Roosters v Broncos preview

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Considered premiership heavyweights in the early stages of the 2016 season, two underperforming sides meet on Thursday night desperate to rise from concerning form slumps.

The Roosters, despite their six game losing streak, come into this one having shown considerable promise. Discounting their alarming 46-0 thumping at the hands of Melbourne in Round 14, the Roosters have lost their remaining games in the following rounds by an average margin of 8 points per game, with three of these only being decided by 4 points or less. Having pushed the Sharks, Bulldogs, Warriors and Eels right until the 80th minute, execution and errors have been lacking from the Roosters. Despite their efforts, the proud Sydney club find themselves languishing in 15th position, thanking their lucky stars that Newcastle have shown little to suggest the 2013 Premiers will collect the coveted wooden spoon this season. Ranking 14th in both attack and defence, the Roosters will be given the perfect opportunity to bounce back and aim up in the forwards against a Brisbane side lacking confidence and form in recent weeks.

The Broncos have been abhorrent over the Origin period, and it seems to have extended to the weeks following with their 31-12 loss to Penrith of extreme concern. Since Round 11, the Broncos have ranked 11th in attack and 14th in defence and seeing they have lost six of their past eight, it is quite challenging to really indicate what exactly their form slump has exacted from. It can be said, however, that the Brisbane forward pack has really failed to step up in recent weeks. And with Matt Gillett, Josh McGuire and Sam Thaiday all out of this clash this task will be made much harder. In their loss to Penrith last week, Corey Parker was the only Brisbane forward to crack the one hundred mark in running metres. In their 30-10 demolition of the Rabbitohs, five of their big boppers were able to achieve such a feat. Brisbane halves Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt have been criticised quite a bit in the previous weeks for their team's dip in form, and whilst their involvement may be quite ordinary at the moment, without a dominant forward pack both are largely unable to showcase their array of skills, with Hunt still leading the NRL for try assists despite his team's woes.

Last meeting: Preliminary Finals 2015 - Broncos 31 Roosters 12

The Broncos booted the Roosters out of the finals with a 31-12 victory in the Preliminary finals.

Who to watch: In two performances starting in the halves, Connor Watson has relished his opportunity to cement a position in the Roosters' top 17. Combining his efforts against table topping Cronulla and Melbourne, Watson has scored a try, set up one, made a line break, ran for 268 metres and made 35 tackles, missing 0. In what has been a very solid fortnight, Watson's ability to deliver has taken the pressure off Pearce who has been just as impressive returning from injury.

For Brisbane, quite simply their forward pack needs to stand up. Representative forwards Sam Thaiday and Josh McGuire have been scratched from this one thanks to suspension with Matt Gillett and Herman Ese'ese replacing the Maroons duo. Yet with Gillett failing to recover for Thursday night's clash, Jayden Su'A is given an opportunity in Wayne Bennett's run on side. Both are relatively unknown in terms of their involvement under coach Bennett in the future, but in relatively reduced minutes, both have shown glimpses of what they will need to display on Thursday night if Brisbane are to prevail. Ese'ese, despite only averaging 23 minutes a game, has ran on average for 67 metres and will need to maintain his involvement when filling in for McGuire.

The favourite: Brisbane are slight favourites to get their season back on track.

My tip: With Gillett, McGuire and Thaiday all out, Brisbane's already struggling forward pack will receive no favours from a Roosters side which has been building towards a relieving, well-earned victory. Look for the Roosters to gain the upper hand early and hold off a fast-finishing Broncos outfit by 4.

1. Blake Ferguson 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Dale Copley 4. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 5. Latrell Mitchell 6. Connor Watson 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Isaac Liu 9. Jake Friend 10. Dylan Napa 11. Boyd Cordner 12. Mitchell Aubusson 13. Sio Siua Taukeiaho
Interchange: 14. Sam Moa 15. Aidan Guerra 16. Ryan Matterson 17. Kane Evans

1. Darius Boyd 2. Corey Oates 3. Tom Opacic 4. James Roberts 5. Lachlan Maranta 6. Anthony Milford 7. Ben Hunt 16. Jai Arrow 9. Andrew McCullough 10. Adam Blair 11. Alex Glenn 18. Jaydn Sua 13. Corey Parker
Interchange: 8. Jarrod Wallace 14. Herman Essese 15. Tevita Pangai Junior 17. Jo Ofanhengaue

Referees: Ashley Klein, Adam Gee; Sideline Officials: Nick Beashel, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski; Video Referees: Bernard Sutton, Ben Galea, Steve Chiddy