Roosters call on rookies.

The Sydney Rooster find them selves in a similar situation to the Brisbane Broncos this weekend. With many players on origin duty and some out injured, the Roosters will be calling on plenty of first division players to fill the void.

With Fletcher, Flannery, Hodges, and Ricketson on origin duty, adding to the lose Morley, Cross, Green, Bonetti, Crocker and Hood to injuries, the Roosters will call on players like Milton, Leafa, Bryne, Obst, Leuluai and unknown Mark Minichiello from first division.

This isn?t the first time the Roosters have had to deal with this sort of player drain, they were met with a similar situation when they played the Newcastle Knights earlier in the year. They got of lightly that time, with the youngsters having great games and the Knights playing well below par. This time they may not be so lucky, as they come up against a full strength Panthers team playing at home, who are showing some form after a terrible start to the year, and after the Panthers were booed from the field at home in one of their last few games, they will be determined to produce the goods.

This will be a tough game for the Roosters to win, and with 5 forwards missing it doesn?t look good. The Panthers have to sort of forward pack that can really hurt you, they are big, make plenty of metres and are mobile. The Roosters first step in winning this game will be matching the Panthers big men, who have a wealth of experience on their much younger rivals.

It?s one of those games that could be anything from sensational and close to a flogging and embarrassing, lets hope for the Rooster fans sake it?s the first one, or they?ll be copping a flogging as well.