VENUE & TIME: Sydney Football Stadium, Sunday, March 21, 3pm (AEDT)
COVERAGE: Channel 9.
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 15 – Roosters 8, Tigers 7.
LAST TIME: Round 22, 2009 – Tigers 17-10.
BETTING: Luxbet: Roosters $2.15, Tigers $1.70
WALKING WOUNDED: The Roosters have lost promising second-rower Tom Symonds for up to a month with bone bruising. The exotically-named Aiden Guerra, who left the Storm for a start at the Roosters, comes into the pack from the bench. The Tigers will be without the suspended Beau Ryan, with a replacement yet to be named. Tim Sheens' team is otherwise unchanged.
FORM: The Roosters were arguably the team of round one. Most of the smart money – or not so smart as it turned out – was on the Bunnies to give it to last year's wooden spooner, but all the traffic was one-way from the Bondi direction. Their forwards were tough and clever, the halves tremendous and the outside backs all pace as they cut Souths to pieces in the emphatic 36-10 win. The Tigers were great for about half an hour of Monday night's game against Manly but it proved enough. Down by 16 points at one stage, the Tiges rattled on four quick tries to turn the game on its head. With attack like that, they are never out of the contest.
WHO'S HOT: He admitted to being puffed out in the pre-match warm-up but once the lights came on and it was time to hit centre stage, Lote Tuqiri was all class. He scored with his first touch in the NRL since 2002, was safe under the high ball and hit hard and often in defence. As long as he cuts the rugby union grubbers on the third tackle from his game, LT is going to be a great purchase for the Tigers. But he may have competition in the buy-of-the-year category from Roosters fullback Todd Carney. The former Raider is off the drink and on fire. He was superb against the Rabbitohs, playing at first receiver in attack while comfortably handling No1 duties in defence.
WE THINK: This is looming as the game of the round between two sides who scored 62 points between them in the first round. But as impressive as the Roosters were last up, we still need some convincing they are the real deal. A win here would help that cause. The Tigers are arguably the NRL's most exciting team, with attacking options across the park. They've had one less day to recover but that shouldn't be a problem. Tigers by 9
TEAMS:
Roosters: Todd Carney, Anthony Minichiello, Phil Graham, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Sam Perrett, Braith Anasta [c], Mitchell Pearce, Lopini Paea, James Aubusson, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Aiden Guerra, Mitchell Aubusson, Nate Myles.
Interchange: Daniel Conn, Jason Ryles, Brad Takairangi, Nick Kouparitsas, Ben Jones, Sonny Tuigamala, Joseph BJ Leilua (three to be omitted).
Tigers: Tim Moltzen, Lote Tuqiri, Blake Ayshford, Chris Lawrence, TBA, Benji Marshall, Robert Lui, Bryce Gibbs, Robbie Farah [c], Keith Galloway, Liam Fulton, Gareth Ellis, Chris Heighington.
Interchange: Jason Cayless, Junior Moors, Mark Flanagan, Daniel Fitzhenry.