Panthers vs Tigers

Panthers

Starting: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Dean Whare, Sione Katoa, Corey Harawira-Naera, James Fisher-Harris.

Bench/Extended Bench: /Jarome Luai, Nick Lui-Toso.

Tigers

Starting: Esan Marsters, Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, Benji Marshall, Russell Packer, Elijah Taylor, Ben Matulino.

Bench/Extended Bench: Michael Chee-Kam/Josh Aloiai.

Doc's Word

In my books, Dean Whare and Esan Marsters have been the best #KiwiNRL centres of the season thus far and we may be treated to an almighty match up depending on which side of the field Tyrone Peachey plays on. Peachey shifts to the centre position to accommodate Nathan Cleary and even a Peachey vs Marsters will be a fun battle, but the master vs apprentice battle of Whare vs Marsters will be a major highlight this round.

There are numerous #KiwiNRL match ups in this game aside from the centres, led by James Fisher-Harris coming up against Russell Packer and Ben Matulino. Fisher-Harris will have a job to do in stopping the veteran Kiwis middle forwards, especially after they both averaged over 10m/run last week against the Cowboys. This is right up Fisher-Harris' alley as he's doesn't have a huge impact with the footy, but the energy and aggression he plays with in defence could throw the Tigers middles off.

The low key battle at hooker will also be of intrigue as Elijah Taylor lines up against Sione Katoa. They both have x-factor hookers coming off the bench with Jacob Liddle (Tigers) and Wayde Egan (Panthers) likely to be injected later in the game, while Taylor and Katoa are fairly similar in how they go about their business at hooker; they can run but focus more on distribution and defence. I don't expect them to run too much in the first 30 minutes, but whoever does run more will reflect the flow of the game as they will be hopping out of dummy half on the back of quick play the balls.

Obviously the battle between Dallin and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak will be a laugh and while there will be plenty of noise about Nathan Cleary's return, plus his match up against Luke Brooks, Benji Marshall is in for a funky battle of the OG halves against James Maloney. 

Eels vs Warriors

Eels

Starting: Brad Takairangi, Peni Terepo, Manu Ma'u.

Bench/Extended Bench: Suaia Matagi, Marata Niukore/Josh Hoffman.

Warriors

Starting: All but Blake Green.

Bench/Extended Bench: All But Albert Vete.

Doc's Word

Eels coach Brad Arthur continues to shuffle his forward pack around, searching for the best combination of middle forwards. Last week, Manu Ma'u shifted into the middle and this week he has been named to start there which I actually kinda like as Ma'u has mobility and footwork to go with his aggressive running.  Beau Scott starts on an edge and as Scott and Ma'u are both good edge options, Ma'u offers a wee bit more in terms of running the footy, thus making him a better option in the middle.

This also opens a spot on the bench for Marata Niukore to make his NRL debut. Niukore is a Mangere East Hawks/Howick Hornets junior and linked up with the Warriors Under 20s after playing for Aorere College, before moving to the Eels after his Under 20s days were done. He's an edge forward and while Scott and Tepai Moeroa can both play 80 minutes, I expect Niukore to get a decent spell on the park and could replace either of the starters.

Broncos vs Roosters

Broncos

Starting: Jamayne Isaako, Kodi Nikorima.

Bench/Extended Bench: Sam Tagataese.

Roosters

Starting: Joseph Manu, Siosiua Taukeiaho, Isaac Liu.

Bench/Extended Bench: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Zane Tetevano/Sitili Tupouniua.

Doc's Word

Brisbane Broncos are down on their #KiwiNRL numbers with Alex Glenn joining Jordan Kahu on the sidelines via injury, although Sam Tagataese does step in to play his veteran bench forward role. Signing Tagataese was a great move for the Broncos as he's always ready for NRL footy and the Broncos are bringing through a wave of young polynesian forwards (Australian-polynesian), that Tagataese can help mentor.

Much was made of the Roosters dominance through the middle last week vs Warriors and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves led the way with 19runs/171m. That's a nice effort and shows what Waerea-Hargreaves is capable of, yet the problem for him and the Roosters is the inconsistency of Waerea-Hargreaves' work. This was his best game of the season and it was also his only game over 139m, while he's also had four games under 100m. 

Four games under 100m, five games between 100-140m and one game over 140m; who knows what Waerea-Hargreaves will produce this week.

Titans vs Knights

Titans

Starting: Kevin Proctor.

Bench/Extended Bench: Moeaki Fotuaika.

Knights

Starting: Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Herman Ese'ese, Slade Griffin.

Bench/Extended Bench: Danny Levi.

Doc's Word

Danny Levi holds on to his bench spot with Slade Griffin starting and last week, Levi enjoyed more minutes than Griffin; 32 vs 48mins. Griffin had no dummy half runs, while Levi had 4 and I'll once again be interested in how Knights coach Nathan Brown juggles the usage of these two, especially now that Levi appears to be back in the mix.

There's not a whole lot of funk in following Gold Coast Titans - Kevin Proctor's the most boring #KiwiNRL player - and that means that it's all about Moeaki Fotuaika. With Fotuaika settling into a bench role, I've got someone to watch closely with the Titans and although the Titans aren't very good, Fotuaika is proving himself to be a beast. 

