playmaker is expected to face the Panthers. Garth Brennan may be tempted to start AJ Brimson at fullback in place of veteran Michael Gordon as he did during the second half against the Warriors.
Panthers: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is set to return to fullback for Penrith in a switch with out-of-sorts youngster Dylan Edwards for Friday’s clash with Gold Coast.
Edwards was moved to the wing mid-game after a mistake-riddled first half against the Wests Tigers, and trained there on Monday. Watene-Zelezniak reclaims the role he played for most of last year, when he impressed enough to be handed the New Zealand captaincy.
“(Dallin) really enjoys fullback, he wants to be a fullback,” Panthers five- eighth James Maloney said on Monday.
“He’s got an opportunity now by the looks of it and he’ll do a good job.”
A knee injury to Frank Winterstein opens the door for Viliame Kikau to start after he made his return from injury via the bench. Jack Hetherington would be front-runner for the bench spot. - AAP with staff writers
COWBOYS v STORM
7.55pm at 1300Smiles Stadium
Cowboys: The Cowboys have no fresh injury concerns however Paul Green may be tempted to again shake-up his underperforming backline.
Storm: Star winger Suliasi Vunivalu will miss Melbourne’s trip to North Queensland unless he can beat a dangerous contact charge at the NRL judiciary.
Vunivalu has been charged with a grade-two offence for a leg pull on Canterbury fullback Nick Meaney. The Fijian will miss just one match if he pleads guilty to the charge but would risk sitting out the Storm’s grand final rematch against the Sydney Roosters in round six if he contests it at the judiciary and loses.
Fellow winger Josh Addo-Carr missed the win over the Bulldogs, given leave to be in Sydney by the side of his ailing grandfather Wally, who is battling cancer.
The flyer has advised the club of his intention to return to Melbourne in preparation for this week’s clash with the Cowboys.
RABBITOHS v WARRIORS
3pm at Sunshine Coast Stadium
Rabbitohs: Star centre Greg Inglis (shoulder) will miss another week. The Rabbitohs star has been given the week off training as he continues to recover, after also being struck down by food poisoning last week. While Jacob Gagan replaced Inglis last week, Kyle Turner could be a contender to take over at left centre.
— Fatima Kdouh
Warriors: Hooker’s Issac Luke (hamstring) and Nathaniel Roache (calf) are both chances of returning to face the Rabbitohs. Either player would start at No.9 on return pushing Karl Lawton out of the team completely. Hooker/utility Jazz Tevaga beat a dangerous contact charge at the judiciary on Tuesday night and is free to play after being named on an extended bench.
KNIGHTS v SEA EAGLES
5.30pm at McDonald Jones Stadium
Knights: Coach Nathan Brown has indicated the Knights will persist with Mason Lino at five-eighth in a move that could force Connor Watson into a bench role.
Lino made a solid club debut in the Knights’ NRL golden-point loss to St George Illawarra, despite Brown admitting his new playmaker was underdone.
Brown suggested keeping the 25-year-old in the halves for next week’s match against Manly, even if Watson is available for selection.
Watson, who started the year at fullback before Kalyn Ponga’s switch to the No.1 jersey, has missed the past two matches due to a knee issue.
Brown also hinted at current utility Kurt Mann being used in the centres.
Sea Eagles: Tom Trbojevic underwent scans on Sunday with Manly confirming the injury would take between six to nine weeks to heal.
It was only Trbojevic’s second game back after recovering from a previous hamstring injury sustained in a pre-season game.
A club statement read: “He will now begin his rehabilitation with the Manly medical team.”
Coach Des Hasler would be expected to push Brendan Elliot back to fullback and reinstate dropped centre Moses Suli.
Rookie prop Corey Waddell will have to pass concussion protocol to take his place on the bench.
— Dean Ritchie
SHARKS v ROOSTERS
7.35pm at Shark Park
Sharks: Cronulla have suffered another major injury setback with Test prop Aaron Woods set to miss the next three months.
In a massive blow, Woods is booked for surgery after suffering a fractured foot against Parramatta last Saturday night.
The official diagnosis is a ‘Jones fracture’ to Woods’ foot which will leave him out of action for between 10 to 12 weeks.
It’s a devastating hit for rookie coach John Morris ahead of the Sharks clash with reigning premiers the Roosters on Saturday night at PointsBet Stadium.
The Sharks are already without co-captain Wade Graham (knee) and Matt Moylan (hamstring) while Paul Gallen (ribs) and Shaun Johnson (quad) are rated only 50-50 chances of playing this weekend.
— David Riccio
Roosters: Prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is expected back after he was withdrawn late last week with rib cartilage injury.
Halfback Cooper Cronk also stressed he would be fit to play, despite being whacked late by Brisbane enforcer Tevita Pangai Jnr in Thursday Night Football, and then coming from the field in the second half.
Despite suggestions the No.7 had suffered a back injury, Cronk stressed his withdrawal was merely “precautionary” after a troublesome hamstring tightened up at halftime.
Jack Friend is expected to miss at least another week which keeps Victor Radley at hooker.
— Nick Walshaw
DRAGONS v BULLDOGS
4.05pm at Jubilee Stadium
Dragons: Forward Korbin Sims will undergo scans today for what club medicos fear is a broken left arm. Sims left Newcastle Stadium on Sunday night with his arm in a sling. After breaking his right arm in 2017, it’s understood the interchange forward feared immediately he had done the same in his first carry of the match, but bravely played on for 20 minutes before being replaced at half-time.
Back-rower Jacob Host is in doubt after leaving the field against the Knights with an ankle injury. Luciano Leilua is an option to replace Host if he fails to overcome the injury, while Paul McGregor could also opt to shift Tyson Frizell to and edge with Blake Lawrie to start.
— Nick Walshaw
Bulldogs: Prop Dylan Napa is joining teammate Kieran Foran on the sidelines after suffering the same serious ankle injury in his team’s tight loss to Melbourne.
The early diagnosis on the Queensland forward is syndesmosis, or a high ankle sprain, although Napa didn’t believe it would require surgery as Foran has undergone.
He left AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon in a moon boot, with further scans scheduled for Monday back in Sydney.
“I’ll have a scan to confirm the injury and reassess from there,” Napa said.
“I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as Kieran’s but fingers crossed as he’s out for three months, so hopefully I can be back within a few weeks.”
RAIDERS v EELS
6.10pm at GIO Stadium
Raiders: Ricky Stuart has a halves dilemma this week with Aidan Sezer a chance of returning from an oblique injury. Stuart will have to decide between Sezer and Sam Williams to partner five-eighth Jack Wighton. Back-rower Joseph Tapine is also in line to face Parramatta after falling just short of returning from a thumb injury last week. Tapine’s return would likely push John Bateman to lock, Ryan Sutton to the bench and Hudson Young out of the 17.
Eels: Parramatta backrower Shaun Lane was a noteable omission from Eels training this morning after being struck down with a virus. A club spokesperson said the towering forward was not in doubt for the Canberra clash and has simply been separated from the NRL squad as a precaution.
- Nick Walshaw
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