Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n20-year-old gun to make Anzac Day debut | 03:29<\/p>\n
ROOSTERS BACKLINE DILEMMA AMID VERSATILE STAR\u2019S RISE IN NEW POSITION<\/p>\n
Daly Cherry-Evans\u2019 arrival at the club saw Hugo Savala lose his spot and a new halves combination with Sam Walker was always going to take time to develop. <\/p>\n
Cherry-Evans\u2019 arrival was likened to Cooper Cronk joining the club in 2018 and he went on to win back-to-back premierships alongside Luke Keary. <\/p>\n
However, it is easy to forget the Roosters lost four of their first eight games in 2018, including the ANZAC Day clash with the Dragons. <\/p>\n
Keary, who partnered Cronk back in 2018, can see similarities between that Roosters team and the 2026 version and explained it is more around the team coming together with new players, rather than the new halves combination on its own. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve improved a lot this first month,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember a lot of the talk was about me and Cooper, but it was never about me and Cooper, it was about the team. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a big adjustment that we had to make as a team to play a different style and the style wasn\u2019t about Cooper, it was just about winning. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an adjustment for Coops coming and he hadn\u2019t played in that system before, so it\u2019s an adjustment both ways.\u201d <\/p>\n
Daly Cherry-Evans is improving his combination with Sam Walker heading into ANZAC Day.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
Keary pointed out the fact the Roosters are improving each week is a good sign and the quality of their squad could give them a chance of emulating the 2018 Roosters side. <\/p>\n
\u201cI see a similar thing happening at the moment where Cherry-Evans played somewhere for a long time and he\u2019s adjusting to how the Roosters like to play and those boys are adjusting to him,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then him and Sam Walker are in the middle of all that, which everyone will talk about which is fine, but I think they have improved and they are improving, which is a good sign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a long way to go, but if they keep improving then you would like to think there is enough quality in that team where they are there or there abouts at the end. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut they will be judged on how they finish this season like Cooper was.\u201d <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Savala has gone from starting halfback to back-up and bench player and now to star centre, after taking over from the injured Billy Smith. <\/p>\n
Smith has been named on the bench this weekend, but on form it would be very tough to drop Savala, given his performances in recent weeks. <\/p>\n
Keary backed Savala to have an ongoing role in the team, but feels Smith deserves a spot in the side if he can get his body right. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere will obviously be a decision there because Hugo\u2019s done a really good job, great player,\u201d Keary said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe can play that role off the bench for them. He can play in the middle as a lock. Obviously now we have seen he can play in the centres. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s only played three games there, so we\u2019ll have to wait and see on that one, but when Billy\u2019s on we\u2019ve seen he\u2019s a very good player. He just needs to get himself healthy.\u201d <\/p>\n
“Hated each other!” ’91 Origin dissected | 04:13<\/p>\n
Melbourne Storm vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs, Saturday @ 8.10pm<\/p>\n
THE STORM TACTIC CHANGE THAT CAN END LOSING RUN<\/p>\n
A club legend has urged the Storm\u2019s forwards to tinker with their game style in order to get one of the NRL\u2019s best players firing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no secret that when Harry Grant is running the ball, the Storm are at their best.<\/p>\n
As Storm champion Cooper Cronk noted, Melbourne win at least 70% of their games when Grant has more than five runs (hit ups). <\/p>\n
During the Storm\u2019s current five-game losing streak, Grant has only hit that figure once – against the Warriors (five runs, 21 metres).<\/p>\n
In the Storm\u2019s only two wins of the season in Rounds 1 and 2, Grant hit the five run mark in both games.<\/p>\n
Cronk believes that Grant has to show a little more but conceded he isn\u2019t being helped by a play the ball speed which is slower than usual Storm standards.<\/p>\n
To help improve that, Cronk called on the Melbourne pack to add a new wrinkle to their game.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the keys is getting Harry Grant out. There\u2019s no Nelson Asofa-Solomona anymore, Tui Kamikamica is out, Eli Katoa is injured, so I think the play the ball speed is less and less,\u201d he said on \u2018Matty & Cronk\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe stat we spoke about the other night, Harry Grant runs more than five times a game, the Storm win 70 per cent of those games. <\/p>\n
