Matt’s Match-ups Rd 24: Raiders V Sharks
Sharks V Raiders
Josh Dugan
1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
Sione Katoa
2. Bailey Simonsson
Bronson Xerri
3. Jarrod Croker ©
Josh Morris 4. Nick Cotric
Ronaldo Mulitalo
5. Jordan Rapana
Shaun Johnson 6. Jack Wighton
Chad Townsend 7. Aidan Sezer
Aaron Woods
8. Josh Papalii
Jayden Brailey
9. Josh Hodgson ©
Matt Prior
10. Sia Soliola
Briton Nikora
11. John Bateman
Wade Graham 12. Elliott Whitehead
Paul Gallen © 13. Ryan Sutton
Interchange
Kurt Capewell 14. Siliva Havili
Braden Hamlin-Uele 15. Dunamis Lui
Andrew Fifita
16. Corey Horsbough
Jayson Bukuya
17. Hudson Young
Extended Bench
Billy Magoulias
18. Sam Williams
Blayke Brailey
19. Emre Guler
Kyle Flanagan
20. Michael Oldfield
Matt Moylan
21. Tom Starling
#- Skins altered to pair like skins.
(Bolded players are the winners of the skin. The extended bench is excluded.)
Match-ups:
Fullbacks:
Josh Dugan was the heir who couldn’t rule, while Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad is the nobody who became king. Dugan has been switching between centre, wing and fullback this year. The last week and a half he has been at fullback covering for Matt Moylan. Dugan has passed 100m gained in his past three games, and dived on a kick for a try last week. It been a while since Nicoll-Klokstad scored, but he has Dugan covered for metres gained over the same period. This is a tight skin, but I'll edge it Nicoll-Klokstad’s way - because this is not a one week deal, and Dugan only has one game at fullback recently.
Wingers:
With Nick Cotric’s switch to the centres to cover Joey Leilua, Bailey Simmonson comes off the bench into the starting side. In recent weeks he has replaced Cotric for 13 minutes and then Jordan Rapana for his 15 minute HIA. He is opposite another fill-in, Sione Katoa, who replaces the injured Sosaia Feki. Injury skin rules apply here.
Jordan Rapana looked like he enjoyed having Leilua back with him on the weekend. His no-look flick pass said it all. Leipana was about to come to life again... c'est la vie. Ronaldo Mulitalo has three tries and an assist in his three games this year, including one last week and a massive 168m. However, this is no one week game.
Centres:
Jarrod Croker scored all of the Raiders points last week. He also came up with three decisive tackles, at least two of which were try saving. Bronson Xerri has to be in the running for rookie of the year, with 12 tries and six assists. He's averaged over 120m and four tackle busts a game. I find it really hard not to give the rookie serious credit, with a draw, but I can’t overlook how well the Raiders skipper has performed in recent weeks - with five tries in three weeks and 38 total points.
Joey Leilua had one of his trademark brain snaps last weekend, and has found himself suspended for dropping knees into Reuben Garrick's back. So, Nick Cotric again takes Leilua's place in the centres. His form hasn’t been good, while Josh Morris has turned back the clock and is in great try scoring touch.
Halves:
Jack Wighton has been in great touch against these top sides, but can’t buy a try. He has run for over 470m in the past three weeks. He's been cut down centimetres out three times - and been denied over the line twice. Shaun Johnson has had all sorts of issues in 2019... hamstring injuries, groin injuries, goal kicking yips... and has lacked confidence to run the ball. The turning point was the Test against the Tongans, where he was man of the match. He has had eight try assists and 529m in the past six games. The main difference between these two players at the moment is that Johnson’s efforts are winning. That is why he gets the skin.
Aidan Sezer versus Chad Townsend isn’t even close. Townsend has three more tries, eight more assists, nine more line break assists, 14 more forced drop outs, 11 more offloads, and averages over 20 kick metres more a game.
Prop:
Aaron Woods has been solid this year, even earning himself a starting role over Andrew Fifita. However, as I have mentioned ad nauseam in the past few weeks, Josh Papalii is the best prop in the game. He produced 172m, 29 tackles, four offloads, and a line break assist last week.
