With the majority of the top eight now set in stone, two key battles remain in the eyes of many. Firstly, the race for eighth spot. With wins now more important than ever and the threat of dropping in or out at a moment’s notice, the pressure is on to perform? Who will shine and who will crack? Equally, the battle for the wooden spoon heats up given recent weeks.
Without further adieu, here are the sides for Rd 23 of the NRL Telstra Premiership:
South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury Bulldogs (#NRLsoucby); Thursday, August 10; ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park. Kick-off: 7:50 pm.
Rabbitohs: 1. Alex Johnston 2. Bryson Goodwin 3. Aaron Gray 4. Tyrell Fuimaono 5. Campbell Graham 6. Cody Walker 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Burgess 9. Damien Cook 10. Zane Musgrove 11. John Sutton 12. Angus Crichton 13. Sam Burgess (C).
Interchange: 14. Robbie Farah 15. George Burgess 16. Kyle Turner 17. Cameron Murray.
Reserves: 18. Anthony Cherrington 19. Jack Gosiewski 20. David Tyrrell 21. Sitiveni Moceidreke.
Coach: Michael Maguire.
Bulldogs: 1. Will Hopoate 2. Brett Morris 3. Josh Morris 4. Brenko Lee 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Josh Reynolds 7. Chase Stanley 8. Aiden Tolman 9. Moses Mbye 10. James Graham 11. Josh Jackson 12. Adam Elliott 13. David Klemmer.
Interchange: 14. Sam Kasiano 15. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 16. Danny Fualalo 17. Matt Frawley.
Reserves: 19. Francis Tualau 20. Rhyse Martin 21. Asipeli Fine 23. Michael Lichaa.
Coach: Des Hasler.
Parramatta Eels v Newcastle Knights (#NRLparnew); Friday, August 11; ANZ Stadium, Olympic Park. Kick-off: 6 pm.
Eels: 1. Bevan French 2. Semi Radradra 3. Michael Jennings 4. Brad Takairangi 5. Kirisome Auva’a 6. Corey Norman 7. Mitch Moses 8. Siosaia Vave 9. Cameron King 10. Tim Mannah (C) 11. Manu Ma’u 12. Tepai Moeroa 13. Nathan Brown.
Interchange: 14. Daniel Alvaro 15. Kenny Edwards 16. Suaia Matagi 17. Peni Terepo.
Reserves: 18. David Gower 19. Will Smith 20. Frank Pritchard 21. Josh Hoffman.
Coach: Brad Arthur.
Knights: 1. Dane Gagai 2. Ken Sio 3. Joe Wardle 4. Peter Mata’utia 5. Shaun Kenny Dowall 6. Brock Lamb 7. Trent Hodkinson 8. Daniel Saifiti 9. Jamie Buhrer (C) 10. Josh King 11. Sione Mata’utia (C) 12. Lachlan Fitzgibbon 13. Mitch Barnett.
Interchange: 14. Danny Levi 15. Jacob Saifiti 16. Sam Stone 17. Luke Yates.
Reserves: 18. Jack Cogger 19. Mickey Paea 20. Brendan Elliott 21. Chanel Mata’utia.
Coach: Nathan Brown.
Brisbane Broncos v Cronulla Sharks (#NRLbricro); Friday, August 11; Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. Kick-off: 7:50 pm.
Broncos: 1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. James Roberts 4. Tautau Moga 5. Jordan Kahu 6. Anthony Milford 7. Kodi Nikorima 8. Korbin Sims 9. Ben Hunt 10. Adam Blair 11. Alex Glenn 12. Matt Gillett 13. Josh McGuire.
Interchange: 14. Sam Thaiday 15. Tevita Pangai Jr. 16. Jai Arrow 17. Herman Ese’ese.
Reserves: 18. Jaydn Su’A 19. Tom Opacic 20. Benji Marshall 21. Salesi Funaki.
Coach: Wayne Bennett.
Sharks: 1. Valentine Holmes 2. Sosaia Feki 3. Kurt Capewell 4. Ricky Leutele 5. Gerard Beale 6. James Maloney 7. Chad Townsend 8. Andrew Fifita 9. Fa’amanu Brown 10. Matt Prior 11. Luke Lewis 12. Wade Graham 13. Paul Gallen (C).
Interchange: 14. Jayson Bukuya 15. Chris Heighington 16. Jeremy Latimore 17. James Segayaro.
Reserves: 18. Sam Tagataese 19. Kurt Dillon 20. Bily Magoulias 21. Jesse Ramien.
Coach: Shane Flanagan.
St George Illawarra Dragons v Gold Coast Titans (#NRLsgigld); Saturday, August 12; UOW Jubilee Oval, Wollongong. Kick-off: 3 pm.
Dragons: 1. Matt Dufty 2. Nene Macdonald 3. Euan Aitken 4. Taane Milne 5. Jason Nightingale 6. Gareth Widdop 7. Josh McCrone 8. Leeson Ah Mau 9. Cameron McInnes 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Joel Thompson 13. Jack de Belin.
Interchange: 14. Tariq SIms 15. Hame Sele 16. Blake Lawrie 17. Kurt Mann.
Reserves: 18. Jacob Host 19. Taane Milne 20. Jake Marketo 21. Luciano Leilua.
Coach: Paul McGregor.
Titans: 1. Jarryd Hayne 2. Anthony Don 3. Dale Copley 4. John Olive 5. Will Zillman 6. Kane Elgey 7. Ash Taylor 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Nathan Peats 10. Ryan James (C) 11. Kevin Proctor 12. Joe Greenwood 13. Max King.
