Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 9 clash between the Brisbane Broncos and Sydney Roosters.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Brisbane Broncos Vs Sydney Roosters
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Date: Friday May 3, 8:00pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Brisbane Broncos Vs Sydney Roosters (Suncorp Stadium, Friday, 3 May 2024, 20:00)
Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh, 2. Jesse Arthars, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Selwyn Cobbo, 5. Deine Mariner, 6. Ezra Mam, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Corey Jensen, 9. Billy Walters, 10. Payne Haas, 11. Brendan Piakura, 12. Jordan Riki, 13. Patrick Carrigan, 14. Tyson Smoothy, 15. Xavier Willison, 16. Kobe Hetherington, 17. Fletcher Baker, 18. Corey Oates, 19. Benjamin Te Kura, 20. Jaiyden Hunt, 21. Tristan Sailor, 22. Blake Mozer
Players cut from final squad:
Roosters: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Dominic Young, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Lindsay Collins, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Nat Butcher, 13. Connor Watson, 14. Siua Wong, 15. Naufahu Whyte, 16. Egan Butcher, 17. Terrell May, 18. Fetalaiga Pauga, 19. Sitili Tupouniua, 20. Zach Dockar-Clay, 21. Sandon Smith, 22. Victor Radley
Referee: Ashley Klein
Bunker: Gerard Sutton
MATCHDAY PREVIEW
“These are the matches you always want to be involved in” – Adam Reynolds
In rugby league we love to use the terms contender and pretender when assessing the teams. Typically, we tend to overestimate the number of genuine contenders that there are. We get excited about a 2022 Sharks, or a 2023 Warriors, while in reality it was only ever going to be Penrith and Brisbane playing in that grand final.
As the 2024 NRL season exits its formative stages and begins to take substantive shape, you once again look to the ladder and decide who could actually win the premiership. In my opinion, while teams like the Sharks and Sea Eagles do excite me for a number of good wins, I just can’t visualise them lifting the Provan-Summons at the end of the year.
Truthfully, I think it will come down to Penrith, Melbourne, or Brisbane again.
But there’s one team who’s a wildcard in that establishment. A team who at its best threatens to blow it all open and make a serious push for this premiership.
That team is the Sydney Roosters.
Their quality is undeniable. Every player from position 1-17 seems like they’d be genuine stars at other clubs. We know this – this has been the rhetoric for the last two years.
But they cannot beat the big teams. That has always been their Achilles heel.
I’ll grant you, when these two sides clashed in Vegas it was the Roosters who responded to the occasion. But the cauldron of Suncorp Stadium presents a very different task to the glitz of Allegiant Stadium. It’s one of the toughest places to travel to and win. Especially with the Broncos displaying the kind of winning form they have over the last few weeks.
But that doesn’t faze genuine contenders. They trust their systems and compete for 80 minutes. The Broncos proved last year that they’ve got that in them – and I have no doubt that they’ll put in that kind of performance on Friday.
So Easts, the focus shifts back to you. Are you contenders? Or pretenders? Have you got the heart to walk into rugby league’s most notorious venue and put your body on the line for two premiership points?
If these are the matches you always want to be involved in, it’s time to live up to the hype.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Round 9 Number Crunch.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions for round 9 here.
Broncos by 4 points.
Follow Nothing But Rugby League on Facebook
