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Cameron Munster vs Ben Barba

No Billy Slater, no worries for Melbourne as they have enjoyed the services of Munster and his flashy footwork. Both Munster and Barba add some serious funk to either team's attack which means that when ever they get the footy in two hands, pay attention as they will look to run first and foremost before then laying on some passes for their outside men. Barba has been electric in broken play and they will both hover around the footy, sniffing for an offload from which they can explode from.

Wingers

Suliasi Vunivalu/Marika Koroibete vs Sosaia Feki/Valentine Holmes

There's a whole lot of tries in this group of wingers and they are all among the best finishers in the NRL, mastering the flying touch-down that all wingers need to be able to execute. What will be more important though is what these wingers do when carting the footy out of their own territory and it's going to be the Fijian power up against the speed and skill of Holmes and Feki, with Cronulla's wingers more likely to spark an attacking movement despite being in their own half. Also pay attention what happens defensively from the wingers as Vunivalu loves to fire up off his line and put pressure on the ball-carrier for example and both teams have crafty halves who will either set the tone with an early kick in behind, or they will shift early and then react later on.

Centres

Will Chambers/Cheyse Blair vs Jack Bird/Ricky Leutele

This will be a very intriguing contest as Blair will line up against Bird and you've gotta roll with Bird having the advantage there, while Chambers will line up against Leutele and Chambers only has Joey Leilua ahead of him as the best centre in the NRL. Blair is a solid NRL centre under Craig Bellamy, while Chambers does much of his work from dummy half and so this will battle will be more about how well Blair and Chambers can defend Bird and Leutele. Cronulla will give their centres plenty of footy, but not just to make the most of their running ability as they are skillful and capable or assessing the situation then making the right pass.

Halves

Blake Green/Cooper Cronk vs James Maloney/Chad Townsend

Cronk is a joint-Dally M winner and Maloney basically led the Sharks to victory against the Cowboys, so it goes without saying that their battle will be something for rugby league nerds to saviour. The funk though will come from Green running Melbourne's left edge and Townsend's organisational role as halfback for Cronulla. Both Green and Townsend will play second-fiddle to their halves partners but expect plenty of pressure to be applied to Maloney and Cronk which will mean that Green and Townsend will need to establish their own play-making and control threat, freeing up the other half.

Props

Jesse Bromwich/Jordan McLean vs Andrew Fifita/Matt Prior

Two of the very best NRL props will be on display here, so expect big metres, footwork, offloads and some slick passing from Bromwich and Fifita. McLean and Prior though have been in great form themselves recently and have emerged from the wilderness as basic role-players into genuine threats through the middle. Bromwich and McLean will be out to stifle the influence of Fifita and Prior, as the Sharks props are responsible for the majority of their metres and the Sharks love to move the ball quickly to hit their edges after an offload from Fifita or Prior.

Dummy Half

Cameron Smith vs Michael Ennis

Pretty much everything Smith can do, Ennis has also shown that he can do in the NRL arena and Ennis has had a major influence on Cronulla's success with his play-making ability out of dummy half. This is another battle to salivate over and while paying attention to their subtle moments of wizardry, also keep an eye out for their defensive work and this is where I expect Smith's influence to shine. Smith will tasked with slowing down Fifita, Prior and Paul Gallen with his catch/wrestle ability and we saw Smith put Josh Hodgson in the shade last week so it'll be interesting to see what happens here as well.

Edges

Kevin Proctor/Tohu Harris vs Luke Lewis/Wade Graham

Proctor will face off against Graham and Harris against Lewis, which will give us endless amounts of joy as the viewer. Harris has been a beast this season for Melbourne and he rarely stays in his edge-lane, often venturing to the middle to do his work with the footy and I suspect we will see Lewis make a point of keeping Harris quiet via his emphatic physical presence. Proctor doesn't do a whole lot with the footy and his main job here will be to get a big body in front of Graham, who loves to run off of Maloney's hip.

Lock

Dale Finucane vs Paul Gallen

One of Melbourne's low key best players this season has been Finucane and up against Gallen, don't be surprised if we see Finucane really announce his arrival as one of the NRL's best up and coming forwards. If there was one No.13 who Finucane resembles the most, it's probably Gallen ... but Gallen gets through so much more work and especially in these big games; Gallen has a habit of massive performances reflecting the occasion.

Bench

Kenny Bromwich/Tim Glasby/Christian Welch/Ben Hampton vs Gerard Beale/Chris Heighington/Sam Tagataese/Jayson Bukuya.

There's a few extended benches, however that's how I reckon either bench will look come Sunday afternoon. Hampton and Beale add some utility value to either team and with their speed and footwork, they could feature at the back end of halves. Bromwich and Bukuya offer the power, with both lads spending plenty of time out on the edges in the NRL but will come off the bench to play through the middle where the can run riot behind the ruck. Glasby and Welch were great last week and will be crucial here as they need to continue the work of Bromwich and McLean, with Cronulla to call on Heighington and Tagataese for some rugged work through the middle.