For the second time this season, all three Wests Tigers grades will feature to Campbelltown Sports Stadium when they host the Newcastle Knights this Saturday.
The day will be celebrated at Campbelltown as Family Round, with the Club welcoming members and fans onto the field after the game, as well as a range of Game Day activities.
Jason Taylor’s NRL side will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing performance against the Bulldogs, and hope a win against the struggling Knights could help jump start their season. With the loss of Robbie Farah (concussion), the side welcome Matt Ballin in for his first match of the season after a length lay-off due to injury, and will look to he and Dene Halatau’s experience to lead the side around the ruck in Farah’s absence.
Wests Tigers Holden Cup side are well placed in second position on the ladder and are looking to make it seven games in a row undefeated when they take on the Knights.
In-form five-eighth Veiru Mapesone leads the competition in line break assists with 17 and has scored seven tries to start the year, and will look to lift the side this weekend in the absence of key players such as Junior Tatola, JJ Felise, Ryland Jacobs and Esan Marsters.
Newcastle have had a solid start to the year in Holden Cup — sitting sixth after 10 rounds with six wins, three losses and a draw (which came against Wests Tigers in Round 6). Incredibly, six players in Newcastle's NRL squad are still eligible to play in Holden Cup (compared to just one of Wests Tigers), showing the Novasatrians' strong junior depth.
The last time these two sides met, they played out a thrilling 30-30 draw at Hunter Stadium. Newcastle led the match 30-10 with 20 minutes remaining before the visitors scored three tries in five minutes to fight back and walk away with an unlikely draw.
In the Intrust Super Premiership, Wests Tigers sit comfortable in fourth position after three straight wins — their most recent a 24-22 victory over 2015 grand finalists, Wyong Roos.
Captain Asipeli Fine was impressive in last week’s win over the Roos — named in New South Wales Rugby League’s Team of the Week alongside Rod Griffin after he scored the match-winning try and ran for over 160 metres in his side's thrilling two-point victory.
Paul Stringer’s men host a Newcastle side that, like their first grade side, are also bottom of the table with one win — a complete contrast to eight months ago, where the visitors were lifting the reserve grade premiership after defeating Wyong in the Grand Final.
Wests Tigers will also play their second match without Josh Drinkwater, who was released earlier in the week to head overseas. Jeremy Marshall-King replaces him in the halves and will look to build a strong combination with Jack Littlejohn as quickly as possible.
All three matches will also be broadcast live via Fox Sports, so make sure you tune in!
Saturday arvo footy returns to Campbelltown this week when we take on the Knights!
HOLDEN CUP — 10:40am, Saturday
1. Luke Sharpe
2. Ryan Papenhuyzen
3. Toa Mata’afa
4. Samuel DeFiddes
5. Roman Ioelu
6. Veiru Mapesone
7. Thomas Bartley
8. Ray Stone
9. Jacob Liddle
10. Taneila Paseka
11. Jakob Giles
12. Mark McCormack
13. Jack Wheelhouse (capt.)
Interchange:
14. Daniel Peck
15. Lenny Sauni
16. Trent Pye
17. Rhys Sciglitano
Coach: Willie Peters
INTRUST SUPER PREMIERSHIP — 12:40pm, Saturday
1. Watson Heleta
2. Josh Addo-Carr
3. Ryland Jacobs
4. Chance Peni
5. Jayden Wheelhouse
6. Jack Littlejohn
7. Jeremy Marshall-King
8. Dallas Graham
9. Manaia Cherrington
10. Jordan Grant
11. Tyler Cassel
12. Asipeli Fine (capt.)
13. Joel Edwards
Interchange:
14. Esan Marsters
15. Wesley Lolo
16. Jackson Williams
17. Matthew Eisenhuth
18. John Tohi
Coach: Paul Stringer
NRL — 3:00pm, Saturday
1. Justin Hunt
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Tim Simona
4. Kevin Naiqama
5. Jordan Rankin
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Aaron Woods (capt.)
9. Dene Halatau
10. Ava Seumanufagai
11. Josh Aloiai
12. Chris Lawrence
13. Elijah Taylor
Interchange:
14. Tim Grant
15. Matt Ballin
16. JJ Felise
17. Kyle Lovett
18. Michael Chee-Kam
Coach: Jason Taylor
