Late Mail Round 5: Beware Player Swaps


<p>I&#8217;m guaranteed to jinx things here, but looking around the grounds over the last few rounds it seems like quite a few teams are playing the straight bat and holding firm to their TLT selections, which I&#8217;m hoping carries through to this week.</p>



<p>Of course, other sides are taking the opposite approach &#8211; I&#8217;m looking at you Parramatta &#8211; but by and large, I&#8217;m hopeful that SuperCoaches get a reprieve this week by way of late outs.</p>



<p>Still, there are several SuperCoach-relevant watches as the round progresses.</p>



<p>As usual, all the updates across the round will come via <a href="https://twitter.com/scplaybook1" data-type="link" data-id="https://twitter.com/scplaybook1">@scplaybook1</a> on X/Twitter and Instagram, as well as myself <a href="https://twitter.com/AStilesAuthor" data-type="link" data-id="https://twitter.com/AStilesAuthor">@AStilesAuthor.</a>&nbsp;</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>STORM</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Cameron Munster</strong>&nbsp;is fine to return from injury, as is&nbsp;<strong>Christian Welch</strong>.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Jonah Pezet</strong>&nbsp;is still on the extended bench after the first cuts but I expect he&#8217;ll be 18th man.</p>



<p><em>24 hour cuts:&nbsp;</em>Lewis, Seve, Pene</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>BRONCOS</strong></h3>



<p>Brisbane have been holding firm on their TLT selections recently and I expect that to continue.&nbsp;<strong>1-17</strong>&nbsp;likely.</p>



<p><em>24 hour cuts:&nbsp;</em>Hoeter, Pereira, Mozer</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>BULLDOGS</strong></h3>



<p>There is some nervous speculation by those relying on him at FRF that&nbsp;<strong>Sam Hughes</strong>&nbsp;could drop back to the bench. </p>



<p>I&#8217;ll assume he stays put for now, however a name that stands out on the extended bench is&nbsp;<strong>Poasa Faamausili</strong>, who has been out since round 2 after a bad head clash. </p>



<p>Despite low minutes, Faamausili was the starter at prop for all the games he&#8217;s been available. The first cuts will be interesting.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>ROOSTERS</strong></h3>



<p>The edge roulette continues for the Roosters but at least they have been picking and sticking at the position when it comes to game-day changes.</p>



<p>It wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise for&nbsp;<strong>Terrell May</strong>&nbsp;to come into the starting side in place of&nbsp;<strong>Lindsay Collins</strong>, who is returning from a hamstring injury. </p>



<p>It won&#8217;t change his SuperCoach prospects much if he does, although it could lead to bigger minutes if injuries strike while he&#8217;s already on the field.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>KNIGHTS</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Dane Gagai</strong>&nbsp;was a late out last week due to illness but he should be fine to return. </p>



<p>It did reveal the <strong>Dylan Lucas/Kai Pearce-Paul</strong> pecking order moving forward.</p>



<p>Tyson Frizell is out due to a hamstring injury, which will see Lucas start on the edge.</p>



<p>Kai Pearce-Paul has a niggle but will play.</p>



<p>The Knights occasionally shuffle their bench makeups but it shouldn&#8217;t impact SuperCoach.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>DRAGONS</strong></h3>



<p>I said it last week and I&#8217;ll say it again,&nbsp;<strong>Raymond Faitala-Mariner&nbsp;</strong>just keeps finding a way to start. </p>



<p>This could be the week he retains his bench role as named but he&#8217;s always a chance at a promotion, particularly since&nbsp;<strong>Jack De Belin&nbsp;</strong>has previously played lock and&nbsp;<strong>Tom Eisenhuth&nbsp;</strong>has found himself benched at times this season.</p>



<p>I also wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if&nbsp;<strong>Blake Lawrie</strong>&nbsp;shifts back into the starting side, perhaps as part of the above shuffle should it eventuate again.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>RABBITOHS</strong></h3>



<p>The Bunnies were unchanged last week so expecting the same here.&nbsp;<strong>1-17</strong>&nbsp;on the cards.&nbsp;</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>WARRIORS</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Dallin Watene-Zelezniak&nbsp;</strong>missed training with a leg issue but is expected to play at this stage, as is&nbsp;<strong>Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad</strong>&nbsp;who is returning from injury.</p>



<p>The Warriors have also changed their bench makeup on game day most rounds this year, so I&#8217;m expecting some kind of shuffle there again.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>SEA EAGLES</strong></h3>



<p>All the returning players from last week are named so I&#8217;m expecting another&nbsp;<strong>1-17</strong>&nbsp;here.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>PANTHERS</strong></h3>



<p>Not anticipating any changes for Penrith, should be another&nbsp;<strong>1-17</strong>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>DOLPHINS</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Jeremy Marshall-King</strong>&nbsp;is carrying a knee issue but at this stage is expected to play, so fingers crossed for another&nbsp;<strong>1-17</strong>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>TIGERS</strong></h3>



<p>Despite it being his debut, part of me wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if&nbsp;<strong>Latu Fainu</strong>&nbsp;started with<strong>&nbsp;Jayden Sullivan&nbsp;</strong>moving back to the bench per his role the last couple of weeks, however, Benji hasn&#8217;t been one to change his game-day side much so they could just run out as is with this being pure speculation on my part.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>COWBOYS</strong></h3>



<p>The side looks settled coming into this round,&nbsp;<strong>1-17&nbsp;</strong>expected at this stage.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>TITANS</strong></h3>



<p><strong>David Fifita&nbsp;</strong>was a late call-up last week to make his 2024 debut after a pre-season injury, and while he could have another round being eased back from the interchange, I could easily see him coming onto the edge in place of&nbsp;<strong>Klese Haas&nbsp;</strong>if he has a good week at training.</p>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>RAIDERS</strong></h3>



<p><strong>Ata Mariota&nbsp;</strong>was not the name I expected to see in the 12 jersey on TLT, and it would not surprise me to see&nbsp;<strong>Corey Horsburgh</strong>&nbsp;shift into the starting side with Mariota moving to the bench on game day. </p>



<p>Mariota could even move to prop with&nbsp;<strong>Josh Papali&#8217;i&nbsp;</strong>shifting to the bench to accommodate, as has been done in the past.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size"><strong>EELS</strong></h3>



<p>Coach Arthur has been playing serious shenanigans in the forwards on game day. </p>



<p>Last week it was the benching of&nbsp;<strong>J&#8217;Maine Hopgood</strong>&nbsp;and naming the ghost of&nbsp;<strong>Bryce Cartwright&nbsp;</strong>on TLT, and before that, it was the famed prop swaps involving&nbsp;<strong>Junior Paulo</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Joe Ofahengaue</strong>. </p>



<p>So it&#8217;s hard to predict with any certainty that the likes of Hopgood and Paulo, nor surprise starter&nbsp;<strong>Ryan Matterson</strong>, are in their named positions come an hour out on Sunday.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Kelma Tuilagi&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;<strong>Joe Ofahengaue&nbsp;</strong>are just as likely to be in the starting 13 an hour out.</p>


Late Mail Round 5: Beware Player Swaps

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