The Storm have fallen off a cliff this season.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Josh King, Alec MacDonald, those type of forwards, they need to be a bit more creative with their ball playing. Little short passes, isolate players one-on-one and it leads to quick play the ball. That gives Grant the first look at something.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think at the moment, they are a little bit small and mobile but they aren\u2019t generating that difference in the play the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matty Johns agreed, arguing their yardage game right now is \u201ca little too simplistic\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just need to dress it up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need a few subtleties in there to get them punching through because they don\u2019t have that size at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Storm losing five straight is rare air. It just doesn\u2019t happen. Nor does a Craig Bellamy side sit 15th on the ladder after two months. <\/p>\n
However, as the Panthers showed last season, Melbourne ain\u2019t dead yet. <\/p>\n
Cronk believes there are some parallels between the 2025 Panthers and this year\u2019s Storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more that I think about it, the more they are the Panthers 2.0. I\u2019m trying to work out what\u2019s going wrong with them and they tick most of the ingredients of what makes a good team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not as if they\u2019ve forgotten how to play. It\u2019s almost like they\u2019re stressed into being something more than their not. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere were signs of life against the Raiders. Take the scoreboard out of it, there are things that said that they aren\u2019t far away from victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people with the Panthers, including us last year, were thinking what are the answers here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Are Melbourne Storm still an elite team? | 04:54<\/p>\n
Newcastle Knights vs. Penrith Panthers, Sunday @ 2.00pm<\/p>\n
PANTHERS\u2019 HUGE TEST AMID VITAL STAR\u2019S LONG INJURY LAY-OFF <\/p>\n
Mitch Kenny has gone from unheralded Panthers gun to an acknowledged key cog in Ivan Cleary\u2019s powerhouse in recent seasons.<\/p>\n
And now everyone knows just how important he is, the fact he is sidelined for an extended period shapes as a huge blow for Penrith.<\/p>\n
Kenny is facing a 10-12 week sideline stint after he was on the receiving end of an awkward tackle from Dolphins playmaker Kodi Nikorima.<\/p>\n
This is where the Panthers\u2019 savvy recruitment comes in.<\/p>\n
In years gone by, the back-up hooker role has been an issue under Cleary, with the likes of Soni Luke and Luke Sommerton trying and failing to lock down that spot before moving on.<\/p>\n
This year, the return of Jack Cogger, who is the No.1 back-up playmaker adds to depth in the position due to the fact he can fill in behind the ruck.<\/p>\n
But the importance of one man has never been more prevalent \u2013 Freddy Lussick.<\/p>\n
Freddy Lussick has a huge void to fill for the Panthers.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old was handed a one-year deal for the 2026 season after departing the Warriors, which shaped as a huge opportunity to rekindle the flames of his NRL career.<\/p>\n
He hit the ground running in pre-season and clearly made an impression on his coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been unbelievable in pre-season,\u201d Ivan Cleary said of Lussick.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the fittest guys I\u2019ve ever seen. He turned up with a great attitude. He just made every post a winner every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe possibly couldn\u2019t do any more. (He) competed really hard, so I\u2019m looking forward to seeing him get a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he was trying to be one (a starter), so I guess that was the point (of him working so hard).\u201d<\/p>\n
Lussick was also solid when filling in for Kenny who earnt a ban earlier this year, and former teammate Luke Keary was confident the hole left by Penrith\u2019s regular No.9 won\u2019t be noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, he\u2019ll just do a good job for him. He\u2019s a great defender, fit, tough. He\u2019ll just do a really solid job. They\u2019ll know what they\u2019re going to get out of him every week,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just going to do his thing for 12 weeks. It\u2019s a good replacement for Mitch for that time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a steady guy, tough hooker. He can play 80 minutes, get through a heap of work for him, and hold it down while Mitch isn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matty & Cronk analyse Dragons downfall | 04:06<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tigers and Warriors have gone from having no halves to an awkward embarrassment of riches, while 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