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Meanwhile, Sam Walker may not be playing this week but he is closing in on a miraculous return should the Roosters keep their premiership hopes alive.<\/p>\n
Read on for late mail ahead of the semi-finals!<\/p>\n
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19<\/p>\n
Sydney Roosters vs Cronulla Sharks @ Allianz Stadium, 7:50pm AEST<\/p>\n
Roosters Team: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Billy Smith 4. Robert Toia 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase 6. Hugo Savala 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Naufahu Whyte 9. Reece Robson 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Salesi Foketi 12. Siua Wong 13. Victor Radley 14. Connor Watson 15. Spencer Leniu 16. Nat Butcher 17. Angus Crichton 18. Cody Ramsey 19. Tommy Talau 20. Taylor Losalu 21. Benaiah Ioelu 22. Toby Rodwell<\/p>\n
Late Mail:Sam Walker may not be back this week, but the Roosters halfback is firming for a miraculous return from his syndesmosis injury should the Tricolours qualify for the preliminary finals. Walker was spotted running at training just 12 days after undergoing tightrope surgery and is \u201ctracking ahead of schedule\u201d according to veteran reporter Michael Carayannis. \u201cHe\u2019s tracking ahead of schedule. Originally they thought grand final… but he\u2019s tracking better than they thought so he\u2019s a real chance,\u201d Carayannis said on NRL 360.<\/p>\n
The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 15 September 2026 Roosters Rosters player Sam Walker at training ahead of the semi finals match against the Cronulla sharks. Picture Thomas LissonSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
Sharks Team: 1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Riley Jones 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Jesse Colquhoun 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cameron McInnes 14. Siosifa Talakai 15. Billy Burns 16. Oregon Kaufusi 17. Thomas Hazelton 18. Jayden Berrell 19. Toby Rudolf 20. Niwhai Puru 21. Samuel Stonestreet 22. Mawene Hiroti<\/p>\n
Late Mail: To come.<\/p>\n
“Warriors do not have another gear!” | 01:11<\/p>\n
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20<\/p>\n
New Zealand Warriors vs Newcastle Knights @ Eden Park, 4:05pm AEST<\/p>\n
Warriors Team: 1. Taine Tuaupiki 2. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 3. Ali Leiataua 4. Adam Pompey 5. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Te Maire Martin 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitchell Barnett 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jacob Laban 13. Erin Clark 14. Samuel Healey 15. Tanner Stowers-Smith 16. Demitric Vaimauga 17. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava 18. Jett Cleary 20. Morgan Gannon 21. Makaia Tafua 22. Leka Halasima 23. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak<\/p>\n
Late Mail: Andrew Webster said on Tuesday that winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has done \u201clittle pieces\u201d of contact as he aims to return from his collarbone injury. \u201cWe\u2019ll build him up and see how he progresses,\u201d Webster added. \u201cHe\u2019s inspirational. He\u2019s fearless. He just wants to play so badly for the team… he\u2019s got to tick a lot of boxes. The science is probably against him and he might not get there. But we\u2019ll give him every chance.\u201d As for second rower turned centre Leka Halasima, Webster said he is a \u201cchance\u201d but \u201chighly doubtful\u201d to play after being named on the extended bench .\u201cHe just went for a run, and when they trotted out, he felt something, and his exact words were, \u2018I just don\u2019t want to let the boys down. I think I\u2019ve done my hamstring\u2019. In hindsight, it\u2019s not as bad as we think,\u201d Webster added. If Halasima is fit, he would replace Pompey while Watene-Zelenzniak would bump one of Taine Tuauapiki and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad back to the bench. Usually that would be Tuauapiki, but he was easily the Warriors\u2019 most dangerous player in attack last week which gives coach Webster quite the selection headache.<\/p>\n
Knights Team: 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Dominic Young 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Fletcher Sharpe 7. Sandon Smith 8. Tyson Frizell 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Cody Hopwood 11. Jermaine McEwen 12. Francis Manuleleua 13. Mathew Croker 14. Harrison Graham 15. Lachlan Crouch 16. Pasami Saulo 17. Thomas Cant 18. Fletcher Hunt 19. Toby Winter 20. Kyle McCarthy 21. Elijah Leaumoana 22. Dylan Lucas<\/p>\n
Late Mail: Second rower Dylan Lucas is reportedly firming to take the field after completing training on Thursday. His potential inclusion shapes as a huge boost for the Knights, with Lucas\u2019 season previously looking like it was over after he suffered a dislocated ankle. Then the gun back rower was named when Newcastle unveiled their team list on Tuesday – with doubts still remaining surrounding his potential for a return. However, according to Code Sports<\/a>, Lucas\u2019 progress has left the Knights medical team stunned and now he looks likely to be named on the bench. \u201cHe won\u2019t take no for an answer unless he gets dragged off the training paddock. If you ask me if he\u2019s playing, I\u2019d say yes because I know him pretty well,\u201d hooker Phoenix Crossland said on Tuesday while Kalyn Ponga called Lucas\u2019 comeback bid \u201cpretty inspiring\u201d. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy to think we\u2019re even talking about Dyl even being back from a pretty horrific injury. Even speaking to him earlier in the week and him saying he was a chance, I thought he was kidding himself,\u201d added Tyson Frizell. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Warriors and Knights are both sweating on the potential returns of big names for this weekend\u2019s semi-finals,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-895186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}