Round 17 Discussion

[Big Pete]

Penrith Panthers vs South Sydney Rabbitohs
Pepper Stadium, Friday July 3 2015
Kick Off 7:45pm

1. Dallin Watene Zelezniak 2. Josh Mansour 3. Dean Whare 4. Waqa Blake 5. David Simmons 6. Jamie Soward 7. Peter Wallace 8. Regan Campbell-Gillard 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Nigel Plum 11. Isaah Yeo 12. Bryce Cartwright 13. Elijah Taylor
Interchange: 14. Lewis Brown 15. Jeremy Latimore 16. Sam McKendry 17. Tyrone Peachey 23. Sika Manu

1. Alex Johnston 2. Joel Reddy 3. Dylan Walker 4. Bryson Goodwin 5. Aaron Gray 6. Luke Keary 7. Adam Reynolds 8. George Burgess 9. Issac Luke 10. Tim Grant 11. Glenn Stewart 12. John Sutton 13. Chris McQueen
Interchange: 14. Ben Lowe 15. Chris Grevsmuhl 16. David Tyrrell 17. Thomas Burgess 18. Jason Clark 19. Cameron McInnes 20. Daryl Millard

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St George Illawarra Dragons vs North Queensland Cowboys
WIN Stadium, Saturday July 4 2015
Kick Off 7:30pm

1. Jason Nightingale 2. Yaw Kiti Glymin 3. Euan Aitken 4. Peter Mata'utia 5. Eto Nabuli 6. Gareth Widdop 7. Benji Marshall 8. Leeson Ah Mau 9. Mitch Rein 10. Ben Creagh 11. Will Matthews 12. Jake Marketo 13. Mike Cooper
Interchange: 14. Nathan Green 15. George Rose 16. Rory O'Brien 17. Heath L'Estrange 18. Craig Garvey

1. Lachlan Coote 2. Matthew Wright 3. Justin O'Neill 4. Kane Linnett 5. Antonio Winterstein 6. Ray Thompson 7. Robert Lui 8. Ben Hannant 9. Jake Granville 10. Sam Hoare 11. Gavin Cooper 12. Ethan Lowe 13. Jason Taumalolo
Interchange: 14. Rory Kostjasyn 15. John Asiata 16. Scott Bolton 17. Patrick Kaufusi 18. Glenn Hall 20. Ben Spina

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Manly Sea Eagles vs Cronulla Sharks
Brookvale Oval, Sunday July 5 2015
Kick Off 4:00pm

1. Brett Stewart 2. Jorge Taufua 3. Peta Hiku 4. Steve Matai 5. Tom Trbojevic 6. Kieran Foran 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Jake Trbojevic 9. Matt Ballin 10. Luke Burgess 11. Feleti Mateo 12. Tom Symonds 13. Dunamis Lui
Interchange: 14. James Hasson 15. Ligi Sao 16. Justin Horo 17. Willie Mason 22. Josh Starling

1. Michael Gordon 2. Sosaia Feki 3. Gerard Beale 4. Ricky Leutele 5. Valentine Holmes 6. Jack Bird 7. Jeff Robson 8. Andrew Fifita 9. Michael Ennis 10. Matt Prior 11. Luke Lewis 12. Wade Graham 13. Chris Heighington
Interchange: 14. Jayson Bukuya 15. Ben Barba 16. David Fifita 17. Sam Tagataese

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Wests Tigers vs Parramatta Eels
ANZ Stadium, Monday July 6 2015
Kick Off 7:00pm

1. James Tedesco 2. Kevin Naiqama 3. Delouise Hoeter 4. Nathan Milone 5. Pat Richards 6. Mitchell Moses 7. Luke Brooks 8. Sauaso Sue 9. Dene Halatau 10. Keith Galloway 11. Kyle Lovett 12. Chris Lawrence 13. Martin Taupau
Interchange: 14. Manaia Cherrington 15. Ava Seumanufagai 16. Matthew Lodge 17. Brenden Santi 18. Jack Buchanan

1. Corey Norman 2. Semi Radradra 3. Ryan Morgan 4. Brad Takairangi 5. Bureta Faraimo 6. Luke Kelly 7. Chris Sandow 8. Junior Paulo 9. Cody Nelson 10. Tim Mannah 11. Manu Ma'u 12. Tepai Moeroa 13. Anthony Watmough
Interchange: 14. Pauli Pauli 15. Darcy Lussick 16. Danny Wicks 17. David Gower 18. Joseph Paulo

 

[Big Pete]

All positional changes and additions highlighted in bold.