Interchange: 14. Tyrone Roberts 15. Nathaniel Peter 16. Leivaha Pulu 17. Morgan Boyle.
Reserves: 18. Paterika Vaivai 19. Pat Politoni 20. Philip Sami 21. Keegan Hipgrave.
Coach: Neil Henry.
Melbourne Storm v Sydney Roosters (#NRLmelsyd); Saturday, August 12; AAMI Park, Melbourne. Kick-off: 5:30 pm.
Storm: 1. Billy Slater 2. Suliasi Vunivalu 3. Will Chambers 4. Curtis Scott 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Ryley Jacks 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Cam Smith (C) 10. Tim Glasby 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Joe Stimson 13. Dale Finucane.
Interchange: 14. Kenneath Bromwich 15. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 16. Jordan McLean 17. Slade Griffin.
Reserves: 18. Tui Kamikamica 19. Jahrome Hughes 20. Robbie Rochow 21. Brodie Croft.
Coach: Craig Bellamy.
Roosters: 1. Connor Watson 2. Joseph Manu 3. Latrell Mitchell 4. Mitch Aubusson 5. Blake Ferguson 6. Luke Keary 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Jake Friend 10. Dylan Napa 11. Boyd Cordner 12. Aidan Guerra 13. Isaac Liu.
Interchange: 14. Zane Tetevano 15. Sio Siua Taukeiaho 16. Ryan Matterson 17. Victor Radley.
Reserves: 18. Kane Evans 19. Mitch Cornish 20. Lindsay Collins 21. Chris Smith.
Coach: Trent Robinson
Penrith Panthers v North Queensland Cowboys (#NRLpennql); Saturday, August 12; Pepper Stadium, Penrith. Kick-off: 7:30 pm.
Panthers: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Josh Mansour 3. Tyrone Peachey 4. Waqa Blake 5. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 6. Tyrone May 7. Nathan Cleary 8. James Tamou 9. Peter Wallace (C) 10. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 11. Corey Harawira-Naera 12. Isaah Yeo 13. Moses Leota.
Interchange: 14. Sione Katoa 15. Bryce Cartwright 16. Tim Browne 17. James Fisher-Harris.
Reserves: 18. Matt Moylan 19. Dean Whare 20. Viliame Kikau 21. Sitaleki Akauola.
Coach: Anthony Griffin.
Cowboys: 1. Lachlan Coote 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Justin O’Neill 4. Kane Linnett 5. Javid Bowen 6. Te Maire Martin 7. Michael Morgan (C) 8. John Asiata 9. Jake Granville 10. Scott Bolton 11. Coen Hess 12. Ethan Lowe 13. Jason Taumalolo.
Interchange: 14. Ben Hampton 15. Shaun Fensom 16. Corey Jensen 17. Sam Hoare.
Reserves: 18. Braden Uele 19. Kalyn Ponga 20. Patrick Mago 21. Shane Wright.
Coach: Paul Green.
New Zealand Warriors v Canberra Raiders (#NRLwarcan); Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland; Sunday, August 13. Kick-off: 2 pm.
Warriors: 1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 2. David Fusitu’a 3. Blake Ayshford 4. Solomone Kata 5. Ken Maumalo 6. Kieran Foran 7. Mason Lino 8. Jacob Lillyman 9. Nathaniel Roache 10. Ben Matulino 11. Bunty Afoa 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Simon Mannering.
Interchange: 14. Issac Luke 15. Sam Lisone 16. Isaiah Papalii 17. James Bell.
Reserves: 18. Jazz Tevaga 20. Tevita Satae 21. Ata Hingano 22. Charnze Nicholl-Klokstad.
Coach: Stephen Kearney.
Raiders: 1. Jack Wighton 2. Nick Cotric 3. Jarrod Croker (C) 4. Joey Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Blake Austin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Junior Paulo 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Shannon Boyd 11. Josh Papalii 12. Joseph Tapine 13. Elliott Whitehead.
Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste 15. David Taylor 16. Clay Priest 17. Luke Bateman.
Reserves: 18. Michael Oldfield 19. Jeff Lima 20. Royce Hunt 21. Erin Clark.
Coach: Ricky Stuart.
Wests Tigers v Manly Sea Eagles (#NRLwstman); Leichhardt Oval; Sunday, August 13. Kick-off: 4 pm.
Tigers: 1. James Tedesco 2. David Nofoaluma 3. Esan Marsters 4. Kevin Naiqama 5. Malakai Watene-Zelezniak 6. Tuimoala Lolohea 7. Luke Brooks 8. Aaron Woods (C) 9. Matt McIlwrick 10. Tim Grant 11. Chris Lawrence 12. Elijah Taylor 13. Matthew Eisenhuth.
Interchange: 14. Alex Twal 15. Sauaso Sue 16. Michael Chee-Kam 17. Jack Littlejohn.
Reserves: 18. Josh Aloiai 19. JJ Felise 20. Joel Edwards 21. Ava Seumanufagai.
Coach: Ivan Cleary.
Sea Eagles: 1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Matt Wright 3. Dylan Walker 4. Brad Parker 5. Akuila Uate 6. Blake Green 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Brenton Lawrence 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. Marty Taupau 11. Frank Winterstein 12. Shaun Lane 13. Jake Trbojevic.
Interchange: 14. Lewis Brown 15. Lloyd Perrett 16. Darcy Lussick 17. Addin Fonua-Blake.
Reserves: 18. Brian Kelly 19. Cameron Cullen 20. Jonathan Wright 21. Jarrad Kennedy.
Coach: Trent Barrett.