Sia Soliola was inspiring on Sunday. Every single time he carried the ball, he bent the line. He ran for 133 tough metres and made 23 tackles. His early offload should have led to greater things, but Hodgson dropped the ball - thinking of the pass that needed to be made, rather than catching the ball. Matt Prior has been starting, but is not playing his usual big minutes this season, following the rise of Braden Hamlin-Uele. Last week's 47 minutes was the most he has played since Round 7. As you can imagine, this has had an effect on his output this season.
Dunamis Lui has been playing his role, but this season we have seen him moved to the bench in favor of Soliola - and now he is losing minutes to Horsburgh. Lui now faces "mini Fifita", Braden Hamlin-Uele. The Raiders had to face three big guys in Taupau, Fonua-Blake and Pasaeka last week and did a reasonable job. They get Woods, Fifita and Uele this week. Uele is a young wrecking ball prop, with great agility for his size. Uele has four tries this year and is showing that he could be a top tier prop in the not so distant future.
Corey Horsburgh was again strong through the middle third of the game last weekend. Horsburgh pumped out 121m, 22 tackles and two offloads in just 33 minutes. Andrew Fifita has been struggling with suspensions and a knee injury in recent weeks. However, after a week off, he returned last week with a bang, pumping out 199m, 12 tackle busts, and 23 tackles.
Hooker/utility:
Josh Hodgson been a bit rocks and diamonds in the past few weeks. He bombed a try in the first minute on Sunday - dropping a Sia Soliola offload, while looking at Leipana standing in 20 metres of open space outside Jorge Taufua. He also threw the game defining intercept last week, but he is still better than Jayden Brailey. Brailey is a tackle bot who has been tasked with providing quick ball to his halves.
Kurt Capewell has held down a utility role for a few weeks now, and with all the injuries in the Sharks outside backs of late, he has been very handy. Another to benefit from Leilua’s suspension is Siliva Havili, returning to the side this week after a fortnight in reserve grade. Injury/not playing rules apply to this skin.
Backrow:
Briton Nikora is a very promising young edge forward. However, with Wade Graham's return, he isn’t seeing as much ball on his edge, even with Johnson firing. John Bateman continues to prove he is one of the best backrowers in the competition, even if last weekend he was a little quiet by his standards.
Elliott Whitehead again pulled off a magic offload to Croker for a try on Sunday. It was basically the same play as the previous week - with the main difference being that Croker had to leap over him to get to the line. His output was a long way down on last week. He faces off against Wade Graham this week, who is possibly the form edge player in the league. His impact on the Sharks since returning from his two injuries has been huge. He is a big reason why the Cronullas has had a late surge to the finals. It will be interesting to see if the Sharks pair him with Morris or Xerri this week. I think Graham and Xerri together are dynamic.
Ryan Sutton started last week, given Joe Tapine’s absence, and Sutton will retain that place this week. He is a better player with bigger minutes and last week showed that. He delivered 114m and 31 tackles in 54 minutes. However, he goes up against Paul Gallen in his last game at Shark Park. Gallen has pumped out metres for fun in the last fortnight, with over 200 against the Dragons and over 170 last week. Pretty easy choice here, even if I don’t like it.
Hudson Young was very good in his return to the NRL. He played aggressively and direct. He even showed some good touch with the draw and pass for Croker's second try. Jayson Bukuya returns to the NRL in place of former Raiders junior Jack Williams. Injury/not playing rules apply to this skin.
Result
The tally is Sharks seven and Raiders 10. I am a little worried about this week, because while the Sharks have been a little scratchy and inconsistent, they still have plenty of experience and firepower at their disposal. They also have the home ground advantage to go with Gallen’s last game there. However, the Raiders have only lost one away game on the opposition's home soil this season – Magic Round versus the Roosters and Eels in Darwin were away losses, but were not on home soil.
Result: Raiders to ruin Gallen’s party (by 2-6).
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