Round 1: SOUTHS vs ROOSTERS

[DIEHARD]

Thu 6 Mar 2014, 8:05pm (local), ANZ Stadium

1 Greg Inglis
2 Nathan Merritt
3 Beau Champion
4 Bryson Goodwin
5 Lote Tuqiri
6 Dylan Walker
7 Adam Reynolds
8 George Burgess
9 Issac Luke
10 Sam Burgess
11 Chris McQueen
12 Ben Te'o
13 John Sutton (c)

Interchange
14 Ben Lowe
15 Joe Picker
16 David Tyrrell
17 Luke Burgess
18 Joel Reddy
19 Kyle Turner

Coach: Michael Maguire


1 Anthony Minichiello (c)
2 Daniel Tupou
3 Michael Jennings
4 Shaun Kenny-Dowall
5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
6 James Maloney
7 Mitchell Pearce
8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
9 Jake Friend
10 Sam Moa
11 Boyd Cordner
12 Sonny Bill Williams
13 Frank-Paul Nuuausala

14 Daniel Mortimer
15 Aidan Guerra
16 Mitchell Aubusson
17 Dylan Napa
18 Kane Evans
22 Kurt Kara

[DIEHARD]

Roosters

1 Anthony Minichiello (c)
2 Daniel Tupou
3 Michael Jennings
4 Shaun Kenny-Dowall
5 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
6 James Maloney
7 Mitchell Pearce
8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
9 Jake Friend
10 Sam Moa
11 Boyd Cordner
12 Sonny Bill Williams
13 Frank-Paul Nuuausala

14 Daniel Mortimer
15 Aidan Guerra
16 Mitchell Aubusson
17 Dylan Napa
18 Kane Evans
22 Kurt Kara

[shamus]

....and delayed as well. Onya Channel 9.

[DIEHARD]

Im gonna try and watch it LIVE on nrlstream.

[DIEHARD]

PREVIEW
Thursday 8.05pm local (7.05pm Qld) - ANZ Stadium

Some 151 days, an Australian World Cup triumph, the inaugural Auckland Nines and North Queensland’s first piece of silverware, plenty of high-profile signings and retirements, a few off-field controversies and a few significant pre-season injuries have passed us by since the Sydney Roosters held aloft the Telstra Premiership trophy on Sunday, October 6, 2013.

But that's all yesterday's news as these two old, old rivals lace on the boots to open up the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia.

They were the two form teams of 2013; their two fierce contests bookending the regular season, the second of those resulting in a Roosters square-up for their Round 1 loss and with it a minor premiership. History shows the Tricolours surged through to their 13th premiership while the Bunnies were bundled out a week before the decider by Manly.

There are plenty of mouth-watering subplots in this spicy opener: the traditional rivalry, especially with the Roosters having pipped the Bunnies for last year’s minor premiership. Two of the best forwards, nay best players, in world rugby league, are also fierce opponents who shared numerous massive collisions while representing their respective clubs and countries last year. Sam Burgess and Sonny Bill Williams are also each in their last seasons of NRL before venturing to (or back to) the 15-a-side game.

Will the Roosters be able to overcome last year’s euphoria to get switched on for another big season? Their strong win over Wigan in the World Club Challenge is an early sign in the affirmative. And will the Bunnies overcome last year’s disappointing finish to mount an even more determined campaign?

The first plank of each side’s 2014 premiership campaign will be laid on Thursday night. The Roosters look very familiar to the side that walked off the same ground on October 6 last year. Only the retired Luke O’Donnell is missing, replaced in the 17 by young firebrand Dylan Napa.

Souths have had to overcome plenty of injury concerns – with coach Michael Maguire having decided to move skipper John Sutton to lock, he now has first-choice five-eighth Luke Keary missing long term due to a torn pectoral suffered at the Auckland Nines. His replacement Dylan Walker tweaked a hammy at training but has been named at 6, with Adam Reynolds named at halfback despite battling a knee injury.

If either is ruled out before the match, expect Sutton to rejoin the halves with Kyle Turner or Joel Reddy coming into the 17. Tom Burgess hasn’t been named and could be out for two months with a foot injury suffered in the Charity Shield victory over the Dragons.

