The Sydney Roosters will run out a star-studded line-up on Saturday afternoon as they prepare to face the Manly Sea Eagles in the opening round of the NRL’s Pre-season Challenge.
Outside of Brandon Smith, who played on Friday night for the Maori All Stars, the Roosters will field their full-strength spine as Luke Keary and Sam Walker look to build on a strong finish to the 2023 season.
Meanwhile, new recruit Dominic Young will have a chance to impress on the wing while Joseph Suaalii and Billy Smith start in the centres with an opportunity to push for round one selection.
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On the other side of the field, Luke Brooks won’t play in Manly’s first Pre-season Challenge game after a standout performance in a trial game against the understrength Rabbitohs last week.
Instead, it is Jake Arthur and Brandon Wakeham who line up in the halves while Ben Trbojevic will be hoping to continue his strong pre-season form with another start in the second row.
Josh Schuster, meanwhile, will come off the bench.
TEAMS
Roosters
1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Billy Smith 4. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 5. Dominic Young 6. Luke Keary 7. Sam Walker 8. Naufahu Whyte 9. Zach Dockar-Clay 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Sitili Tupouniua 12. Nat Butcher 13. Victor Radley 14. Sandon Smith 15. Terrell May 16. Egan Butcher 17. Angus Crichton 18. Joseph Manu 19. Siua Wong 20. Fetalaiga Pauga 21. Connor Watson
Sea Eagles
1. Bailey Hodgson 2. Jaxson Paulo 3. Tommy Talau 4. Clayton Faulalo 5. Raymond Tuiamalo Vaega 6. Jakob Arthur 7. Brandon Wakeham 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Karl Lawton 10. Toafofoa Sipley 11. Ben Trbojevic 12. Ben Condon 13. Nathan Brown 14. Jamie Humphreys 15. Joshua Schuster 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Aaron Woods 18. Gordon Chan Kum Tong 19. Brad Parker 20. Aitasi James 21. Dean Matterson 22. Max Lehmann 23. Lehi Hopoate 24. Cameron Brown 25. Jacob Sykes 26. Austin Dias
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