Sharks v Roosters – Sudden-death Finals footy at PointsBet

Author: Sharks Media
Timestamp: Fri 8 Sep 2023, 07:49 PM

With a strong win over the Raiders, the Sharks confirmed sixth position and home field advantage, with the Roosters locked in as their opponent after getting the better of traditional rivals the Rabbitohs, setting up a blockbuster week one Finals clash.

Sharks head coach Craig Fitzgibbon against the Club that made him a star as a player and where he also did his coaching apprenticeship, in front of a sellout crowd at PointsBet Stadium in a match where the winner will advance to an elimination Semi Final against the loser of Broncos v Storm, while the loser is eliminated.

Both the Sharks and Roosters had to battle through the last few rounds to qualify for Finals, with the similar way the two now find themselves playing for their premiership survival, not lost on the Cronulla coach.

“They’ve been at it like us. They’ve had to fight back from probably not where they wanted to be,” Fitzgibbon said of the Roosters. “But they’ve earned the right to play semi finals with some good footy at the back end of the year. Good consistent footy and they’ve got some players who know what it’s about.

“So, they are very similar to us in that they’ve had to fight and scrap and earn their way into the semis.”

As alluded to by Fitzgibbon, the teams come into the game following last up wins, the Sharks finishing sixth after being Canberra 24-6, the Roosters who finished in seventh position, on a five-match win streak and a last up win over Souths.

In team news, the Sharks suffered a blow this week when prop Braden Hamlin-Uele was ruled out with a knee complaint, however on positive note, Connor Tracey will take his place at fullback after overcoming the bumps and bruises from last weeks Raiders match.

Youngster Jesse Colquhoun has been added to the Sharks interchange bench, with Royce Hunt promoted to the starting lineup.

In the head-to-head win-loss record in the 100 matches played between the two teams, the Sharks have recorded 35 wins, the Roosters 63, with two draws.

This will be the 50th Sharks v Roosters clash at PointsBet, with the Roosters winning 28 of the 50 matches, including four of the past five.

The last time the teams met, the Sharks snapped a seven-match losing streak against the Roosters, winning 22-12 in Round 7 at PointsBet Stadium.

Aside from the home and away season, this is the third finals match between these teams, with the Roosters winning both the previous encounters, a 32-20 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium in 2002, in a match when current Cronulla coach Fitzgibbon kicked six goals from six attempts in his team’s win. In the only other Finals match up the Roosters were successful 21-12 in 2018 at the same venue.

Only Wade Graham remains from the last Finals meeting, while seven Roosters are still with the Club from that 2018 season.

The overall Finals record for the Sharks reads as 51 games, 19 wins and 31 losses, with one draw. The Roosters have been involved in 116 Finals, for 60 wins and 56 losses.

The Sharks have lost their last five Finals matches, the club’s second longest Finals losing streak (winless in 10 straight from 1978-1995) and overall has won just 19 of 51 (37%). They have missed the finals just once since 2015 (ninth in 2021).

However, their Finals record at PointsBet is a good one, the Sharks having won five of six matches, their only loss coming in a golden point 32-30 defeat at the hands of the Cowboys last year.

Since 1999, the Sharks have won six of 15 Week 1 finals matches, however they are on a five game first week losing streak, their last victory coming against the Raiders in 2016.

The Roosters have qualified for their seventh straight finals appearance, their second longest streak in the Grand Final era (since 1954) behind their nine straight seasons from 1996-2004. As for the Roosters, they have lost the past two, and four of the past five finals matches. Since 1999 the Roosters have won nine of 17 Week 1 finals matches.

In relation to player stats, Ronaldo Mulitalo is just the second Shark in club history to score 20 tries in a season, ranking him behind only Valentine Holmes who holds the record with 22 tries scored in 2018.

Mulitalo has scored 26 tries in 24 games at PointsBet, including 12 tries in his past nine games at the venue, with four doubles and at least one in each of his last five.

Nicho Hynes has the most line breaks this season and the second most try assists in the NRL and Blayke Brailey has made the most tackles of any player.

James Tedesco leads the Roosters for tries this season with 11, and he has scored three in his past two games. He has three tries in his past four games at PointsBet.

The Sharks v Roosters Finals clash is scheduled for a 7.50pm kick off, with the two 19-man squads listed below.

In addition to the inclusion of Colquhoun, Daniel Atkinson and Kayal Iro have been retained on an extended Sharks reserves list, with Will Kennedy, Mat Moylan and Hamlin-Uele dropping out of the 22 as named on Tuesday.

Finals Week 1 - Finals Week 1 - Saturday 9 Sep

Full Time

Sharks

Roosters

Team Lists

Backs

Fullback for Sharks is number 1 Connor Tracey

Fullback for Roosters is number 1 James Tedesco
Winger for Sharks is number 2 Sione Katoa

Winger for Roosters is number 2 Fetalaiga Pauga
Centre for Sharks is number 3 Jesse Ramien

Centre for Roosters is number 3 Billy Smith
Centre for Sharks is number 4 Siosifa Talakai

Centre for Roosters is number 4 Joseph Manu
Winger for Sharks is number 5 Ronaldo Mulitalo

Winger for Roosters is number 5 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii
Five-Eighth for Sharks is number 6 Braydon Trindall

Five-Eighth for Roosters is number 6 Luke Keary
Halfback for Sharks is number 7 Nicholas Hynes

Halfback for Roosters is number 7 Sam Walker

Forwards

Prop for Sharks is number 8 Toby Rudolf

Prop for Roosters is number 10 Lindsay Collins
Hooker for Sharks is number 9 Blayke Brailey

Hooker for Roosters is number 9 Brandon Smith
Prop for Sharks is number 15 Royce Hunt

Prop for Roosters is number 15 Egan Butcher
2nd Row for Sharks is number 11 Briton Nikora

2nd Row for Roosters is number 11 Siua Wong
2nd Row for Sharks is number 12 Wade Graham

2nd Row for Roosters is number 12 Nat Butcher
Lock for Sharks is number 13 Cameron McInnes

Lock for Roosters is number 13 Victor Radley

Interchange

Interchange for Sharks is number 14 Jack Williams

Interchange for Roosters is number 8 Fletcher Baker
Interchange for Sharks is number 16 Thomas Hazelton

Interchange for Roosters is number 14 Sandon Smith
Interchange for Sharks is number 17 Oregon Kaufusi

Interchange for Roosters is number 16 Terrell May
Interchange for Sharks is number 20 Jesse Colquhoun

Interchange for Roosters is number 17 Angus Crichton