NRL Weekly Watch: Everything to keep an eye on in Round 6

Roosters head south for Thursday night belter versus Storm

The weekend kicks off with a clash between heavyweights Melbourne and Sydney at AAMI Park with both sides fresh off strong Round 5 wins.

Craig Bellamy makes two changes to the 17 that came out on top of South Sydney last week with Jahrome Hughes returning from suspension to replace rookie Jonah Pezet in the halves and veteran back-rower Tariq Sims replacing Grant Anderson on the interchange.

As for the Roosters, James Tedesco (head knock) is unavailable with Joseph Manu returning to the side at fullback after missing time through suspension whilst Terrell May replaces Naufahu Whyte on the interchange.

Melbourne have won five of their past six against the Roosters, however, the tricolours have come out on top in two of their past three at AAMI Park.

Jaxson Paulo has scored five tries over his past three games after making the switch from the Rabbitohs to the Rooster prior to the season.

Understrength Dogs eye Good Friday upset over Rabbits

Canterbury and South Sydney will again do battle in their annual Easter matchup at Accor Stadium on Friday afternoon with both sides looking to keep touch with the top eight.

Canterbury will be without Raymond Faitala-Mariner (head knock), Jayden Okunbor (suspension), and Franklin Pele (broken arm).

Harrison Edwards will start at 13 with Jackson Topine and Jayden Tanner coming onto the interchange.

Jacob Preston (hand) and Max King (eye) have both been named despite picking up troublesome injuries in their Round 5 win over North Queensland.

The Rabbitohs, meanwhile, will be without veteran winger Alex Johnston (head knock) with Taane Milne replacing him whilst Tevita Tatola (knee) returns pushing Daniel Suluka-Fifita to the interchange and Michael Chee-Kam to the reserves.

Souths have beaten Canterbury in nine of their past 11 encounters and, the last time they faced on Good Friday, Damien Cook bagged a hat-trick.

Cowboys, Dolphins meet in all-Queensland affair in Townsville

Both fresh off disappointing defeats, the Cowboys and Dolphins meet on Friday night in Townsville for the first time ever.

Scott Drinkwater returns from suspension for North Queensland pushing rookie Tom Chester to the interchange whilst Reuben Cotter (knee) returns to replace the injured Jordan McLean (hamstring) and Griffin Neame shifts into the second-row to replace Heilum Luki (hamstring).

With Sean O’Sullivan (pec) and Anthony Milford (hamstring) missing, Isaiya Katoa shifts to halfback for the Dolphins with Kodi Nikorima returning to partner him in the halves.

Edrick Lee has been named on the wing in place of Round 5 debutant Jack Bostock for his first game as a Dolphin whilst Kurt Donoghoe replaces Mason Teague on the interchange.

The Cowboys are coming off a tough, golden-point loss to the Dogs whilst the Dolphins were handed the largest defeat of their young history by the Dragons in Wollongong.

Manly travel to foot of the mountains to face reigning champs

Fresh off a 41-point thrashing of Canberra, the Penrith Panthers host Manly on Saturday evening as they look to continue their march towards a three-peat.

The home side will be without star prop James Fisher-Harris (knee) with Matt Eisenhuth replacing him in the starting lineup whilst Soni Luke (head knock) returns onto the interchange in place of Tyrone Peachey.

For Manly, Jason Saab returns from a seven-and-a-half-month ACL layoff in place of Christian Tu’ipulotu (knee) whilst Josh Schuster (quad) returns at six pushing Cooper Johns out of the 17.

Ben Trbojevic’s hamstring injury paves the path for Karl Lawton to make his way back into the side on the interchange.

Penrith are riding a six-game winning streak against the Sea Eagles and have not lost to them at BlueBet since mid-2018.

Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o have each scored three tries from their past five against Manly.

Can Brisbane improve to 6-0 against Ricky’s listless Raiders?

The Broncos will look to show no mercy against an unconvincing Raiders outfit just a week on from a 34-point rout of the last-placed Wests Tigers in a bid to get off to their first 6-0 start since the 1997 Super League season.

Kevin Walters has the luxury of naming the same 17 that got the job done against the Wests Tigers last Saturday.

The Raiders, meanwhile, have called five-eighth Brad Schneider up for his first NRL game in over 10 months with Jack Wighton (suspension) and Matt Frawley (hand) unavailable.

Club legend Jarrod Croker has also been named in the centres for his first NRL game in 11 months with Harley Smith-Shields dropping out whilst Corey Horsburgh has been named to start at lock pushing Corey Harawira-Naera back to the interchange.

Brisbane have beaten Canberra in their last six games at Suncorp with the Raiders having not tasted victory there over the Broncos since 2010.

Titans, Dragons do battle for second time in five weeks

The Dragons make the trip up to the Gold Coast for a Sunday afternoon showdown against a Titans squad fresh off a bye.

The Titans will be without AJ Brimson (hamstring) and Kieran Foran (calf) with Jayden Campbell lining up at fullback and Toby Sexton earning his first cap of the new season at five-eighth.

Klese Haas comes onto the interchange for the Gold Coast as well.

The Dragons, meanwhile, travel north with the same 17 that claimed a convincing over the Dolphins in Round 5; Jaydn Su’A has been named to start despite failing to finish the clash due to a calf twinge.

The Dragons have won seven of their past 10 against the Titans whilst Ben Hunt has scored five tries from his past eight against the Titans and three tries from four games this season.

Harris, Martin return as high-flying Warriors look to remain in top four

A 4-1 start to 2023 has Kiwi fans revelling and the Warriors will look to make it 5-1 when they face the Knights for the second time this season in Newcastle on Sunday night.

Phoenix Crossland has been named at five-eighth for the Knights in place of Tyson Gamble (head knock) whilst Kurt Mann returns onto the pine after missing last week’s draw with a head knock of his own.

The Warriors will welcome back skipper Tohu Harris (knee) and five-eighth Te Maire Martin (head knock) with Jazz Tevaga dropping back to the interchange and Ronald Volkman out of the 17.

Bayley Sironen will start on an edge in place of the suspended Marata Niukore.

The Warriors outlasted the Knights in Round 1 in Wellington and but had lost four of their previous five to them.

The Knights have beaten the Warriors in five of their past seven at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Desperate Wests Tigers face 1-4 Eels on Easter Monday

The start of 2023 has not gone to plan for Tim Sheens’ Wests Tigers, but they have an opportunity to grab their first two competition points of the season when they Parramatta – the same side they snagged their first win of 2022 against – on Easter Monday.

Sheens has been unable to land on a satisfactory spine combination with Charlie Staines earning a crack at the back this week shifting Adam Doueihi back into the halves at the expense of Brandon Wakeham.

Brent Naden (illness) returns at centre with Asu Kepaoa taking Staines’ spot on the wing.

Joe Ofahengaue replaces Justin Matamua on the interchange whilst Stefano Utoikamanu has been named to start with Alex Twal on the pine after the two were switched prior to kick-off last week.

As for the Eels, Shaun Lane (jaw) makes his awaited return into the back-row pushing Ryan Matterson to lock and J’maine Hopgood to the interchange.

Haze Dunster replaces the suspended Bailey Simonsson on the wing whilst Sean Russell has been chosen ahead of Waqa Blake in the centres.

The Wests Tigers have won just one of their past nine against the Eels and have lost their past seven games at Accor Stadium.

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