TEAMS
PANTHERS: 1. Dallin WATENE-ZELEZNIAK, 2. Josh MANSOUR, 3. Dean WHARE, 4. Jamal IDRIS, 5. Kevin NAIQAMA, 6. Matt MOYLAN, 7. Jamie SOWARD, 8. Sam MCKENDRY, 9. James SEGEYARO, 10. Brent KITE, 11. Sika MANU, 12. Elijah TAYLOR, 13. Adam DOCKER
INTERCHANGE: 14. Lewis BROWN, 15. Jeremy LATIMORE, 16. Nigel PLUM, 17. Bryce CARTWRIGHT, 18. Isaah YEO
ROOSTERS: 1. Anthony MINICHIELLO (c), 2. Brendan ELLIOT, 3. Mitchell AUBUSSON, 4. Shaun KENNY-DOWELL, 5. Nene MACDONALD, 6. James MALONEY, 7. Mitchell PEARCE (vc), 8. Jared WAEREA-HARGREAVES (vc), 9. Jake FRIEND (vc), 10. Sam MOA, 11. Boyd CORDNER, 12. Sonny Bill WILLIAMS, 13. Aiden GUERRA
INTERCHANGE: 14. Frank-Paul NUUAUSALA, 15. Isaac LIU, 16. Dylan NAPA, 17. Remi CASTY, 18. Heath L’ESTRANGE
The Panthers will leave their Western Sydney heartland and head to the city on Saturday afternoon to take on the Roosters, in an East v West battle at Allianz Stadium.
Coming off our 1 point win over the Broncos on Monday night, the boys are re-grouping and preparing for a quick turnaround with a few team changes due to injury.
We’ve had confirmation that Tyrone Peachey has torn his pec and will need surgery, which means he is out for the rest of the season. Josh Mansour injured his ankle too, but scans show it’s not as bad as we first thought, and we’re hoping he’ll be back in the side soon. Pete Wallace is still a few weeks away from returning, while Dave Simmons is close to making a comeback from a knee injury.
Ivan Cleary has shuffled a few players around this week with Matt Moylan moving to the halves alongside Jamie Soward, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will return to the side at fullback and Isaah Yeo comes onto an extended bench as 18th man.
We did well to keep Brisbane under control on Monday after getting down to one interchange player midway through the second half, and we’ll need to dig deep again on Saturday against a Roosters side who are desperate for a win.
Trent Robinson’s men are coming off a BYE and two losses to Cronulla and Manly, which has them sitting in 5th position on the NRL ladder.
They will be without Michael Jennings and Daniel Tupou, but fellow Origin stars Boyd Corner and Aiden Guerra are fit and will play. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is also out with a hamstring injury he picked up in round 17.
And like the Panthers, they have named several Holden Cup players in their side with Brendan Elliot and Nene Macdonald gearing up for the challenge.