Fans with pre-purchased tickets will enjoy free train travel to and from ANZ Stadium. For timetables from Central Station click here.

Free rail travel to ANZ Stadium for members and ticket holders

Watch Out Roosters: Look out for an all-out Burgess assault at the start of this game. Both Sam and George have been named to start at prop and having both of them coming at you full throttle in the opening minutes of your season will be a scary thought for the Roosters' defenders.

Sam has been a proven, quality performer in the NRL for some time but last year George went from having potential to bringing genuine game-breaking abilities. They averaged close to 300 metres per game between them last year and racked up 15 tries as well.

With Luke Burgess joining the bench and hopefully injury-free after playing just five games last year, things could get wearying for the Tricolours.

Watch Out Rabbitohs: The Roosters' defence in 2013 was tougher to crack than a Harvard entrance exam and it looks like more of the same this year. Trent Robinson was a defensive coach before he was a head coach and that discipline certainly paid off last year as the Tricolours leaked just 13.2 points per game.

They eventually gave up three tries against Wigan a fortnight ago under a mountain of possession, but that win was built on a first half shut-out that showed their sliding defence is still a well-oiled machine.

Led by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Boyd Cordner (615 and 468 tackles respectively, both at 97.3 per cent effective rate) and Mitch Aubusson (565 tackles, 96.6 per cent effective), expect more of the same this year.

Plays To Watch: Williams running a short-side play down the left, drawing two or three defenders and offloading to a flying Michael Jenning; massive runs from George and Sam Burgess pushing the defensive line back before the rapid spread out to a roaming John Sutton to run himself or put Greg Inglis one on one with a smaller man.

Where It Will Be Won: The foundations of most wins are found in the forward battle but when two monster packs and two ace defensive sides line-up it’s doubly crucial. Will Roosters hard men Waerea-Hargreaves, Sam Moa and Dylan Napa be able to slow down the rampaging runs of George and Sam Burgess? Will strong, rangy and skilful Rabbitohs like Sutton and Inglis find their way through the NRL’s best defensive line if their forwards don’t win the battle of attrition up front? This will be decided in the middle third of the field.

The History: Played 207; Rabbitohs 108, Roosters 94, drawn 5. The last 10 meetings are split five apiece, and of those 10, the Roosters hold a narrow 3-2 advantage in games at ANZ Stadium. Don't expect much in the way of home ground advantage when these two proud Sydney clubs face off on Thursday night.

What Are The Odds: The Roosters were $2.12 outsiders when betting opened, but punters have crunched the premiers into $1.70 with Sportsbet.com.au, with three times the money on them compared to the Rabbitohs ($2.15).

Match Officials: Referees – Ben Cummins & Luke Phillips; Sideline Officials – Ashley Klein & Luke Patten; Video Referees – Grant Atkins & Russell Turner.

Televised: Channel Nine – Live 8pm (AEDT); Fox Sports 1 – Delayed 10pm.

The Way We See It: This should be an absolute bell-ringer to kick off the season. The Rabbitohs have looked very strong right through the pre-season but their injury disruptions and uncertainty over their halves has us leaning towards the far-more-settled reigning premiers. It should still be close, if not a nail-biter – Roosters by 6 points.

*Statistics: Champion Stats

Source: http://www.nrl.com

[TITAN PETE]

SBW v Burgess to set season start alight

Sadly it serves to highlight what the NRL will be missing next year, but all the talk in the lead-up to the season start on Thursday is about the titanic clash between Sonny Bill Williams and Sam Burgess.

Even amongst the players.

Williams and Burgess will defect to rugby union at season's end to join fellow superstars Israel Folau and Benji Marshall in the ranks of the departed to the 15-man code.

With a comprehensive review of the salary cap still ongoing the NRL has promised to aggressively move to combat such defections.

But the reality is the round-one match between Williams' Sydney Roosters and Burgess' South Sydney will be one of the last times these two go head-to-head in rugby league.

The two regular-season clashes between the bitter arch-rivals set crowd and television ratings records last year, mainly on the back of the star duo's pulling power.

Both the Rabbitohs and the Roosters possess star-studded line-ups but even the players themselves admit they are keen to see Williams and Burgess lock horns again.

"I can't wait - I get front row seats," Roosters back-rower Boyd Cordner said on Wednesday.

