Wests Tigers Head Coach Michael Maguire says his side's plan to topple the Sydney Roosters this Saturday is bigger than just the pending return from Benji Marshall from injury.
With Josh Reynolds sidelined for the next few weeks, Maguire is set to welcome back Marshall for his first game in over a month, after the Kiwi veteran picked up a hamstring strain in his side's Round 3 loss to the Bulldogs at Campbelltown.
Having named the 34-year-old alongside Luke Brooks in the halves, Maguire said he was looking forward to seeing Marshall in action once again, but said his side's performance on the night would come down to more than just his return.
"The strength of having players like that around always helps," said Maguire.
"But at the end of the day, it comes down to every individual in the team.
"In the last couple of weeks, we had one blowout score but it was really obvious that we were working on our own. We turned that around in a week and it some really good form by everyone working together so that's the real key."
"At the moment, we'll keep assessing him [Marshall] just to make sure everything is okay because I'm not going to take a risk," Maguire added.
"I'm pretty keen to see him run around but as a group, we'll prepare for everything.
"He'll be right for captains run — I've got a really good medical staff and we're right across it but it's just something we're aware of for the next 24 hours."
Having lost Reynolds early on in last week's win over the Titans, Maguire was full of praise for the way Luke Brooks stood up in his absence to steer the side home.
VB Hard Earned Effort of the Week: Round 7
"We had Matto [Ryan Matterson] come in and I thought he did a really good job, but I thought Brooksy [Luke Brooks] really stood up for us," Maguire enthused.
"Obviously having Robbie Farah there too was handy to lead us around the park, but I thought those boys gelled together once we had that mishap with Josh."
Wests Tigers will provide an updated 19-man team for Saturday's clash against the Roosters at 7:35pm AEST tonight (Friday), before finalising their team to take on the defending premiers one hour prior to kickoff (6:35pm, Saturday).
Match: Roosters v Wests Tigers
Round 8 -
home Team
Roosters
away Team
Wests Tigers
Team Lists
Backs
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Fullback for Roosters is number 1 James TedescoFullback for Wests Tigers is number 1 Moses Mbye
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Winger for Roosters is number 2 Daniel TupouWinger for Wests Tigers is number 2 Mahe Fonua
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Centre for Roosters is number 3 Latrell MitchellCentre for Wests Tigers is number 3 Robert Jennings
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Centre for Roosters is number 17 Mitchell AubussonCentre for Wests Tigers is number 4 Esan Marsters
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Winger for Roosters is number 4 Joseph ManuWinger for Wests Tigers is number 5 Corey Thompson
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Five-Eighth for Roosters is number 6 Luke KearyFive-Eighth for Wests Tigers is number 11 Ryan Matterson
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Halfback for Roosters is number 7 Cooper CronkHalfback for Wests Tigers is number 7 Luke Brooks
Forwards
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Prop for Roosters is number 8 Jared Waerea-HargreavesProp for Wests Tigers is number 8 Ben Matulino
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Hooker for Roosters is number 9 Victor RadleyHooker for Wests Tigers is number 9 Robbie Farah
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Prop for Roosters is number 10 Siosiua TaukeiahoProp for Wests Tigers is number 10 Alex Twal
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2nd Row for Roosters is number 11 Boyd Cordner2nd Row for Wests Tigers is number 12 Chris McQueen
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2nd Row for Roosters is number 12 Angus Crichton2nd Row for Wests Tigers is number 14 Elijah Taylor
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Lock for Roosters is number 13 Isaac LiuLock for Wests Tigers is number 13 Josh Aloiai
Interchange
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Interchange for Roosters is number 14 Nat ButcherInterchange for Wests Tigers is number 15 Thomas Mikaele
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Interchange for Roosters is number 15 Zane TetevanoInterchange for Wests Tigers is number 16 Matthew Eisenhuth
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Interchange for Roosters is number 16 Sitili TupouniuaInterchange for Wests Tigers is number 17 Luke Garner
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Interchange for Roosters is number 18 Lindsay CollinsInterchange for Wests Tigers is number 19 Jacob Liddle
Match Officials
- Referee: Matt Cecchin
- Referee: Tim Roby
- Touch Judge: Nick Beashel
- Senior Review Official: Steve Chiddy
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