NRL Team List

Round 17, 3:00PM Saturday 24th June, Sunshine Coast Stadium

The Eels and Dolphins will meet for the first time ever on Saturday with Brad Arthur and Wayne Bennett helming sides that have performed admirably through a host of injuries. Indeed, the Dolphins have been the pluckiest of upstarts in their inception year boasting a 7-7 record with some signpost wins to their name. As we know with our Eels, a brutally slow start has given way to a thunderous midseason surge with the Blue & Gold collecting 4 straight wins in their last 4 outings. Now with the Dolphins coming off a bye and the Eels heading towards one they meet a crucial time in Round 17 with the possibility of solidifying a Top 8 berth on the line.

Parramatta’s backline continues to whir along beautifully as Clinton Gutherson leads an unchanged unit featuring breakout revelation Bailey Simonsson. The move to left centre has acted as a lightning rod for Bailey. His form over the last month has been a sight to behold. Elsewhere, ‘BA’ is expecting his two Origin stars in Mitchell Moses and Junior Paulo to back up with both named to start. Moses will partner Daejarn Asi in the halves while Paulo will bump knuckles with his long time running mate Reagan Campbell-Gillard in the front row.

Ryan Matterson shifts back to the interchange bench with Andrew Davey and Bryce Cartwright starting on the edges and goodness, gracious is it a beefy interchange bench. Matterson will be in rotation with Ofahiki Ogden, Joe Ofahengaue and Makahesi Makatoa. There are desperately unlucky casualties this week with the big time reinforcements pushing Matt Doorey and Luca Moretti back to the NSW Cup and it is worth a moment to mention that for the likes of Doorey and Moretti – as well as potentially Ogden and Makatoa in the coming weeks – that their contributions to the NRL squad’s recent run have been outstanding. The next man stepping up philosophy has embraced fully by these players and it has been vital for the team.

We are still without Josh Hodgson as the veteran rake continues to battle a neck injury. Brendan Hands steps up to the plate once again in his absence as the young playmaker continues to build on his impressive rookie NRL season. In the other piece of major injury news, Shaun Lane was billed as an outside chance of playing against the Sea Eagles last week and you would imagine the same is true against the Dolphins. However, with the bye around the corner and a forward pack that is tearing it up perhaps caution will rule the day here.

5 wins on the trot and a chance to climb into the Top 4 (results pending) are at stake on Saturday. The Dolphins will be no pushovers though with Bennett instilling confidence and resilience into the NRL’s newest team. Even so, the Eels have been playing some excellent rugby league over the last 5 weeks and more of the same will take them a long way to victory on the weekend.

NSW Cup Team List

Round 17, 3:00PM Saturday 24th June, Henson Park

Parramatta’s horrific stretch continued into Round 16 with the Eels thoroughly trounced by the Blacktown Worker Sea Eagles on the weekend. Nathan Cayless does get some strike power back this week at the very least with Matt Doorey and Luca Moretti bringing strong NRL form to the NSW Cup while one of the real shining lights from the team’s strong early season form in Arthur Miller-Stephen is finally back. ‘AMS’ has been sidelined for a bit over 2 months I believe with a shoulder injury and I am very happy to have him back in the fold.

The backline improves greatly with their young fullback healthy. Zac Cini slides back into his best role at centre while Waqa Blake looks to have avoided a serious injury after missing the second half last week. Isaac Lumelume is back in his best position at wing as a result making big Dan Keir the only man out of position from 1-7.

We will need all of the reinforcements to hit the ground running on Saturday because they are taking on the formidable Newtown Jets – a team who dusted up the Eels at the start of the season. I am actually quite hopeful that the reinvigorated roster will play a much better brand of footy this week but it will be hard to snap the losing streak against Newtown.

Jersey Flegg Cup Team List

Round 17, 12:30PM Saturday 24th June, PointsBet Stadium

As with their NSW Cup brethren, the struggles of the Jersey Flegg squad continued last week as they chalked up a loss to Manly. Hopefully they can draw a line in the sand now because they have big time inclusions this week – headlined by the return of Ethan Sanders. Sanders has recovered from a broken hand and will partner Joshua Lynn in the halves. Joining Sanders on the returnee list is Matt Arthur as the SG Ball player count hits 10 this week.

Much like in the NSW Cup, the task is a difficult one this week with the Sharks occupying 3rd on the ladder. It shapes up as a massive away trip to the Shire for the Eels but a win is needed to both reignite their season and get back in touch with the Top 8.

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