The Thursday Report – Weather, Late Mail, PlayOn Picks, Thursday Game Chat

16 Comments March 14, 2019 nick1085 4966 Views

WEATHER (Serc)

Weather notes: Side note for people living around Sydney, Wollongong, and possibly the Central Coast (not so much Newcastle), today there will be scattered showers throughout much of the day and night, and some isolated embedded thunderstorms at times. Much of this activity will be located a little offshore, and showers and storms will be most likely during the afternoon and evening. Any heavier areas of showers or thunderstorms may bring falls of 20-40mm in a short space of time, with some localised falls of 60-80mm possible.

Note: All times are local.

Storm v Broncos – Fine weather is expected for the first match of the year in Melbourne. Game temperatures will be fairly cool for March, in the mid teens, with a low to moderate dew rating as a result of the light to moderate southerly breeze.

0% chance of rain, temps between 14-17c, low/mod dew rating

LATE MAIL (Stilesy)

Brisbane Broncos vs Melbourne Storm, 7:50pm AEDT (AAMI Park)

The only question marks surrounding the Storm pack were some minor injuries sustained throughout the pre-season to several players including Will Chambers, Josh-Addo-Carr and Christian Welsh, though all have been cleared to play. Cheapie prospect Tui Kamikamica (2RF/FRF, $196.9k) has been cleared of a leg injury and will take his place on the bench, though it remains to be seen how many minutes he will command in a Craig Bellamy coached forward pack and could become the slowest of slow burning money-makers. Mid-ranger Jahrome Hughes (HFB/FLB, $479.8k) has also overcome the calf injury he sustained during the All Stars match and will line up at fullback despite limited pre-season action, which is good news for the 3.3% of teams that own him.

There are some rumours that we could see Welch start at prop with Jesse Bromwich to the bench, and potentially Tom Eisenhuth make the final side at the expense of Patrick Kaufusi, but neither scenario is SuperCoach relevant.

There are no surprises in the Broncos camp as they run out for the first time under new coach Anthony Seibold. Bounce-back candidate Anthony Milford (FE, $511.9k) has been cleared to play after both a shoulder scare and hamstring issues in a pre-season camp that apparently sees him enter 2019 the fittest he’s ever been. He faces a tough schedule to start the season but represents immense POD value at only 5.2% ownership if he can recapture previous form and stay out of the infirmary. Although Tevita Pangai Jr (FRF/2RF, $495k) has been cleared to play, his ongoing hamstrings issues—particularly after pre-season of rehab focussing specifically on that issue—will have scared many owners away if it hasn’t already done so. The next Shayne Webke in Thomas Flegler (FRF/2RF, $169.1k) is confirmed to make his debut from the bench until Payne Haas returns, though depending on his form he could keep Haas in reserve grade for a few weeks after his disciplinary ban is over.