Injury Update

[Waylander]

From the club website:

The Sydney Roosters squad has been assessed by Club medical staff following their Round 3 clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Allianz Stadium.

There were no injury concerns for any players that featured in the match.

Sitili Tupounuia, Billy Smith and Robert Toia have returned to full team training while Connor Watson remains in the early stages of rehabilitation and will meet with the surgeon next week for a progress update.


Good to see the 3 ACL boys all have returned to full training. The makeup of the pack is going to be very interesting when we have all hands back on deck.

We can pick from:

JWH
Collins
Lodge
May
Thomas
Smith
Turps
Gus
Nat
Rads
Sitili
Egan
Watson
Baker
Whyte
Wong

Nice problem to have. Our Reggies teams are going to be strong at the back end of the year if this whole list is available.

[Chook2]

Add Nathan brown to that mix

potential 1st grade
jwh
smith
lodge
critchon
sitili
radley

Watson
butcher
butcher - front row rotation like Liu was as well
Collins

Reggies
May
turpin
baker
Wong
Whyte
brown

deakin
zalkem
thomas
Napa

[BigCok007]

Add Nathan brown to that mix

potential 1st grade
jwh
smith
lodge
critchon
sitili
radley

Watson
butcher
butcher - front row rotation like Liu was as well
Collins

Reggies
May
turpin
baker
Wong
Whyte
brown

deakin
zalkem
thomas
Napa

Sitili doesn’t pip Nat, maybe comes off bench in the middle

[Serenader]

Gonna be a beast of a pack if we can keep injury free, but we all know that ain’t gonna happen. Fingers crossed anyway

[Thirteen]

Hate to be a party pooper but let’s be realistic here. There is no chance that all our forwards will be available at the same time.

[Steggles]

Long, long time lurker, 2nd time poster, so please be gentle.

What a great problem we’ll have when we get a few guys like Angus, Sitili, Lodge and Connor back from injury.

My fully fit forwards would be -

Starters
Collins
Smith
Lodge
Crichton
Sitili T
Radley

Reserves
JWH
May
Nat Butch
Turpin

Maybe a couple of contentious choices -

We saw against Souffs how JWH can change the game when he comes in fresh off the bench when the intensity of the game has started dropping a little. Our whole team grows a leg in confidence when he comes on, which helps us finish a half with momentum. A major x-factor for us. Next year Spencer L will slot into the prop rotation off the bench replacing JWH.

I’d have a fit Sitili in my starting side. I think we’ve really been missing Sitili’s punch in attack on the edges; punch which Nat really doesn’t possess. I reckon Sitili’s defence had improved significantly before he did his ACL. He regularly folded guys in half with his hits, which isn’t in Nat’s arsenal. Nat is a very, very solid toiler, but he’s rarely going to bust open an opposition defensive line. No question that Sitili has a few more errors in him than Nat does, but I think he has far more upside than Nat. That’s probably why Robbo had him ahead of Nat previously. Fully fit, Sitili is in my starting 13 on an edge.

May has been terrific this year and will only get better with more game time. He’s could be part of our next 10 years which means we need to invest time in his growth, so no point leaving him in Reggies playing against Numptys every week.

Nat Butcher is a safe pair of hands and I’d have him subbing Radley, or injuries to Angus or Sitili.

Most people have Watson fixed on their bench. When we have a fully fit team, I’d prefer Turpin on the bench in rotation with Smith. He provides great service from dummy half and is very strong in defence in the middle. Reminds me a bit of a younger Jake Friend. This lets Robbo spell Smith for 20-30 mins a game and we know he’s much more dangerous when he’s fresh. Watson at dummy half is pretty ordinary.

But we are the Roosters, so we probably won’t see a fully fit team any time soon, meaning Hutch will play every game for the next 3 years.

[Inflictor]

Long, long time lurker, 2nd time poster, so please be gentle.

What a great problem we’ll have when we get a few guys like Angus, Sitili, Lodge and Connor back from injury.

My fully fit forwards would be -

Starters
Collins
Smith
Lodge
Crichton
Sitili T
Radley

Reserves
JWH
May
Nat Butch
Turpin

Maybe a couple of contentious choices -

We saw against Souffs how JWH can change the game when he comes in fresh off the bench when the intensity of the game has started dropping a little. Our whole team grows a leg in confidence when he comes on, which helps us finish a half with momentum. A major x-factor for us. Next year Spencer L will slot into the prop rotation off the bench replacing JWH.

I’d have a fit Sitili in my starting side. I think we’ve really been missing Sitili’s punch in attack on the edges; punch which Nat really doesn’t possess. I reckon Sitili’s defence had improved significantly before he did his ACL. He regularly folded guys in half with his hits, which isn’t in Nat’s arsenal. Nat is a very, very solid toiler, but he’s rarely going to bust open an opposition defensive line. No question that Sitili has a few more errors in him than Nat does, but I think he has far more upside than Nat. That’s probably why Robbo had him ahead of Nat previously. Fully fit, Sitili is in my starting 13 on an edge.