In 33 minutes last week, Fotuiaka had 4runs/58m, which is well over 10m/run and he also had the fastest play-the-ball of all Titans forwards, plus this was the only average play-the-ball speed, under 3 seconds of all Titans forwards; 2.74s

Cowboys vs Rabbitohs

Cowboys

Starting: Antonio Winterstein, Jason Taumalolo.

Bench/Extended Bench: Te Maire Martin.

Rabbitohs

Starting: Haters.

Bench/Extended Bench: Haters.

Doc's Word

Jason Taumalolo is back at his best and how that translates to impacting the game against a strong Rabbitohs forward pack will be of great intrigue here. The issue is that Taumalolo can run over 200m in his unique fashion and the Cowboys still lose, they still look mediocre in attack. Their attack did get a boost when Te Maire Martin entered the game for his 24 minutes at dummy half and he instantly put himself in the right places.

Storm vs Sea Eagles

Storm

Starting: Brandon Smith, Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

Bench/Extended Bench: Kenny Bromwich, Jahrome Hughes.

Sea Eagles

Starting: Addin Fonua-Blake, Martin Taupau.

Bench/Extended Bench: Toafofoa Sipley/Lewis Brown.

Doc's Word

Cameron Smith's suspension opens the door for Brandon Smith to start at hooker and this gives us an interesting gauge of where Brandon is at in his career as he comes up against Apisai Koroisau, who was on fire vs Broncos. With Brandon moving into the starting line up, a spot on the bench opens up for the return of Jahrome Hughes.

Hughes was injured in the trials, ruling him out of the battle for the halves spot and now he gets his chance on the bench which has me super intrigued about how Craig Bellamy uses him. Hughes could give Smith a break, or he could take on a free-roaming role as he's genuinely capable of playing all the backline positions.

Toafofoa Sipley gets his crack on the bench for Manly Sea Eagles after making the move across the ditch. Addin Fonua-Blake has been in crazy form, while Martin Taupau has been in stock-standard form and now we add Sipley into that equation; what can Sipley offer the Sea Eagles?

Dragons vs Raiders

Dragons 

Starting: Jason Nightingale. 

Bench/Extended Bench: Leeson Ah Mau.

Raiders

Starting: Jordan Rapana, Iosia Soliola, Siliva Havili, Joseph Tapine.

Bench/Extended Bench: Ata Hingano, Charlie Gubb.

Doc's Word

Charlie Gubb got the fewest minutes off the Raiders bench, for the highest output last week; 24mins, 9runs/104m. This kinda impact will keep Gubb on the bench and with news of Shannon Boyd leaving to join Gold Coast Titans next season, Gubb is playing for greater opportunities in the lime green.

Sharks vs Bulldogs

Sharks

Starting: Sosaia Feki.

Bench/Extended Bench: Ava Seumanufagai/Braden Uele.

Bulldogs

Starting: Kieran Foran, Jeremy Marshall-King, Raymond Faitala-Mariner.

Bench/Extended Bench: Renouf To'omaga/Greg Eastwood.

Doc's Word

I continue to be impressed by Jeremy Marshall-King at dummy half and he put in another hefty stint last week with 61mins. The level up for Marshall-King will come as he gains confidence and runs the footy more as he only had a single dummy half run in those 61 minutes, which is no where near enough to give the Bulldogs momentum around the ruck as well as ensuring that his halves have more time and space.

Nice Bulldogs debut for Renouf To'omaga; 15mins, 6runs/53m. Enough to keep his spot on the bench and the battle between he and Ava Seumanufagai will be a Wellington highlight this week as they are both from Wellington. Seumanufagai had 29mins, starting last week and got through a impressive 7runs/92m, but he now moves back to the bench with Paul Gallen returning, thus bumping Braden Uele out of the 17.

Jahtearoa Premiers

Fullback: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
Wings: David Fusitu'a (T), Jordan Rapana.
Centres: Esan Marsters, Dean Whare.
Halves: Benji Marshall, Kieran Foran.
Middles: Martin Taupau, Adam Blair, Jason Taumalolo (T), Slade Griffin.
Edges: Tohu Harris, Joseph Tapine.
Bench: Kodi Nikorima, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Addin Fonua-Blake, Ben Matulino.

In: Esan Marsters, Benji Marshall, Slade Griffin, Addin Fonua-Blake.

Out: Peta Hiku, Shaun Johnson, Issac Luke, James Fisher-Harris.

Jahtearoa Reserves

Fullback: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
Wings: Jason Nightingale, Joseph Manu.
Centres: Peta Hiku, Brad Takairangi.
Halves: Te Maire Martin, Ata Hingano (T).
Middles: Simon Mannering, Russell Packer, James Fisher-Harris, Siliva Havili (T).
Edges: Corey Harawira-Naera, Alex Glenn.
Bench: Kenny Bromwich, Bunty Afoa (S), Agnatius Paasi (T), Ava Seumanufagai

In: Joseph Manu, Ata Hingano, James Fisher-Harris, Simon Mannering, Russell Packer.

Out: Ken Maumalo, Herman Ese'ese.

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