Mounties V North Sydney Bears
Saturday 21 April
Central Coast Stadium
NSW Premiership 12:45pm
TV coverage: Live on Fox League
Mounties line up against the North Sydney Bears at Central Coast Stadium this Saturday afternoon in a curtain raiser to the Canberra Raiders clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs. And on Sunday, the Mounties Jersey Flegg team face the Bears at their traditional home, North Sydney Oval.
NSW Premiership: Mounties are coming off the bye and are one of five teams with a share of the lead on the competition ladder. On points differential, they are placed third. Their opponents the Bears are in eighth place, but have just one fewer win than Mounties so far this season.
In their last outing the Bears came from 18 points down after 30 minutes to take out a 25-24 win in the final minutes of the match against the ladder leading Wests Magpies at North Sydney. A penalty goal to half Dean Hawkins in the 77th minute levelled the match... and then Hawkins stepped up to kick the winning field goal in the next set of six. Hawkins, fullback Viliami Kaveinga and Billy Brittain were amongst the best for the Bears... and will be players for the Mounties to watch this week.
The Bears started the season with three losses in a row, but have now produced back to back victories, after beating the Newcastle Knights 28-10 in Round 5. Mounties have a WWLWL record in their opening five matches, losing to the Panthers 36-22 in their Round 5 match. Mounties have a better attacking and defensive record than the Bears. Mounties have averaged 27 points scored per match, compared with 21 for the Bears. The defensive record is closer, with Mounties conceding 20 points on average per match, the Bears 23. The Bears have a negative points differential of 13, the Mounties are +32.
Team changes: For Mounties, Liam Knight and Jack Murchie move into the second row, in place of the injured Jarrad Kennedy and Josh Papalii. Sam Duggan comes into the starting team at lock in place of Murchie. Mitchell Kennedy comes into the top 17 on the bench, while Under 20s player, Corey Horsburgh has been named at 18th man. Brad Abbey, Liam Knight and Jack Murchie have also been named on the reserves list for the Raiders.
For the Bears, Robbie Farah has been named at starting hooker, in place of Billy Brittain, who moves to the bench. Former Raiders forward Rhys Kennedy comes in at starting prop for Samuel Johnstone, who drops to the bench. Keaon Koloamatangi moves from lock to second row, in place of Hymel Hunt. Kyle Turner has been included at the base of the scrum. Farah and Turner also named on the reserves list for South Sydney.
Our tip: The Bears probably have better recent form than Mounties, so it should be a good clash. It is a difficult one to tip, with some uncertainty surrounding the line ups. But Mounties have had the better of the opening five rounds... so we'll go with the men in black and yellow in this one.
Jersey Flegg: The Mounties Under 20s produced an extraordinary come from behind win, 32-30 over the Parramatta Eels in Round 6 at Aubrey Keech Reserve. The Eels led 24-14 at half time and at one stage in the second half, Mounties trailed 30-14. However, Mounties scored the final three tries of the match, with a double to Andre Niko and a try to Kyle Paterson. Niko turned the result with the match winner in the final minute of the game.
Mounties are in third place on the ladder, with a 5 and 1 record so far this season. They are just one competition point adrift of the ladder leading Cronulla Sharks. Their opposition this week, the Bears, are ninth on the ladder. North Sydney has a WLLLLW record so far in 2018 - winning their last match against the Wests Tigers 28-6 at North Sydney Oval. Mounties have a slightly better attacking record, averaging 23 points scored per match, compared with 20 for the Bears. Mounties have a much better defensive record, however, conceding an average of just 16 points per match, the Bears 26.
For Mounties Komiti Tuilagi comes into the second row in place of Josh Stuckey, who drops to the reserves list. Corey Horsburgh has been named at lock - as well as 18th man for the NSW Premiership team. Thomas McGrady and Jesse Dent come into the top 17 on the bench. The Bears have named the same top 17 who the field last week.
North Sydney has a win last week - but it was over a Wests Tigers outfit which has not won a match all season. Mounties have the form on the board and should be too strong.
Mounties V North Sydney Bears
Saturday 21 April
Central Coast Stadium
NSW Premiership 12:45pm
Mounties
1. Bradley Abbey 2. Mikaele Ravalawa 3. Edward Murphy 4. Tyler Cornish 5. Sitiveni Moceidreke 6. Cooper Bambling 7. Henry Raiwalui 8. Emre Guler 9. Craig Garvey 10. Makahesi Makatoa 11. Liam Knight 12. Jack Murchie 13. Sam Duggan
14. Kalani Going 15. Mitchell Cahalane 16. Tony Satini 17. Mitchell Kennedy 18. Corey Horsburgh
North Sydney Bears
1. Viliami Kaveinga 2. Mawene Hiroti 3. Campbell Graham 4. Braidon Burns 5. Jacob Gagan 6. Connor Tracey 7. Dean Hawkins 8. Vincent Leuluai 9. Robbie Farah 10. Rhys Kennedy 11. Tarquinn Butler 12. Keaon Koloamatangi 13. Kyle Turner
14. Billy Brittain 15. Samuel Johnstone 16. Max Bailey 17. Ky Rodwell
Mounties V North Sydney Bears
Sunday 22 April
North Sydney Oval
Jersey Flegg 3:00pm
Mounties
1. Paul Roache 2. Andre Niko 3. Matthew Lyons 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Semi Valemi 6. Lachlan Cooper 7. Brendan O'Hagan 8. Stefano Hala 9. Kyle Paterson 10. Matt Scott 11. Komiti Tuilagi 12. Daniel Keir 13. Corey Horsburgh
14. Tom McGrady 15. Darby Medlyn 16. Jesse Dent 17. Nicholas Toomata 18. Adam Rizk 19. Joshua Stuckey 20. Elijah Hunt 21. Liam Mock
North Sydney Bears
1. Keiran Hayman 2. Tyrone Taukomo 3. Jake Tago 4. Ethan Abou-ghaida 5. Nicholas Mougias 6. Cameron Yeates 7. Kurtis Preece 8. Kell O’Brien 9. Josh Cook 10. Luke Casson 11. Brandon Shoveller 12. Lucky Taavale 13. Corey Kurnoth
14. Maila Chan-Foon 15. John Kaufusi 16. Jubilee Soloa 17. Matthew French
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