Intrust Super Premiership Finals Wk 2 Preview

Week two of the Intrust Super Premiership finals is here and after a big weekend of action in Penrith the focus turns now to Kogarah where four sides have a sudden death playoff to stay in contention for the ISP title.

Last week at Penrith saw four extremely close games with the biggest margin of the weekend being just ten points with the Panthers 28-18 win whilst the other three games were decided by a combined margin of seven.

Second Semi Final

Newtown Jets v Mounties
Kick Off: Saturday, 1:10pm (Live Channel 9, and on Steele Sport radio)

The opening match of week two of the Intrust Super Premiership finals sees Newtown who come off a loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons take on Mounties who snatched a one point victory against the Warriors on Saturday evening.

The Jets who finished third in the regular season can find themselves extremely unlucky to be playing in week 2 of the finals after conceding a 76th minute try by the Dragons to put the Jets behind on the scoreboard. The try came in controversial circumstances when referee Damien Briscoe ruled that a cross-field bomb from Darren Nicholls was lost backwards by Newtown only to have replays show that the ball was quite clearly knocked forward by the Dragons. Although an incorrect decision hurt Newtown at the end, they twice gave up a lead of ten points which would be a major concern for the Jets. The Jets performance however was impressive given that they were on the wrong end of a 10-5 penalty count and a possession rate that heavily favoured the Dragons on Sunday. The Jets have lost winger Matt Evans from their side who picked up an ankle injury during the second half of last week's game.

Mounties ended a five-game losing streak last weekend when they scored a 21-20 victory over the New Zealand Warriors in what could be described as an underwhelming and poor game by both sides for the most part. The first half of the game was poor and it wasn't helped by an overzealous referee who blew 14 of the games 20 penalties in the first half. The Mounties side spent ten minutes of the first half down to twelve when Tony Satini was sin binned for pushing a Warriors chaser off the ball. The sin bin period didn't hurt the Mulga who came out of the sin bin period locked up at 6-6. The Mounties surprised many by racing out to a 16-6 lead at the break before adding another try just after half time to lead 20-6. The second half defence would be a concern leading into the game with the best attacking side in the competition as the Warriors were themselves able to lock the scores up before Tyler Cornish sent the Mount Pritchard based side a point ahead which is where they stayed.

Players To Watch: Sione Katoa - Another member of the Newtown side to have NRL experience, Katoa will be a key part of the Jets attack and defence on the outside of the park. The young winger has played 9 games in the Intrust Super Premiership and has scored 8 tries in his limited appearances this season. The strength of Katoa has also seen him notch up just under 1,400 running metres since his return to the ISP competition.

Brendan O'Hagan - Having started the season in the Jersey Flegg, O'Hagan has found himself a regular member of the Mounties ISP side after parent club Canberra Raiders' injury issues in the NRL. The fiery red-head made an impact on his ISP back in Round 18 against Wests when he scored a try and had two try assists to his name. The youngster has had to take the burden of the pressure for the Mounties side and last week was impressive in both defence and attack especially with the boot where he kicked for 268m as well as scoring a try and having three tackle busts.

Games This Season: Like a lot of the teams this season, the spoils between the two sides were split with Newtown winning the first game between the sides by 34-20 at Aubrey Keech Reserve before Mounties were able to take the victory at Henson Park in round 15 by 22-16.

My Tip: It's hard to go past the Jets in this one, they looked good in attack last week against the Dragons despite their loss. Mounties form was poor and they struggled against the Warriors who themselves had a poor game. There's too much experience in this Jets side to see them slip up in this one. Jets by 12.

1. Will Kennedy 2. Bessie Aufaga-Toomaga 3. Aaron Gray 4. Reubenn Rennie 5. Sione Katoa 6. Jesse Marschke 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Kurt Dillon 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Ava Seumanufagai 11. Briton Nikora 12. Anthony Moraitis 13. Jaimin Jolliffe 14. Billy Magoulias 17. Wesley Lolo 20. Addison Demetriou 21. Malakai Houma

1. Sitiveni Moceidreke 2. Tony Satini 3. Sebastian Kris 4. Ed Murphy 5. Taane Milne 6. Brendan O'Hagan 7. Tyler Cornish 8. Royce Hunt 9. Sam Duggan 10. Liam Knight 11. Makahesi Makatoa 12. Jack Murchie 13. Corey Horsburgh 14. Mitch Cahalane 16. Daniel Roberts 17. Jarrett Boland 19. Joel Luani

First Semi Final

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Wyong Roos
Kick Off: Sunday 7:30pm (Live Fox Sports & on Steele Sports radio)

Just thirty and a half hours later after the first final, the second semi-final takes place and will see the Canterbury Bulldogs who are coming off a loss against the Panthers taking on the Wyong Roos who needed an extra ten minutes to defeat the Wests Magpies last Sunday.

