Here’s all you need to know about the 2023 NRL Finals schedule after week 1 was finalised on Sunday.
The Brisbane Broncos and Penrith Panthers have booked their place in the preliminary finals after victories over Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors respectively.
The Storm suffered a double-blow with Ryan Papenhuyzen’s season over and Xavier Coates suffering an ankle problem in their loss on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Equally as battered will be their semi-final opponents in the Sydney Roosters after they edged out the Cronulla Sharks 13-12 on Saturday night. Joseph Sua’ali’i will be unavailable for selection after leaving the field with concussion while there are huge doubts about the availability to Joseph Manu after leaving the field with a reaggravation of a hamstring injury.
Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters will face off at AAMI Park on Friday, September 15 at 7:50pm. The winner will face the Penrith Panthers in Sydney on Friday, September 22 at 7:50pm.
New Zealand Warriors will be sweating on the return of Shaun Johnson after he was ruled out of their 32-6 loss to the Panthers on Saturday afternoon. Tohu Harris escaped suspension despite being charged with a Grade 1 crusher tackle which will leave him between $1,000 and $1,500 lighter in the pocket.
It will be almost 15 years to the day since the Warriors have played a home final. On that occasion they got the better of the Roosters 30-13 at Mount Smart Stadium.
After trailing 16-6 at half-time the Newcastle Knights have survived a late comeback from the Canberra Raiders to win 30-28 at McDonald Jones Stadium in extra time. The Knights will be hoping that Jackson Hastings’ reoccurring ankle problem won’t stop him from travelling to Auckland.
New Zealand Warriors and the Newcastle Knights will face off at Mount Smart Stadium on Saturday, September 16 at 6:05pm NZ time (4:05pm Sydney time). The winner will face the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, September 23 at 7:50pm.
