A largely unchanged lineup has been named as the One New Zealand Warriors seek to extend their unbeaten run when they face the Sydney Roosters in their 10th-round New South Wales Cup encounter at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Sunday (12.00pm kick-off).
The seventh-placed Warriors have recovered impressively from heavy losses to North Sydney and Canberra early in the season by stitching together a consistent run of form which has netted three wins and a draw in their last six starts with the two losses by just six-point margins.
They haven’t been beaten in the last three rounds with last-gasp wins over St George Illawarra (26-24) and Newcastle (12-7) along with a 22-22 draw with competition leader Penrith.
The Roosters are lying 11th after managing just one win in the first six rounds of the campaign but, like the Warriors, they’re also unbeaten in their last three outings with wins over Parramatta (24-20) and St George Illawarra (19-18) followed by a 10-10 draw with North Sydney last weekend.
Match: Warriors v Roosters
Round 10 -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Roosters
Team Lists
Backs
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Fullback for Warriors is number 7 Geronimo DoyleFullback for Roosters is number 1 Callum Gromek
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Winger for Warriors is number 4 Moala Graham-TaufaWinger for Roosters is number 2 Tyreece Tait
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Centre for Warriors is number 3 Sio KaliCentre for Roosters is number 3 Ethan King
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Centre for Warriors is number 21 Ali LeiatauaCentre for Roosters is number 4 Ethan Clark-Wood
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Winger for Warriors is number 20 Marcelo MontoyaWinger for Roosters is number 5 Harry McKeon
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Five-Eighth for Warriors is number 6 Ben FarrFive-Eighth for Roosters is number 6 Reece Foley
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Halfback for Warriors is number 18 Paul RoacheHalfback for Roosters is number 7 Jake Elliott
Forwards
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Prop for Warriors is number 8 Zyon Maiu'uProp for Roosters is number 8 Dylan Napa
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Hooker for Warriors is number 9 Makaia TafuaHooker for Roosters is number 9 Michael Coleman
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Prop for Warriors is number 10 Tanner Stowers-SmithProp for Roosters is number 10 Xavier Va'a
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 11 Eddie Ieremia-Toeava2nd Row for Roosters is number 11 Sitili Tupouniua
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2nd Row for Warriors is number 12 Maia Sands2nd Row for Roosters is number 12 Siua Wong
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Lock for Warriors is number 13 Kalani GoingLock for Roosters is number 13 Zach Dockar-Clay
Interchange
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Interchange for Warriors is number 14 Jacob AuloaInterchange for Roosters is number 14 Benaiah Ioelu
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Interchange for Warriors is number 15 Kayliss FatialofaInterchange for Roosters is number 15 Blake Steep
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Interchange for Warriors is number 16 Toni TupouniuaInterchange for Roosters is number 16 De La Salle Va'a
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Interchange for Warriors is number 17 rodney tuipulotuveaInterchange for Roosters is number 17 Taylor Losalu
Reserves
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Replacement for Warriors is number 22 Etuate Fukofuka
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Reserve for Roosters is number 18 Phoenix Steinwede
Last updated:
The One New Zealand Warriors are without injured half and former Penrith junior Luke Hanson, who has been promoted from the club’s Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21) side. Hanson scored against his old club in round eight and added another try in last Sunday’s battling win over the Knights.
Listed as his replacement is utility Geronimo Doyle, the match-winning hero against Newcastle, while the rest of the starting lineup named is the same as the one used against the Knights with just one change of the bench, SG Ball Cup co-captain Jaydee Auloa returning for Doyle.
The selected side includes five NRL players in fullback Taine Tuaupiki, winger Edward Kosi, centre Moala Graham-Taufa, 2024 rookie prop Zyon Maiu’u and captain Kalani Going although Kosi (27 appearances) is the only one with significant first-grade experience.
Kosi leads all players in the competition for most post-contact metres with 637 and is third for most metres gained (1356) while back rowers Eddie Ieremia and Going are third and fourth for most tackles with 290 and 279.
The Roosters have four first-grade forwards in the vastly experienced Dylan Napa (178 appearances), second rowers Sitili Tupouniua (92 games) and Siua Wong (14 games) plus 2023 New Zealand Kiwis A representative Zach Dockar-Clay (16 games) at loose forward.
