Key posts
Which team will win?
Bulldogs team list
- Blake Taaffe
- Blake Wilson
- Jacob Kiraz
- Stephen Crichton (c)
- Josh Addo-Carr
- Matt Burton
- Drew Hutchison
- Max King
- Reed Mahoney
- Poasa Faamausili
- Viliame Kikau
- Jacob Preston
- Jaeman Salmon
- Kurt Mann
- Samuel Hughes
- Josh Curran
- Kurtis Morrin
Stephen Crichton will make his first regular season appearance for the Bulldogs on Saturday night.Credit: NRL Photos
Eels without try-scoring Sivo
There is one Eels player you won’t be seeing today, and that’s winger Maika Sivo.
Sivo was slapped with a three-match ban for a high tackle on Titans’ player AJ Brimson during the pre-season challenge.
Sivo scored 20 tries for Parramatta in 2023, which means he’s a massive loss for their opening round.
Maika Sivo hits AJ Brimson high.Credit: NRL
Eels team list
Not too many changes to the team that was listed on Tuesday – only difference is Joe Ofahengaue moves up into the starting 13, with Junior Paulo dropping to the interchange bench.
- Clint Gutherson (c)
- Bailey Simonsson
- Will Penisini
- Morgan Harper
- Sean Russell
- Dylan Brown
- Mitchell Moses
- Reagan Campbell-Gillard
- Joey Lussick
- Joe Ofahengaue (jersey 16)
- Shaun Lane
- Bryce Cartwright
- J’maine Hopgood
- Brendan Hands
- Ryan Matterson
- Junior Paulo (jersey 10)
- Kelma Tuilangi
Eels captain Clint Gutherson will lead the team on Saturday night.Credit: Getty
Welcome
Good afternoon, footy fans, and welcome to our live coverage of today’s match between the Eels and the Bulldogs.
Billie Eder here to take you through the first hour before Christian Nicolussi jumps on the keyboard, and it’s a packed house out at CommBank Stadium for this clash.
Kick off is at 5:30pm, we’ll bring you all the team news until then.
The Eels get to play their first match of the season at CommBank Stadium.Credit: Getty Images