This weekend feels like nothing more than a distraction heading into Origin III but there's still a couple of games that should be worth checking out.

Friday's clash between Penrith and Souths being one of them. I think this clash could go a long way for either side. For Penrith, they just need to win. They're down on troops and a little on confidence but after Sunday's clash where they were able to exploit the Tigers left side defence, they should be in good stead heading into this clash. Meanwhile Souths have been coasting on their experience for awhile now and I think they're still looking very vulnerable in patches. Adam Reynolds hasn't really had a chance to come into his own this season due to all the injuries he's picked up through out the season, and if Souths are going to challenge for back to back titles, it will come down to him finding form. As far as I'm concerned, all eyes will be on him come Friday. If he stands up, Souths should win comfortably, if he struggles, I can see Souths relying on him too heavily and him stifling the attack which happens from time to time.

If Madge is wise, he'll defer to Luke and Keary to guide Souths through this game and use Reynolds as a secondary for the odd clearing kick or pass in a set movement.

Right now I'm leaning towards Souths pack being too much for Penrith to handle but things could change later in the week.

Manly/Sharks should be a good test of Cronulla. Admittedly, I've been like a yoyo when it came to Cronulla. I bought into the hype at the start of the year and threw them in the 8. Then when I watched them play I had them missing the 8...now, I've just learned to keep my mouth shut when it comes to their chances of making the 8. In saying that, I think this will be a good barometer for them. Manly are largely unscathed from Origin and should give Cronulla a run for their money. Considering Ennis will likely the game either through Origin commitments or suspension (both of which are bogus but I've written enough about it), I think the Sharks will be rudderless and will opt for Manly for now. Either way, I can see this being a tight contest and a big game for both clubs.

The other games don't really interest me. Cowboys/Dragons has finals implications but I think it's crap such an important game has been so affected by Origin. I can smell an upset here from the Cowboys but only if the game turns out to be as bad as I expect it to be. Monday's game is all about Parra and whether the Norman at fullback experiment can jag enough victories for a finals berth. Wests will play the role of spoilers here on out, so the game has real LOLParra potential but nothing much beyond that for me.

Hurry up Origin III.

 

[Super Freak]

Yeah, the Dragons and Cowboys game could have been a blockbuster. 2nd vs 4th.

But Origin fucked that up.

 

[Super Freak]

Mansour is out.

Sika Manu has been named on the wing... Sika Manu.

I don't think he will play there, but still strange to name him on the wing.

 

[Big Pete]

It is, until you realise that coaches are just lazy when it comes to team sheets.

Looks like Yeo is playing centres with Blake on the wing.

Good goal-line defence from Wallace and Cartwright there.

 

[Super Freak]

Try

 

[Super Freak]

Bloody hell.

That took a while.

How many replays do you need?

 

[Big Pete]

That was a dog breakfast of a review.

Happy to go with the call although I'm not 100% convinced Manu didn't knock it forward.

 

[Super Freak]

Bad pass from Soward..

 

[Super Freak]

What a try.

Awesome play from Panthers.

 

[Clintos]

Cartwright is some player.

 

[broncos4life]

Souths are looking terrible. I know they are without Inglis but still...

 

[Super Freak]

Fair call.

 

[Super Freak]

And Rabbitohs come out in the second half just as shit as they were in the first.

 

[Super Freak]

If Panthers could clone a dozen Cartwright's, they could be a premiership force.

 

[Super Freak]

WALLACE!

 

[ivanhungryjak]

The ref hits the deck! Always good to see.

 

[Cult]

The Rabbits are really missing Lote Tuqiri.