Key posts
Who will win?
Rooster take lead with penalty points
It goes from bad to worse for Melbounre – three penalties given away in the Roosters opening set.
First penalty is for the shoulder charge on Lindsay Collins, the second one is for an illegal strip, and the third for Jahrome Hughes obstructing an attacking player.
The Roosters decide to take the two points, and Joseph Suaalii nails the kick.
Roosters 2, Storm 0 after three minutes
Nelson Asofa-Soloma sin-binned in opening 18 seconds
We are under way, and it is drama from the kick-off.
Lindsay Collins takes the first carry for the Roosters and Nelson Asofa-Solomona puts his shoulder into Collins’ head.
Collins is groggy getting up, and Asofa-Solomona is sent to the sin bin in the opening 18 seconds for the tackle.
Teams warm up in Melbourne
By Roy Ward
It was brilliant to travel in on one of the city’s south-east train lines with carriage after carriage filled with Storm and Roosters fans.
Almost made me forget about that little AFL game at the MCG tomorrow, at least until I passed some Storm fans arguing whether Lions coach Chris Fagan or Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell should have been AFL coach of the year.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona warms up before the match.Credit: Getty Images
The Roosters cheer squad marched into the stadium past me singing “I hate, you hate, we hate Victorian!”
Hopefully, their team is more in tune than their fans or this will be a one-sided clash.
Both sides are on the field warming up and the seats at the top of the stand already have fans in them so we should be completely at capacity.
I’m tipping Storm in a tight one, but we know the Roosters are more than capable of taking the win.
Nicolussi’s view: fast deck in Melbourne tonight
Craig Bellamy sticks with same 17
No changes for Craig Bellamy’s Storm. This is what the team looks like tonight:
Harry Grant leads the Storm out tonight.Credit: Getty Images
1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2. Will Warbrick, 3. Jack Howarth, 4. Nick Meaney, 5. Xavier Coates, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 9. Harry Grant (c), 10. Josh King, 11. Shawn Blore, 12. Eliesa Katoa, 13. Trent Loiero, 14. Tyran Wishart, 15. Christian Welch, 16. Tui Kamikamica, 17. Alec MacDonald
Tedesco: High completion rate key tonight
How the Roosters line up tonight
Trent Robinson sticks with the 1-17 he named on Tuesday. Here’s how they line up:
Roosters skipper James Tedesco.Credit: Kate Geraghty
1. James Tedesco (c), 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Joseph Suaalii, 4. Joey Manu, 5. Dominic Young, 6. Luke Jeary, 7. Sandon Smith, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Connor Watson, 10. Lindsay Collins, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Sitili Tupouniua, 13. Victor Radley, 14. Spencer Leniu, 15. Naufahu Whyte, 16. Nat Butcher, 17. Terrell May
How the last battle of heavyweights could spark a Roosters upset
By Dan Walsh
Trent Robinson did not quite say the Roosters would put a target on Melbourne’s biggest and meanest man.
And neither Jared Waerea-Hargreaves or Nelson Asofa-Solomona were made available to the media this week, even though the Roosters prop is potentially playing the last NRL game of his career.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona.Credit: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous
But the looming final clash between two of the last genuine rugby league enforcers is undoubtedly the storyline of tonight’s preliminary final, along with the Storm’s five-year dominance of Robinson’s Roosters.
That’s because the distinguishing feature of the Roosters’ only two wins over Melbourne in their past 12 clashes has been their take-down of Asofa-Solomona and physical dominance of the southern powerhouse.
Read the full story here.
Broncos approach Maguire
Onto some breaking news while we wait for the team lists, with NSW Origin coach Michael Maguire being identified as Kevin Walters’ preferred successor as Broncos coach.
NSW Blues coach Michael Maguire.Credit: Kate Geraghty
The Broncos decided to end Walter’s contract effective immediately after an end-of-season review on Thursday, following the club’s 12-month demise from grand final to missing the top eight.
Read the full story here.
