Late Mail Round 3: Will Lucas & Talau Play?


<p>The first round of price changes is one of the most important rounds of the year. </p>



<p>Your bankroll starts ticking &#8211; or dropping &#8211; and with most of us using at least two trades and many boosting, we need to make sure we&#8217;re bringing in the right players and a great starting point is them being on the field.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It is also Multicultural round, so I&#8217;d like to take this moment to recognise the SuperCoaches, NRL fans, and players out there who all bring their unique and rich cultural heritages to the game that we love.</p>



<p>As usual, all the updates across the round will come via @scplaybook1 on X/Twitter and Instagram, as well as myself @AStilesAuthor.&nbsp;</p>



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



<p>Looks like another straightforward round for the Panthers unless we see a reverse to the&nbsp;<strong>Soni Luke&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;<strong>Daine Laurie&nbsp;</strong>swap on game day last week.&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>24 hour cuts:&nbsp;</em>Riki, Alamoti, Schneider</p>



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



<p><strong>Payne Haas</strong>&nbsp;was touch and go with a knee issue when he was named on TLT and he has unfortunately been ruled out not just for this week, but for 4-6 weeks. It&#8217;s a massive blow to owners and the Broncos.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Fletcher Baker</strong>&nbsp;will start at prop and&nbsp;<strong>Xavier Willison</strong>&nbsp;will finally surface on the bench. Given it will be Willison&#8217;s first match we get a couple of free looks to assess his play and whether he&#8217;ll make any meaningful price rises before Haas returns. It&#8217;s also a good chance to assess Baker as a starter, who is cheap-ish and has a manageable breakeven from his bench stints.</p>



<p><strong>Ezra Mam</strong>&nbsp;had some doubt surrounding him earlier in the week but he seems good to go, with no other changes expected at this stage.</p>



<p><em>24 hour cuts:&nbsp;</em>Haas, Hoeter, Oates</p>



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



<p><strong>Wayde Egan</strong>&nbsp;was unsurprisingly ruled out last round with his elbow injury. He has been named again and I&#8217;m more optimistic that he lines up.&nbsp;</p>



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



<p>I have been cautioning forward pack shuffles the last two rounds based on history, but I feel now that Sticky will hold firm to the team named, which is unfortunate for current or potential&nbsp;<strong>Zac Hosking</strong>&nbsp;owners. </p>



<p>A part of me wouldn&#8217;t be shocked if Hosking does start so as not to change a winning formula but I&#8217;ll assume 1-17 for now.</p>



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



<p>The major changes came on TLT by way of Keary&#8217;s replacement and the forward pack shuffle, so I&#8217;m expecting no further changes on game day at this stage.</p>



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



<p>After already wielding the axe this week by dropping Lachlan Ilias, it is reported that Jason Demetriou is set to bench <strong>Damien Cook </strong>this Friday night and promote <strong>Siliva Havili</strong> to starting hooker.</p>



<p>There hasn&#8217;t been any other news on forwards shuffling but any potential <strong>Davvy Moale</strong> owners should keep an eye on the team lists an hour before kick-off before jumping on.</p>



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



<p>Showed some promise last week so I&#8217;m expecting the Doggies to hold firm to the named side. 1-17 wouldn&#8217;t surprise.&nbsp;</p>



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



<p><strong>Kieran Foran&nbsp;</strong>was a late out in round 1 but after a bye he should be good to go. </p>



<p>We saw&nbsp;<strong>Keenan Palasia&nbsp;</strong>drop to the bench on their last match and a similar lock roulette wouldn&#8217;t surprise me, with Palasia or<strong>&nbsp;Isaac Liu&nbsp;</strong>options along with the named 13&nbsp;<strong>Jaimin Jolliffe</strong>. </p>



<p>This is pure personal speculation on my part, though Coach Hasler didn&#8217;t mind swapping his forward pack on game day back at Manly.</p>



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



<p>There were bulk changes in the pack again last week so is this the round we finally see some stability? </p>



<p>I&#8217;ll put it down to&nbsp;<strong>Blake Lawrie</strong>&nbsp;coming back from injury rather than a trend, however once again&nbsp;<strong>Raymond Faitala-Mariner</strong>&nbsp;could find his way into the starting side somehow despite things looking more settled.</p>



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



<p>Coach Payton has given<strong>&nbsp;Kulikefu Finefeuaiki&nbsp;</strong>the stamp of approval on TLT to start on the edge despite&nbsp;<strong>Jack Gosiewski&nbsp;</strong>having been a part time starter in the past. </p>



<p>One to keep an eye on but not expecting anything to change at the time of writing.</p>



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



<p>Benji has already swung the axe on TLT after just the one match so I presume he will stick tight with that decision as the round rolls on and run out 1-17.</p>



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



<p>Not expecting any major changes in the Shire barring any late illnesses like last round. </p>



<p>Should be 1-17, however, I could also see&nbsp;<strong>Billy Burns&nbsp;</strong>starting on the edge with&nbsp;<strong>Jack Williams&nbsp;</strong>dropping back to the interchange.</p>



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



<p><strong>Joe Ofahengaue&nbsp;</strong>started last week in place of&nbsp;<strong>Junior Paulo&nbsp;</strong>so a similar switch wouldn&#8217;t surprise me this week.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Wiremu Greig&nbsp;</strong>has been on the extended bench the last couple of weeks as he battles back from a hamstring injury but unsure if there&#8217;s a place for him in the current 17.</p>



<p>I didn&#8217;t expect to see&nbsp;<strong>Kelma Tuilagi&nbsp;</strong>named after copping a shoulder injury and have to suspect he&#8217;s in some doubt but he&#8217;s in the 17 for now and would just need to make it through captain&#8217;s run.</p>



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



<p>I was similarly surprised to see<strong>&nbsp;Tommy Talau&nbsp;</strong>named on the extended bench after his ankle injury. </p>



<p>If he makes it through the captain&#8217;s run he&#8217;d replace<strong>&nbsp;Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega&nbsp;</strong>but I suspect he&#8217;s more likely for next week despite being cleared of major damage. </p>



<p>He&#8217;s only played one match so far in 2024 so there&#8217;s no rush to bring him in if he does play as his price won&#8217;t change for another round.</p>



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



<p><strong>Dylan Lucas&nbsp;</strong>has resurfaced on the extended bench as he bids to return from injury, and he has also not been named in reserve grade suggesting he&#8217;ll be back in the top squad.</p>



<p>His inclusion would have big ramifications for<strong>&nbsp;Kai Pearce-Paul</strong>, who could go back to the bench or have his minutes impacted at the very least. </p>



<p>Unfortunately, it will be the last game of the round for any prospective KPP owners so a call may need to be made early.</p>



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



<p>Named according to their mounting injuries and suspensions so I&#8217;m expecting 1-17 at this stage.&nbsp;<strong>Cameron Munster</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Nelson Asofa-Solomona</strong>&nbsp;look like they&#8217;ll be rested until the Storm&#8217;s bye and will look to return in round 5.</p>


Late Mail Round 3: Will Lucas & Talau Play?

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