May has been terrific this year and will only get better with more game time. He’s could be part of our next 10 years which means we need to invest time in his growth, so no point leaving him in Reggies playing against Numptys every week.

Nat Butcher is a safe pair of hands and I’d have him subbing Radley, or injuries to Angus or Sitili.

Most people have Watson fixed on their bench. When we have a fully fit team, I’d prefer Turpin on the bench in rotation with Smith. He provides great service from dummy half and is very strong in defence in the middle. Reminds me a bit of a younger Jake Friend. This lets Robbo spell Smith for 20-30 mins a game and we know he’s much more dangerous when he’s fresh. Watson at dummy half is pretty ordinary.

But we are the Roosters, so we probably won’t see a fully fit team any time soon, meaning Hutch will play every game for the next 3 years.

If Brown finds his best form I have a feeling he will be on the bench. If that happens I think Sitili will be the one missing out. NButch has jumped Sitili now solely on his defence but NButch has improved out of sight in attack too.

EButch might become a better front row than he is an edge player. I won't be surprised if Robbo makes that move when Gus, Brown and Sitili are back. May is probably ahead for the bench spot at the moment.

That dummy half bench spot will be a toss of a coin. Robbo loves Hutch who can cover a few spots (except centre). Watto is better than Turpin as a utility. But Turpin provides the best service in the team.

The rest just pick themselves.

I hope we have this selection headache come September.

[kakaruk]

See what happens. , Turpin has gone better than most expected so he stays I reckon both the butcher boys go back to reserve grade with hutch. Brown hits form and gets a bench spot and Stilli comes back in with angus.Connor could sub in the backs if required rather have him there than the turtle.

[ARD]

Rob Toia gives me the feels. Like the looks of that kid.

[ARD]

See what happens. , Turpin has gone better than most expected so he stays I reckon both the butcher boys go back to reserve grade with hutch. Brown hits form and gets a bench spot and Stilli comes back in with angus.Connor could sub in the backs if required rather have him there than the turtle.

Mate, you can’t seriously think Nat gets turfed from top 17

[NorfolkStreetKid]

I would love to see this side run on
Teddy.
Toops
Manu
Smith/ Suaalii
Suaalii/Paulo
Kez
Sam
Rads
Angus
Sitili
JWH
Cheese
Lindsay

Lodge
Brown
N Butch
Turpin

I reckon Sitili or Angus could cover an injury to an outside back
Turpin or Rads could cover an injury in the halves.

[top_joe]

Hate to be a party pooper but let’s be realistic here. There is no chance that all our forwards will be available at the same time.

Indeed Sir, you have just pooped on my party.

[Chook2]

Some great ideas
need the 2 prop rotation or 1 player that can that’s why I think Sitili starting (was there before he was injured) and nat on the bench who can also cover prop like Liu could, that or Egan butcher left out and May or brown as the other front row cover. Makes you miss last year with SST there or Liu in 2021.

watson I think is better cover then Turpin and Turpin covers hooker only, Watson everywhere bar prop, and Brings huge energy and pace end of first half when forward are tired, perfect sub to allow smith and radley to rest for 20min and covers half’s and backs so no need for hutch if injuries

even now no need for Turpin and hutch in the bench we need more forward

also again I love sualli at centre but preferred wing
he’s not the best link/ passer - noticed this playing 1 for Samoa and he on the right wing would give us the 2 best jumpers on both sides, we would score most times - only part here we only seem to cross field kick once or twice a game and half of these go to deep or two shallow, having sualli on the same side as toops reduces our changes of scoring hear as only 1 player can jump

Paulo did well on wing in attack but got caught out getting outpaced a few runs against south’s - the try that Johnston scored paulo was looking at latrell not realising the winder had got on his outside, and if not for teddy / Manu they would have scored again

[kakaruk]

I’m not saying Nat butcher is a dud he’s a good player but jeez there is going to be some competition to get a run Angus stilli radley brown Turpin Watson somebody’s going to miss out

[Monaco's Fan Club]

If Brown finds his best form I have a feeling he will be on the bench. If that happens I think Sitili will be the one missing out. NButch has jumped Sitili now solely on his defence but NButch has improved out of sight in attack too.

EButch might become a better front row than he is an edge player. I won't be surprised if Robbo makes that move when Gus, Brown and Sitili are back. May is probably ahead for the bench spot at the moment.

That dummy half bench spot will be a toss of a coin. Robbo loves Hutch who can cover a few spots (except centre). Watto is better than Turpin as a utility. But Turpin provides the best service in the team.

The rest just pick themselves.

I hope we have this selection headache come September.

With the speed and creativity of our halves, dummy half service is everything. Turpin is a very good starter or relief for Smith

E Butch and Hutch won’t be on the bench when Lodge, Crichton, Watson, Brown and Sitili are available


A very difficult bench to pick, but Turpin and JWH are two of four