"He has prepared really well Sonny. He hasn't really spoken about it at all so it might just be something in the heat of the moment.

"He gets about his business every week the way he does and I suppose that is why he is so good.

"He is fully prepared every week and none more so than this week, it is a huge clash.

"He has been great Sonny all pre-season and we are always trying to work hard as a team but personally I think he is going to have another big year."

While Williams' return to rugby was expected, Burgess's defection shocked many; especially the Rabbitohs' faithful.

Back-rower Ben Te'o believes Burgess will give everything in his final year at Redfern to help break their four decade long premiership drought, starting against the Roosters.

"Sam, since he has been at this club has given a good year every year," Te'o said.

"We want a focused Sam Burgess and I'm sure he is going to give the fans and this club everything.

"The Roosters are big, we are big, they are going to be very aggressive and that is how we want to play.

"The forwards battle is going to go a long way to determining the game."

Burgess enjoyed a round-one victory last year over Williams, and the Rabbitohs over the Roosters.

But Williams starred as the Roosters blew Souths away in the teams' final round minor premiership showdown as the tricolours paved the way for their 13th premiership.

The Roosters premiership win hurt Rabbitohs fans almost as much as their own preliminary final meltdown.

Ahead of the teams' 109th meeting in a rivalry that has spanned 107 years, the Williams-Burgess clash will add another chapter to the clubs' enduring and intertwined histories.

But Williams and Burgess don't need to be reminded of that and they will do their talking on the field.

"I haven't really told Sam that much and he hasn't really said that much," Souths captain John Sutton said.

"He is one of those players that gives 100 per cent every week so I'm expecting a big year from him.

"I know he will be putting in everything he can for this club."

[DIEHARD]

I'm currently watching it on livestream, I won't post any spoilers until QLD catches up.

[DIEHARD]

Brilliant game and thankfully Souths won. Wow Roosters didn't look themselves at all. Souths were a machine.

McQueen was impressive. Been loving him for a few seasons and he is looking every bit the Maroon rep. I hope he recovered from his foot injury that he suffered.

Reynolds was very impressive taking the line on. Something he needed to add to his game.

Burgess had it all over SBW. And looks to be facing the judiciary for his shoulder charge.

Thoroughly enjoyed Inglis running over humans.

A shame there was only 27k there. Deserved 50k. We really need to look at this Thursday night bull****. The fans are over it.

[DIEHARD]

Brilliant game and thankfully Souths won. Wow Roosters didn't look themselves at all. Souths were a machine.

McQueen was impressive. Been loving him for a few seasons and he is looking every bit the Maroon rep. I hope he recovered from his foot injury that he suffered.

Reynolds was very impressive taking the line on. Something he needed to add to his game.

Burgess had it all over SBW. And looks to be facing the judiciary for his shoulder charge.

Thoroughly enjoyed Inglis running over humans.

A shame there was only 27k there. Deserved 50k. We really need to look at this Thursday night bull****. The fans are over it.

[DIEHARD]

Souths run Roosters ragged in 28-8 whipping

The highly anticipated 2014 season opener lived up to its billing as the two cross-town Sydney rivals traded a series of massive hits for 80 minutes, with the Rabbitohs eventually claiming a very physical match 28-8 on the back of a Greg Inglis hat-trick.

Overall the Rabbitohs dominated possession with a 57 per cent share, ran a whopping 2049 metres compared to the Roosters' 1595. They made five line busts, with the Roosters failing to register even one.

The Roosters had to make 105 more tackles than their opponents.

The referees showed they will continue their crackdown on shoulder charges with Ben Te'o, Dylan Napa and Sonny Bill Williams among those penalised for the offence.

In one major promising sign for the home side new playmaker Dylan Walker showed his full array of skills, including a clever short ball that sent Chris McQueen racing through a gap, a towering bomb that put Roosters fullback Anthony Minichiello under pressure, a classy chip close to the line that forced the Roosters into a goal-line drop-out, and a dart from dummy-half that would have earned a try if not for a trysaving tackle from the Tricolours' custodian.

The Rabbitohs had been their own worst enemies in an error-prone first 20 which they were lucky to emerge from down only 6-0.

