Round 8, 2014 NYC
Saturday 26th April
Kickoff: 10.45am
Venue: Remondis Stadium, Cronulla
Ref: Chris Butler & Jon Stone
TEAMS:
PANTHERS: 1.Logan GEYER, 2.Joshua JAY, 3.Brent NADEN, 4.Solofa SILIPA, 5.Eddie AIONO, 6.Corey HARAWIRA, 7.Sam SCARLETT, 8.Andy SAUNDERS, 9.Sione KATOA, 10.Jordan HALL, 11.Chris SMITH, 12.Bryce CARTWRIGHT, 13.Brendan ATTWOOD
INTERCHANGE: 14. Josh GRANT, 15. Atonio PELESASA, 16. Matt LUPI, 17. Naya FREEMAN, 19. Moses LEOTA
SHARKS: 1. Valentine Holmes, 2. Dallas Wells, 3. Taylar Garrett, 4. Anthony Moraitis, 5. Joshua Addo-Carr, 6. Jaden Clarke, 7. Fa’amanu Brown (C), 8. Kurt Dillon, 9. Kurt Drysdale, 10. Jake Goodwin, 11. Jake Lawrence, 12. Harrison Muller, 13. Winstone Asotasi
INTERCHANGE: 14. Ben Chahoud, 15. Sage Wilder, 16. Alec Susino, 17. Chad McGill, 19. Zane Walford
It’ll be 8 v 9 at Remondis Stadium on Saturday morning when the reformed Panthers take on Cronulla in the Under 20’s clash. On paper, these teams are fairly evenly matched with 3 wins from 7 games. The big difference is the Panthers have posted those wins in their last three matches, while the Sharks are coming off back to back losses.
Cronulla went down to the Roosters in a big way last weekend, conceding 44 points in front of a home crowd. Their kicking game is what let them down with only a couple of conversions making it through the uprights.
They actually had a very strong first half and went into half time with a 2 point lead, but they completely collapsed in the final 20 minutes of the game, letting the Roosters score five unanswered tries.
It was a completely different story for the Panthers who ran riot over the Titans and came away with a 26-6 win. Their defence was outstanding and our boys withstood a relentless attack by the Gold Coast pack, only letting one try in for the entire match.
Coach Trent Barrett has made a couple of changes to his side this week to accommodate some movement within the ranks. Logan Geyer returns to the fullback position with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak playing with NSW Cup. Brent Naden is back in the centres after a week off, and Solofa Silipa has been called into the side to replace Waqa Blake who’s also playing up a grade. Atonio Pelesasa returns from injury and Corey Harawira has been promoted to the starting line up at five-eighth.
The Sharks have named a similar team to last week, with the only changes being the inclusion of Kurt Dillon to the starting front row, and Zane Walford named on the bench.
