Stilesy’s Late Mail – Round 24

We’re well on truly on the home stretch now, though round 24 will host the bulk of the season’s head-to-head and draft finals so making sure your players are on the field could decide many wages of pride, money, punishments, or a combination of all three.

As usual this article will be updated across Thursday evening/Friday morning and all the updates across the round will be on Twitter @AStilesAuthor

BRONCOS V EELS, THURSDAY 7:50PM

BRONCOS: Selwyn Cobbo has been granted a week of rest by Kevvie as he continues to adjust to the rigors of weekly first grade and has been replaced on the wing by Jordan Pereira. Ryan James is out with a broken finger so Corey Jensen moves to lock and Keenan Palasia joins the bench, along with Zac Hosking who replaces Rhys Kennedy. In positive news, Kurt Capewell is fine to play after being in doubt with an ankle injury. Jake Turpin and Billy Walters have also been known to swap positions on game day.

24 hour cuts: Cobbo, James, Kennedy

EELS: Bit of a coin toss these days as to whether Ryan Matterson starts or comes off the bench on game day, but the overall 17 shouldn’t change.

24 hour cuts: Ogden, Simonsson, Rodwell.

PANTHERS V WARRIORS, FRIDAY 6:00PM

PANTHERS: Charlie Staines has been replaced on the bench by J’maine Hopgood in what looks like the only change at this stage, though Api Koroisau was a late benching last round for Mitch Kenny.

24 hour cuts: Staines, Falls, Lindsay Smith

WARRIORS: Marcelo Montoya has been replaced at centre by Adam Pompey 24 hours out. The rest of the side should remain as is.

24 hour cuts: Montoya, Asi, Berry

STORM V ROOSTERS, FRIDAY 7:55PM

STORM: Marion Seve survived the first team cut and remains in line for a return this round from a hamstring injury. Bellamy gave one of the least helpful interviews of all time, mentioning that several players didn’t see out training but should play, though refused to elaborate on who they were and that it would be based on how they pull up tomorrow. I assume one was the aforementioned Seve, though another could be Xavier Coates who only saw 47 minutes of action last round before failing his HIA. The Storm, as always, love a swap in the forward pack on game day also.

24 hour cuts: MacDonald, Warbrick, Johns

ROOSTERS: The Roosters look like they’ll be unchanged this round.

24 hour cuts: Wong, Baker, Gildart

RAIDERS V SEA EAGLES, SATURDAY 3:00PM

RAIDERS: Likely to be unchanged on game day, however like the Broncos we did see a hooker swap last round and it could happen again.

SEA EAGLES: The Sea Eagles love to swap a forward on game day, but overall expecting a settled lineup.

SHARKS V BULLDOGS, SATURDAY 5:30PM

SHARKS: There were bulk swaps for the Sharks last round but they have been largely named accordingly here, so not expecting much to change this week. Part of me wants to see big Andrew Fifita start in his final home game though.

BULLDOGS: Luke Thompson is the latest covid casualty after only just returning from his concussion issues. Cruel. I would imagine Harrison Edwards shifts to the edge (where he was originally named last round before ultimately being benched for Tevita Pangai), and the Bulldogs have run Raymond Faitala-Mariner at lock in recent times so he could shift there.

RABBITOHS V COWBOYS, SATURDAY 7:35PM

RABBITOHS: Izaac Thompson is being tipped to miss this one, in what should be the only change for the side at this stage.

COWBOYS: Ditto for the Cowboys, not expecting much to change on game day.

TIGERS V DRAGONS, SUNDAY 2:00PM

TIGERS: Quite a different side to line up this week compared to last, however not expecting any changes at this stage. Not relevant for this week but James Tamou controversially had his contrary conduct charge downgraded at the judiciary and will be free to play his final game at Leichhardt.

DRAGONS: Another side with a few changes from last round due to injuries but they should run out as is.

TITANS V KNIGHTS, SUNDAY 4:05PM

TITANS: Phillip Sami’s made it through only a minute of game time last week before failing an HIA, so will need to be cleared to line up this round. The Titans have also become notorious for shuffling the forward pack on game day so take the current pack with a grain of salt until its all locked in.

KNIGHTS: Nobody named seems in any doubt, though Jacob Saifiti occasionally finds himself starting so I never rule out that possibility.