The Roosters opened the scoring with a stunning length-of-the-field piece of play when Daniel Tupou charged towards a loose ball when the Rabbitohs had been on the attack and booted it downfield. He found himself in a footrace with Rabbitohs halfback Adam Reynolds, with Tupou getting there first and again toeing it forward.

Reynolds was exceptionally lucky to stay on the field when he then tackled Tupou without the ball but it didn't stop the try as Michel Jennings dived on the ball under the posts to put the Roosters up 6-0. Referee Ben Cummins said at the time Reynolds would have been sin-binned if the Roosters hadn't scored from that play.

The Bunnies hit back just past the 20-minute mark when a Sam Burgess offload put Adam Reynolds in space and Pearce was penalised for holding onto Reynolds in the subsequent tackle, which put the Rabbitohs on the attack.

Greg Inglis barged over in the corner at the end of that set, pushing off Minichiello, and Reynolds added the extras to level the scores.

The next 20 minutes through to half-time saw a barrage of big hits dished out from both sides courtesy of Sam Burgess, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Dylan Napa and Ben Te'o in particular, with the latter two giving up penalties for shoulder charges and Te'o (perhaps unluckily) finding himself on report.

The penalties were flowing thick and fast after the resumption with the count, which had favoured the Rabbitohs 6-2 at half time, quickly becoming 6-all.

On the back of that the Roosters were able to pull ahead 8-6 after using one of those infringements to take the shot at goal but Souths had the better of the remainder of the match as their huge forward pack dominated the Roosters through the middle.

The Rabbitohs earned a full set on the Roosters' line around the 50-minute mark after a Roosters error, then another repeat set when they forced the Roosters back into their in-goal. The pressure finally told when Inglis raced onto a Te'o offload to score his second under the posts and make it 12-8.

The Rabbitohs continued to dominate possession and the penalty count with Reynolds taking two shots at goal to extend the lead to 16-8.

Bryson Goodwin scored the try that put the result beyond doubt when he latched onto a clever John Sutton cross-field chip to make it 22-8, then Inglis put the icing on the cake with his third try coming inside the final two minutes, again proving too strong close to the line.

In injury news, two Rabbitohs - McQueen and Walker - left the field on crutches after picking up ankle injuries during the match.

Source: http://www.nrl.com

[DIEHARD]

Three-try Inglis lauds new halves and forwards

A humble Greg Inglis has credited a strong effort from his side's forwards and dangerous new-look halves combination of Adam Reynolds and Dylan Walker for helping him earn a hat trick in the side's 28-12 opening round win over the Roosters.

"I think [the halves] give us a great edge, especially with [John] Sutton in the middle, he's just another big forward playing five eighth," the Rabbitohs fullback told journalists after the game.

"It frees them up and Dylan Walker with his speed out the back there and the forwards give us a lot of room," he said.

To score a hat-trick personally was "a good start" but he added "in saying that we have a good group of forwards who can get us through up through the middle".

However the 27-year-old's club captain John Sutton spoke more highly of the fullback's performance.

"It looks like he's playing under-7s sometimes when he's bowling people over," Sutton said at the post-match press conference.

"He's all class, he's been doing it or years now and I'm glad to be playing alongside him."

Inglis said the game had been brutal and extremely hard fought for 60 minutes but the Rabbitohs had been able to stick to their game plan and was lucky enough to pull away at the end.

"You never know in these games, you can play all the trials you want but in the end Round 1 is all that matters, with all the rule changes and everything... for 60 minutes it was hard fought and we were lucky enough to get away in the last 20."

He said the club's high performance unit did tremendous jobs with all the players coming back from World Cup duty (Inglis, hooker Issac Luke, centre Bryson Goodwin and forwards George and Sam Burgess).

"They fast tracked us and make sure we did a few sessions in there if we needed and we definitely did that. Like I say you play the trials but they're low intensity until you get to Round 1."

With the Rabbitohs to play next weekend against Manly in Gosford they are opening their season against both 2013 grand final sides and Inglis said "we couldn't think of a better way to start as a team and as a club".

"We can only see where we go from [here] and it starts again next week against Manly up in Gosford, but in saying that we're going to sit back and enjoy the weekend and get ready for Monday," he said.

Source: http://www.nrl.com

[DIEHARD]

Match Highlights