The Bulldogs fell to a 28-18 defeat last Saturday against the Penrith Panthers at Panthers Stadium on Saturday. The Bulldogs actually managed to open the scoring early in the first half before the Panthers raced to an 18-6 lead at the half time break before an early second half try put the Panthers 22-6. The momentum swung around to the Bulldogs who scored two tries in the space of three minutes as the gap closed to 22-18. The Bulldogs were able to create pressure on the Panthers but there would be concerns for the Bulldogs coaching staff with their inability to crack the Panthers defensive line after having six sets in attack on the Panthers line. The Bulldogs created plenty of opportunities and will be boosted by the return of Greg Eastwood, Matt Frawley, Ofahiki Ogden and Rhyse Martin who bring experience and attacking prowess to the Bulldogs side and will be a big boost to their form of last week.

The Wyong Roos have had a less than ideal season compared to their efforts of 2018 but in their final season of Intrust Super Premiership they have at least made the second week of the finals which can be called a success. The Roos had a tough task against the Wests Magpies and had to come from 10-0 down in ordinary time to force the game into extra time at 12-12. The extra time again saw the Roos having to come from behind and a brain snap from Ruben Porter handed the Wests Magpies the lead when he pushed the Wests player at marker over and gave the Magpies a penalty in front of the posts. The Roos again needed the last five minutes to take victory which is what they did when Matt Ikavalu scored for the Roos leaving the big Wests fans contingent unhappy over a missed forward pass.

Players To Watch: Rhyse Martin - The Bulldogs second rower has stepped up for the NRL side and will be a key addition to the Bulldogs side this weekend. The PNG international, possesses impressive skills in both attack and defence which will be important if the Bulldogs want to pose a threat to the Wyong side. The goal kicking ability of Martin will be another key gain for the Bulldogs this weekend should the game get close towards the end of the game.

Sean O'Sullivan - The youngster has shown plenty of ability on his way through to the top level initially in the Junior representative comps with the Panthers and now recently with the Wyong side and earlier this season O'Sullivan debuted for the Roosters NRL side. Since moving to the ISP from Jersey Flegg, O'Sullivan's impact on the Wyong side has been impressive and since he moved into the ISP, the Wyong side have only lost two of the eight games that O'Sullivan played in for the Roos.

Games This Season: The games this season between the sides have been split and unlike other games this season, the home side won both games in 2018 with the Bulldogs winning the first clash at Belmore by 40-18 in Round 5. The Roos then took victory in Round 12 by 24-20 at Central Coast Stadium.

My Tip: This game could be won by either side by a big margin or could go for hours in extra time. The additions to the Bulldogs will be a huge boost which is why I think they will win the game but Wyong are going to be desperate to go one better than they did last year. The Roos struggled against the Magpies but they showed the desperation to come back twice and firstly force the game into extra time and then take victory. This is the more likely of the two games to go into extra time and I think that the Bulldogs will win it after the 80-minute mark. Bulldogs by 1.

1. Mason Cerruto 2. Tom Carr 3. Morgan Harper 4. John Olive 5. Josh Bergamin 6. Josh Cleeland 7. Matt Frawley 8. Renouf To'omaga 9. Fa'amanu Brown 10. Ofahiki Ogden 11. Asipeli Fine 12. Rhyse Martin 13. Greg Eastwood 14. Zac Woolford 15. Lachlan Burr 16. Jack Nelson 17. Bronson Garlick 19. Jayden Okunbor 23. Francis Tualau

1. Luke Sharpe 4. Matt Ikuvalu 14. Brendan Frei 3. Paul Momirovski 25. Billy Smith 6. Sean O'sullivan 7. Mitchell Cornish 8. Eloni Vunakece 9. Mitch Williams 10. Frank Paul Nuuausala 11. Brock Gray 12. Sitili Tupouniua 13. Poasa Faamausili 15. Reuben Porter 16. Benjamin Thomas 17. Jake Lewis 24. Kurt Baptiste