NRL Round 7 - Roosters Vs Knights - 2:00pm Sunday, 19th April - Allianz Stadium

HarVeeGee13 said:
Yeah and even if he's not 100%, the gulf in attacking threat between Sharpe and anyone else we could play there, as well as in game awareness, decision-making, reading the play, etc, it's all massive. If he's fit to play in the NRL he's fit to play fullback.

I think Walsh's one was actually worse, he was gone for over a month, and I distinctly remember him taking a knock during the warm up in one of his return games, **** looked like he could barely move... yep found it:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2496986347317910

Then he went on to play in this game, 20 runs for 181 metres, 1 line break, 3 line break assists, 2 try assists. Broncos 34 Sharks 28.

I know it's easy to say but it's just pain. This is a tough game for hard men. They'll strap him up again and he'll do what we need him to.
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Kevie - “she’ll be right mate”
 
MullosLefttoRight said:
I actually thought that play (if we're thinking of the same one) showed how hampered Sharpe is.

I believe he was chasing Turuva who was also running on one leg and struggled to make ground on him for most of it - I reckon Sharpe would ordinarily dust Turuva, let alone Turuva carrying a leg injury.
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Was going to say exactly the same thing. You could see him winching slightly and way slower than his top speed.
 
Pardon my French but why is it always literally the five best ****ing players in the team out.

This is why the end of season "injury ladder" **** annoys me so much, oh this team that lost 5 fringe players to season-long injuries had a worse trot of it than us being without Ponga, Sharpe & Lucas for half the season? Sure.
 
Fark moi!! That’s rough. Really rough. Alright. Lowering my expectation immensely next few weeks. HOWEVER. Here is my left field choice.

8. Saf
9. Crossland
10. Mooney
11. Croker
12. Mainey
13. Cant

14. Graham
15. Saulo
16. Hopwood
17. Kepaoa
18. Manu
19. Hola.
 
At least we’ve got some young blokes who can come in for Lucas (although we’ll probably be subjected to more Tom Cant) but centre is a big worry. WDC and McCarthy aren’t First Graders so Christ knows what we’ll do there.
 
I woudnt say Lucas has been in top 5 players this year but understand what your saying

1 Hunt
2 Young
3 Gagai
4 Kepau
5 Marzhew
6 Sharpe
7 Brown
8 Saf
9 Crossland
10 Mooney
11 Cant
12 McEwen
13 Croker

14 Smith
15 Saulo
16 Hopwood
17 Manu
18 Elijah
19 Graham
 
I think Lucas just missed most of pre-season so has been a bit short of a run, but he is a massive massive part of the engine of this team. He takes more yardage carries than any other back rower in the comp except Kulikefu probably, and he would be near the top for tackles per game in his position too. It’ll take two players to replace him so I think the bench rotations need to be planned accordingly.
 
Cant will definetely start at 2nd row, even though his best position in juniors was lock, they seem set on him being 2nd row
But would assume Francis Man would at least get a fair few minutes this time at 2nd row unless they go Kepoa

And Hopwood to get the same treatment unless they opt for Hola with his more experience head
 
Could have the totally wrong read on it, but the massive minutes ESL and Hopwood play in Cup reads to me like they’re trying to get their fitness up so when they come in to play NRL it can be in a large role instead of a cameo.

I think Cant gets picked because he kind of is what he is and it’s not a development issue if he goes a few weeks as an unused sub.
 
This game isn’t about those out injured but more importantly who, Brown, may be back and who gets promoted to the injury hit spots.
If Brown has any doubts then please give him another week to ensure all is well.
Positions 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16 from last week look like lock ins.
1)Hunt but if Brown is back could be Sharpe. 4)looking more like McCarthy but depending on 1 could be Hunt. 6 & 7) depends on Browns availability then is he 6 or 7, if unavailable it’s Sharpe 6 and Smith 7, if Brown is 6 then Smith is 7, if Brown is 7 then Sharpe is 6 and Smith is ?.
11) several potential players headed by ESL and Manuleleua, are either or both ready, they should be, throw in Cant who is regularly selected in the 19. 15) Has to be between Hola and Crouch both strong in Cup. 17) Has been Cant but I lean towards ESL or Manuleleua as 11 or 17. 18-19) depends on who is in 1-17 Lots of options
Just re-read this and it’s a selection nightmare caused by lots of injuries.
My pick for what it’s worth is 1 Sharpe/Hunt, 2 Young, 3 Gagai, 4 McCarthy, 5 Marzhew, 6 Brown/Sharpe, 7 Brown/Smith, 8 JSaf, 9 Crossland, 10 Mooney, 11 ESL, 12 McEwen, 13 Croker, 14 Graham, 15 Crouch, 16 Saulo but would consider Hola. 17 Manuleleau, 18-19 depending on what happens 1-17 then Hunt, Smith, Cant or Hopwood
 
Spine Situation
Imo if Brown is back this week I would move Sharpe to fullback and unfortunately leave Hunt out, Sandon has done a decent enough job over the last few games to keep his spot and I don’t think moving him to 14 and Graham missing out just to fit hunt in at fullback is the right choice for us right now. Especially with how well Graham has impacted games that he has played in but obviously if brown is a bit 50/50 id rather us just rest him another week and keep the same spine that played against the tigers.

Left centre
At centre if brown is back I believe McCarthy should get the spot since he is naturally a left centre and defensively he is solid for a young player which was a big weakness for us against the tigers with de courcey in the first half. Apparently it could be Hunt if sharpe moves to 1 but I don’t really rate him as a centre as he probably brings a few defensive deficiencies into the position himself which doesn’t really fix the situation. I see hunt more as a Fullback/Winger.

Left backrower
This spot has probably four different options. I really want to see Francis Manuleleua get a chance at big minutes on an edge with how well he finished in cup last year and how well he has started cup this year. Probably unlikely though and has been playing more on the right side this year. ESL maybe plays on the edge with him playing strong in cup this year as well but probably more a middle for us. Kepaoa could be a chance given he is our left side backrower in cup but I think a few players are ahead of him. Cant is probably the most likely, has done a job in the past and played really well in the pre season, really safe option but does have a missed tackle in him.

Bench spots
For Friz’s spot I hope they go with ESL off the bench as he has been very strong in cup but I honestly don’t think we could go wrong with any of the options, Hopwood, Crouch even hola has played well really just upto Holbrook and what he wants. For the other bench spot it probably goes to manuleleau with cant likely moving into the starting rotation but they could just opt for another middle if they bring ESL in and he could be our edge.

Game
For the game I think the roosters are one of four or so teams that I would want to play right now as they haven’t played to their potential and have been really underwhelming (even though they are 3/5) for the squad they have which could either work for us or against us. I think the loss could motivate the boys to put in another performance similar to the bulldogs one which going into it looked unlikely for us to win after the loss to the wahs. Their right side has attacked well and will be somewhere they go, especially after the performance our left side had over the weekend. I think having a tall body and speed with dom on the right helps us against Tupou and his aerial threat. Their pack form wise is probably the third best we have gone against so far this year so our middles will need to step up after last week but all in all it is either a game we win in a close one or a game we lose 13+ but I do think the boys can come away with the win !!
 
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