NRL Round 4 Late Mail: Team changes and gossip

Ryan Matterson’s concussion issues are back to haunt him and his omission from the Easter Monday clash has caused an overhaul at the Eels.

Keep up to date with the weekend team changes.

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TIGERS V EELS

Mon 5 Apr, Stadium Australia, Sydney, 4pm

TIGERS

1 Daine Laurie, 2 David Nofoaluma, 3 Tommy Talau, 4. James Roberts, 5 Asu Kepaoa, 6 Adam Doueihi, 7 Luke Brooks, 8 Zane Musgrove, 9 Jacob Liddle, 10 James Tamou, 11 Luke Garner, 12 Luciano Leilua, 13 Alex Twal

Bench: 14. Moses Mbye, 15. Thomas Mikaele 16. Stefano Utoikamanu 17. Joe Ofahengaue

Players cut: 18. Russell Packer, 19. Joseph Leilua, 20. Michael Chee Kam, 21. Alex Seyfarth

Late mail: The Tigers are 1-17 with Tommy Taulau recovering from the cramps which saw him leave the field in the final minutes last week with the full quad training this week. Tigers James Roberts and Will Smith are both free to play despite breaking COVID rules this past week.

Ryan Matterson is out for the Eels (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

EELS

1 Clint Gutherson, 2 Maika Sivo, 3 Tom Opacic, 4 Marata Niukore, 5 Blake Ferguson, 6 Dylan Brown, 7 Mitchell Moses, 8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 9 Reed Mahoney, 10 Junior Paulo, 11 Shaun Lane, 15 Isaiah Papali’i, 13 Nathan Brown

Bench: 14. Oregon Kaufusi 16. Will Smith 17. Ray Stone 20. Keegan Hipgrave

Players cut: 12. Ryan Matterson 18. Jordan Rankin 19. Haze Dunster 21. Bryce Cartwright

Late mail: Key forward Ryan Matterson is a key omission, with Isaiah Papali’i starting and Keegan Hipgrave coming onto the bench. Mitchell Moses has been cleared to play after progressing through the concussion protocols. Maiko Sivo is also a confirmed starter after he passed his gameday HIA after training with the squad this week. Bryce Cartwright has been cleared to return from jaw injury but will play NSW Cup.