National Rugby League PremiershipBy W D Nicolson - February 23, 2017
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NRL SuperCoach and NRL Fantasy pundits rejoice - your old mate The Postman is back with his take on the 17 Roosters he believes Trent Robinson will pick for Round 1:
- Michael GORDON
- Daniel TUPOU
- Latrell MITCHELL
- Blake FERGUSON
- Shaun KENNY-DOWALL
- Luke KEARY
- Mitchell PEARCE
- Jared WAEREA-HARGREAVES
- Jake FRIEND
- Dylan NAPA
- Boyd CORDNER
- Mitchell AUBUSSON
- Aidan GUERRA
BENCH - Isaac LIU
- Kane EVANS
- Paul CARTER
- Connor WATSON
- Probably as settled a 17 heading into the first Team List Tuesday of the year that there is. Mind you Team List Tuesday is changing to a 21 man Squad each Tuesday (then cut to 19 man some 24 hours before each team's game)... but this will almost certainly be the 17 Trent Robinson throws into action on the Gold Coast.
- The main question mark is if Robinson wants Napa starting or making an impact from the bench. With no Sio Siua Taukeiaho until the second half of the season - Napa was selected on the bench for the final trial and along with Evans could form a dynamic duo being injected after 20 minutes. That shifts Liu to prop alongside JWH - allowing the backrow to settle with Cordner on the left and Aubusson or Guerra on the right (the other playing a roving role in the middle).
- Paul Carter probably has the edge on Ryan Matterson for the final bench spot given his ability to cover hooker but given Connor Watson can as well (and thus cover the whole backline) - Robinson could still spring a surprise on us next week as he's grooming Matterson for the backrow in the near future.
- There's no room for Dale Copley who has reportedly been shopped to every QLD team this off-season and Joseph Manu who was reportedly pushing Daniel Tupou for the left wing spot all summer.
Sio Siua Taukeiaho (Knee - Mid-to-Late Season), Nat Butcher (Shoulder - Round 4 on), Joseph Manu (Knee - Opening Rounds), Bernard Lewis (Groin - Opening Rounds).
