The South Sydney Rabbitohs are pleased to announce their NRL and Toyota Cup sides to take on the St George Illawarra Dragons in the 25th Sagem Charity Shield this Saturday 1 March at 8pm at ANZ Stadium. Rabbitohs Head Coach Jason Taylor has named his best available team for this weekend’s annual clash, widely regarded as the unofficial kick off to the NRL season. Internationals Roy Asotasi, David Kidwell and Nigel Vagana will all pull on the red and green jersey for the first time in 2008 this Saturday night, adding experience to the outfit that defeated the Cronulla Sharks 44-nil at Bluetongue Stadium last Saturday. “This is the last chance for the players to form combinations and test themselves at this level before round one, so it’s a very important game for us,” Taylor said. “We had a good win last week and the things we’ve been practising at training showed great improvement in that performance, but we need to take it up another notch this weekend and we’ve selected a team to reflect that. “We’ll be treating this game as seriously as any other throughout the season and our Members will see that when we take the field on Saturday night. “We encourage all of our Members to come out and support the players and great causes such as Souths Cares and the No Way Campaign.” Taylor is the patron of The No Way Campaign, a drug and alcohol awareness program that aims at educating youth about the dangers and consequences of substance abuse. Rabbitohs officials are confident that the Sagem Charity Shield ANZ Stadium ground record can be broken this Saturday night, with the record currently standing at 24,566 from the 2006 clash. Sagem Australasia has stepped up as the match day sponsor of the 25th Sagem Charity Shield. Sagem is one of the planet’s leading brands in mobile phone technology as well as printing terminals, residential terminals, digital TV decoders, networks and electronic security. The Man of the Match in the 25th Sagem Charity Shield will receive a Porsche-designed mobile phone valued at $1890 which will be presented by Sagem at the conclusion of the match. Sagem Australasia Managing Director Francois Romanet said: “We are delighted to be involved in Rugby League and with a philanthropic event such as the Charity Shield. Through this sponsorship, Sagem Australasia will not only accelerate our brand awareness, but we will also proudly contribute to our local community tradition that raises much needed funds to worthy charities and their causes.” Two grades of Rugby League will be played at ANZ Stadium on Saturday, with the NRL fixture scheduled to kick off at 8pm. The Toyota Cup match between the Rabbitohs and the Dragons will commence at 6:05pm. Gates are scheduled to open at 6pm. The Rabbitohs NRL side is:
1. Talanoa, Fetuli 2. Barnes, Nathanael 3. Vagana, Nigel 4. Gordon, Yileen 5. Paulson, Germaine 6. Rogers, Ben 7. Wing, Craig 8. Greenfield, Michael 9. Luke, Issac 10. Asotasi, Roy (c) 11. Kidwell, David (c) 12. Stuart, Luke 13. Sutton, John Interchange: 14. Paea, Eddie 15. Widders, Dean 16. Pettybourne, Eddy 17. Manuokafoa, Manase 18. Lowe, Ben 19. Lowe, Jaiman 20. Ndaira, George 21. Huihahau, Sam 22. Simpson, Jamie 23. Champion, Beau Coach – Jason Taylor
The Rabbitohs U20 NYC Toyota Cup will play St George-Illawarra kicking off at 6:00pm. The side is:
1. Nathan, BJ 2. Ingram, Jamie 3. Seumanutafa, Malaki 4. Takairangi, Brad 5. Moli, Anga 6. Capewell, Luke 7. Sandow, Chris 8. Kaifoto, John 9. Joseph, John 10. Lupi, Brad 11. Hammett, Aaron 12. Matapuku, Joseph 13. Clark, Jason (c) Interchange: 14. Trotter, Trent 15. Talai, Robert 16. Leary, Jake 17. Farrell, Chris 18. Cummins, Michael 19. Williams, Mitch 20. Pitman, Cameron Coach – Alan Wilson
South Sydney feeder team the North Sydney Bears will play a NSW Cup trial match against Western Suburbs at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday Mar 1 kickoff 7:00pm The Bears NSW Cup side is:
1. Wara, Samu 2. Tamanika, John 3. Corrigan, Shaune 4. Nichols, Greg 5. Hegarty, Shannon 6. Herekotukutuku, Charlie 7. Smith, Jeremy 8. Grant, Luke 9. Falloon, Beau 10. Verlinden, Ryan 11. Nasio, Valu 12. Wynyard, Dave 13. Dalton, Sean Interchange: 14. Sayegh, Daniel 15. Field, Martin 16. Retimana, Richard 17. Russell, Marc 18. Mano, Arnold 19. Koborsi, John 20. Hunt, Matt 22. Baird, Bladen 23. Johnston, Curtis Coach – Wayne Lambkin