Brisbane coach Kevin Walters desperately wants what Thursday's rivals Penrith have: two in-form halves taking control of their NRL side.
Murray Wenzel
After suffering their second loss of the Super Rugby AU season to the Reds, the Brumbies want to book a win against the Rebels ahead of the finals.
Melissa Woods
Warriors coach Nathan Brown expects a stint in reserve grade will help young code-hopper Eliesa Katoa, who will miss their NRL clash with the Dragons.
Ben Marschke has become the Sydney Roosters' unlikely starting hooker to face Melbourne, but he is only there through North Sydney's NSW Cup recruitment.
Scott Bailey
Craig Fitzgibbon has half of Cronulla's roster spots open as he starts planning for 2022, but Trent Robinson says players won't follow from the Sydney Roosters.
The Canberra Raiders have full faith in youngster Caleb Aekins who will make his debut for the club, replacing star fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
Fraser Barton
Kevin Walters admits he feels sorry for axed Brisbane No.6 Anthony Milford given the scrutiny he's faced at the NRL club over the last five seasons.
A memorial service for the late Tommy Raudonikis will be held on Monday at the SCG after his family accepted the Australian Rugby League Commission's offer.
AAP
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary says his team have learned to stand up for themselves in the next evolution of their NRL growth, denying they'd become too arrogant.
Wakefield say they've made an offer for former Cronulla premiership matchwinner Andrew Fifita that could reunite him with twin brother David.
Ian Laybourn
NRL coach John Morris was sacked in dramatic circumstances. Now his mum Sharyn has hit out at the club via social media, labelling Cronulla powerbrokers as ‘deceitful liars’.
NRL boss Andrew Abdo says it won't force the introduction of a 17th club if the numbers don't stack up once the process is finalised by July.
Manly fullback Tom Trbojevic has been named against Gold Coast for just his second NRL game since June.
Pamela Whaley
Wests Tigers great John Skandalis is hurting after the NRL side's limp first-half effort saw them booed off the field last weekend.
Josh McGuire is set to add mongrel to the St George Illawarra pack after his NRL switch from North Queensland was made official.
St George Illawarra's resurgence under coach Anthony Griffin has been built on players being unselfish and not letting their teammates down.
Brandon Smith says Melbourne are still working out how to best use both he and Harry Grant but thinks he may come on early against the big Roosters pack.
Wade Graham has ruled himself out of Cronulla's NRL clash with Newcastle after a second concussion in 15 days, and is unsure when he will return.
Sydney Roosters hooker Ben Marschke is free to play Melbourne after successfully fighting a crusher-tackle charge at the NRL judiciary.
John Morris has been axed as Cronulla NRL coach after Craig Fitzgibbon agreed to take over at the Sharks on a three-year deal, starting next season.
North Queensland powerhouse Jason Taumalolo believes Adam Reynolds can help the Cowboys rediscover what went missing after Johnathan Thurston’s retirement.
Fatima Kdouh
St George Illawarra have agreed to terms with North Queensland and are set to announce the signing of Josh McGuire as early as Tuesday morning.
Melbourne's Nelson Asofa-Solomona is looking forward to facing in-form fellow Kiwi forward Jared Warea-Hargreaves when the Storm host the Roosters on Friday.
Head of football Graham Annesley says the NRL is close to finalising investigations into Penrith, Canberra and Canterbury with decisions expected imminently.
© West Australian Newspapers Limited 2020
