The South Sydney Rabbitohs are pleased to announce their team to take on the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in round six of the 2009 NRL Premiership this Saturday 18 April at ANZ Stadium. Rabbitohs Head Coach Jason Taylor has named the same line up that took on the Bulldogs last night. Rabbitohs front rower Luke Stuart will play his 150th NRL game in Rabbitohs colours this Saturday night. Stuart has been with the Rabbitohs since the club was reinstated to the competition in 2002, and recently celebrated his 200th career NRL match against the Warriors in Auckland. The NRL match is scheduled for a 7:30pm kick off with the Toyota Cup due to commence at 5:15pm. Gates open at 5:10pm. The referees for the NRL match are Jared Maxwell and Phil Haines. The Rabbitohs NRL side is:
1. Capewell, Luke 2. Merritt, Nathan 3. Best, Colin 4. Champion, Beau 5. Talanoa, Fetuli 6. Sutton, John 7. Sandow, Chris 8. Stuart, Luke 9. Luke, Issac 10. Asotasi, Roy (c) 11. Lowe, Ben 12. McPherson, Shannon 13. Fa'alogo, David 14. Wing, Craig 15. Kidwell, David 16. Pettybourne, Eddy 17. Lowe, Jamian Coach – Jason Taylor
The Rabbitohs Toyota Cup side is:
1. Mansour, Joshua 2. Bennett, Tim 3. Vaivai, Junior 4. Pettybourne, Kennedy 5. Morgan, Kane 6. Farrell, Dylan 7. Webster, Malcolm 8. Nansen, Jacob 9. Joseph, John 10. Lupi, Brad 11. Hammett, Aaron 12. Takairangi, Brad 13. Clark, Jason (c) 14. Peats, Nathan 15. Molan, Brock 16. Shearer, Jake 17. Starling, Josh Coach – Daniel Irvine
It is a NSW Cup split round this weekend so no Bears game this weekend
A Juniors level, the National Junior Representatives enters a Round of 16 playoff this weekend at venues across Sydney and Brisbane as the nation’s elite junior teams compete for a spot in the quarter finals. NSW teams enter a top 12 elimination this weekend, which will leave the best six teams from the Harold Matthews Cup (Under-16) and SG Ball Cup (Under-18) to progress to the quarter finals. Queensland’s Cyril Connell Cup (Under-16) and Mal Meninga Cup (Under-18) champions will be decided this weekend. The top two Queensland teams will then progress to the quarter finals next week. After a barnstorming start to their inaugural season in the SG Ball Cup Under-18s, the Melbourne Storm have reached the knockout stage in fourth place. Fellow SG Ball Cup debutants the Newtown Jets finished the regular season in sixth spot and face a battle with the seventh-placed Balmain Tigers on Saturday to progress. Meanwhile, the Gold Coast Titans have marked their inaugural season in the Harold Matthew Cup with a terrific fourth place, putting them in good stead for an all out assault on the finals. NSW Rugby League’s Coaching and Development Manager Martin Meredith – whose staff at the NSWRL Academy in Narrabeen have administered the inaugural National Junior Representatives – said the coming weeks would showcase the true strength of the code at grassroots level. “These kids are the best of their age group and they are competing for a national title,” Meredith said of the Under-16 and Under-18s junior reps. “When you have teams from Melbourne, Northern Territory, Gold Coast, and traditional areas like Sydney and Brisbane all playing well, it’s a terrific advertisement of the strength of Rugby League’s junior ranks. “There’s no doubt many of these kids will be playing NRL in the coming years, if not months, so this is a great opportunity to see them in action early in their careers.” NSWRL General Manager Geoff Carr said he was looking forward to the finals of the National Junior Representatives. “When you have 66 teams competing from the likes of the Northern Territory, Queensland, NSW, all the way down to Melbourne, this time of the year you are going to see the best of the best,” Carr said. “The competition itself has featured 1600 of Australia’s best young Rugby League players at the Under-16 and Under-18 level and I know a lot of people are looking forward to the final series.”