Broncos coach Anthony Griffin has pulled a surprise selection move by not naming his six Test Match representatives to face Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
Captain Darren Lockyer, Sam Thaiday, Justin Hodges, Ben Hannant, Jharal Yow Yeh and Gerard Beale have reportedly been told they will not be required to back up for the Broncos just 24 hours after the Test Match.
While assessments made Saturday morning may clear some stars for the top-of-the-table Storm game, the three biggest names are unlikely to play.
Thaiday has carried a groin injury all season, Hodges has had well documented injury problems while the 34-year-old Lockyer may struggle to play three games in eight days.
Fullback Beale, considered an outsider to win a spot in New Zealand’s final side on Friday night, will play if he misses Test selection.
With State of Origin around the corner, coach Griffin has taken this unusual measure to help manage player burnout.
Conversely, Storm coach Craig Bellamy today named both City-Country and his six Test players, including superstar trio Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk, in the side to face Brisbane.
The Broncos 18 man squad includes three debutants plus a host of NRL returns.
Under 20’s hooker Kurt Baptiste could join Queensland Cup backs Shea Moylan (Wynnum) and Justin Hunt (Redcliffe) in making NRL debuts.
Scott Anderson returns from a six week absence due to a calf injury and is joined on the five man bench by forwards Dunamis Lui and David Hala – both who have played just a handful of NRL games.
Prop Josh McGuire suffered an eye injury against the Bulldogs and was not considered for selection.
Corey Norman returns to fullback, a position he started the 2010 season at, while Dane Gagai is back on the wing after six weeks out injured and playing Under 20’s.
Ben Hunt will partner Peter Wallace in the halves while Nick Kenny and Mitchell Dodds start in the front row with Dane Carlaw dropping to the back row.
Corey Parker will captain the side in Lockyer’s absence for what is always a hard match against their Melbourne rivals.
The Storm holds a 16-11 winning record against Brisbane but last played at Suncorp Stadium in 2009 – a match Brisbane won 16-14 in Round Two.
A young Broncos side defeated Melbourne 36-14 in the corresponding match last season which marked the star-studded Storm’s first loss since the salary cap scandal.
Saturday’s match will be live on Fox Sports with a big crowd expected for the 7:30pm kick-off.
Titans’ Friend-less
Minor shoulder surgery will sideline Gold Coast Titans hooker Nathan Friend for at least a few weeks as his side prepares to host the Warriors on Sunday.
The blow comes just a few days after Friend became the first Titan to register 100 NRL games for the club.
He missed the Titans opening four games of the season with a shoulder problem and his absence was noted as a contributing factor to the sides’ poor start to the year.
Coach John Cartwright has recalled Riley Brown, who deputised previously for Friend, while including Under 20’s hooker Kayne Lawton on a five man bench.
Preston Campbell made a successful return from a knee injury in the Titans hard fought 24-13 win over the Roosters last week.
The Titans only representative player, Mark Minichiello (City), has been named to back up on Sunday as the Gold Coast look to build momentum with their second of three consecutive home matches.
Greg Bird has been included despite being ruled out of the City-Country game while the Warriors could have as many as five players backing up from Friday’s Test, also at Skilled Park.
Sunday’s match will be live on Fox Sports from 2pm.
Cowboys face Premiers
On a four game winning streak, the Cowboys will get a clear picture of where their season is at when they face St George-Illawarra at Kogarah Oval in Sydney on Sunday.
The Dragons, leading the competition and displaying the same Premiership-winning traits as last year, are on a six game winning streak of their own.
Cowboys coach Neil Henry has included Australian players, and Cowboys co-captains, Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott in his unchanged side for the Dragons.
Hooker Aaron Payne suffered an elbow injury in last week’s 22-20 win over Manly however his likely replacement, rookie James Segeyaro, has not been included in the team.
The Dragons won the only clash between the sides last year, 33-8 at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, but overall the sides have shared their matches with 10 wins apiece.
Sunday’s game begins at 3pm but will be broadcast on Channel Nine delayed from 4pm.
Brisbane Broncos vs. Storm, Saturday 7:30pm, (Fox Sports, live)
Corey Norman, Dane Gagai, Jack Reed, Dale Copley, Shea Moylan, Ben Hunt, Peter Wallace, Nick Kenny, Andrew McCullough, Mitchell Dodds, Alex Glenn, Dane Carlaw, Corey Parker (c). Interchange: Kurt Baptiste, Scott Anderson, Dunamis Lui, David Hala, Justin Hunt (one to be omitted).
Gold Coast Titans vs. Warriors, Sunday 2pm, (Fox Sports, live)
Preston Campbell, Steve Michaels, Esi Tonga, Bodene Thompson, David Mead, William Zillman, Scott Prince (c), Luke Bailey, Riley Brown, Matthew White, Greg Bird, Mark Minichiello, Ashley Harrison. Interchange: Michael Henderson, Ryan James, Ben Ridge, Luke O’Dwyer, Kayne Lawton (one to be omitted).
North Queensland Cowboys vs. Dragons, Sunday 3pm, (Channel Nine, delayed 4pm)
Matthew Bowen, Ashley Graham, Antonio Winterstein, Willie Tonga, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Ray Thompson, Johnathan Thurston (c), Matt Scott (c), Aaron Payne, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Dallas Johnson. Interchange: Scott Bolton, Leeson Ah Mau, Tariq Sims, Ashton Sims.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment