Team List Sydney City Roosters v NZ Warriors - [Round 1, 2026]

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On paper shouldn’t win hardly any games, young forwards, old backs, mud halves.

But they play with heaps of effort, will the rorters say the same?

As often the case, likely come down to a refs call here, a kick contest there.
I hate it when people talk about teams on "paper" because it's such a subjective construct that is used to push certain narratives about teams. According to the "experts", we have one of the weakest rosters in the comp yet we have been in the top 4 for pretty much 2 of the last 3 years. That's clearly not a fluke. What many people miss is that whilst we don't have a star studded backline like some of the big clubs, we have a top tier forward pack that will always keep us in most games that we play. That will be the case again this year and on Friday night. It's going to be a tough game on Friday but if we pull it off, which I think we can, it shouldn't be considered a monumental upset as this game really is a flip of the coin.
 
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I hate it when people talk about teams on "paper" because it's such a subjective construct that is used to push certain narratives about teams. According to the "experts", we have one of the weakest rosters in the comp yet we have been in the top 4 for pretty much 2 of the last 3 years. That's clearly not a fluke. What many people miss is that whilst we don't have a star studded backline like some of the big clubs, we have a top tier forward pack that will always keep us in most games that we play. That will be the case again this year and on Friday night. It's going to be a tough game on Friday but if we pull it off, which I think we can, it shouldn't be considered a monumental upset of any sort as this game really is a flip of the coin.
We have won against Tigers, Knights, Titans and Dragons since we have not had Metcalf and Barnett.

At the same time we have lost to : Broncos, Titans, Dolphins, Bulldogs, Eels, Sea Eagles, Panthers.

One side of the coin is a lot heavier than the other but i respect the optimism.
 
were you scared this time last year when we basically beat this team at MSS minus DCE?
I think DCE and Sam Walker are just a tad step up in class on Sandon Smith and the Chad from last year.

As i keep saying tho this the game wont be won by the halves......itll be whoever can control the ruck. Both teams have decent packs so itll be an interesting battle.....think it;ll possibly come down to penalties and turnovers.....discipline and completing sets the key.
 
I think DCE and Sam Walker are just a tad step up in class on Sandon Smith and the Chad from last year.

As i keep saying tho this the game wont be won by the halves......itll be whoever can control the ruck. Both teams have decent packs so itll be an interesting battle.....think it;ll possibly come down to penalties and turnovers.....discipline and completing sets the key.

Sorry, what?! Lol

In 8 games last year Walker had more than double the try assists of Chad and Sandon combined.
 
Super excited for the first game of the season! Will actually take the morning off work so I can watch live. Roosters are a formidable looking team so it’s a good measure on how the preseason was, and how much growth we see from the younger players.

Was also laughing to myself how more triggered I will be when Webster doesn’t use Healey from the 6 man bench, and instead plays Ford for 65 minutes and goes for the rotation of Vaimauga, TSS, Leka and Gannon.

Will be interesting to see the use of the bench, never has been a strong point from Webster IMO.
 
Weather forecast is good for Round 1. Fine 23 degrees and southwesterlies. No excuses for good football.

This game will be won and lost in the forwards. DCE and Smith can’t do anything if their forwards are going backwards.

Roosters are a stacked team and should be close to top 4 if they stay healthy so a good test first up.

We are overdue for a lite injury season (as they are) so let’s hope our performance is a good one.
 
Good to finally have a team named. It has been a long summer.

Good seeing some of the injured players back. We had quite an injury list for so early in the season. Hopefully minor issues from a hard pre-season and we don't see some of the early season niggles players often pick up.

I hope we get a good run with injuries once the two returning from ACL injuries come back. We have had a frustrating run the last few years, waiting for specific players to return to see how they would fit in.


I am interested to see how Clark is used. He was doing more ball playing in the trials. Hopefully that is something they have been working on. He was great last year giving us some steel in the middle. The main criticism would be in the opposition 20 where he would often stunt the attack. Sometimes you need to settle to attack on the next play. But we'd often be moving the ball and then he'd charge forward and the play would stop.
 
Ali’s defence was shocking in the game vs the Dolphins ….
If he fails again tomorrow will Webster continue with him or switch CNK to centre with TT at fullback?
He's definitely in need of defensive improvement. Not as much as AKP but like Alofiana, he possesses massive offensive upside. He knows centre more than Leka. Has more impact on attack and setting up Dallin. Don't know why I'm defending him when I thoroughly agree with your take. Here's hoping the occasion matches his attitude.
 
A win feels a little like mission impossible....not saying it is, just sayin....in me feels.

Don't take this as a negative, we are slow competition starters, old clubs from Sydney often aren't they come out like March Premiers, I know this ain't scientific, just a viewers memory of lots of seasons of NRL.

And then there is the Ref factor, lets not forget that we are the minnow side here, if we are talking long term historical human subjectivity = Roosters big team/Warriors little battler team.

Our main challenge is ourselves, overcoming the first six round clunkyness the Warriors throw up every season, which is why I am grateful for Websters dry balls kick and chase and pin routine....long rallies...back and forth, back and forth....that is how this team wins upsets, keeping it on the down low, kicking a few speculators, causing little errors, holding our ball....you know the buzz.

Where are our points coming from? From Tanah Boyd cross field kicks to our leaping forwards....that is where we will score points. I wish it were by putting it through the hands, but that won't come till this lot shake the rust off....so this game is about Defence.

Well we might score off short passing through the forwards, but I will speculate here, that Webster based off his history, has told the forwards to tuck the ball under the wing and run hard, get dominant ruck, stick to that.

And I can imagine if Ali doesn't put in he will get the hook before the hooter and that will be his career on last life in NSW cup.
 
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NRL
NZ
Warriors Warriors
42 - 18
Sydney City Roosters
Roosters Roosters
📍 Go Media 📡 Warriors Live
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Team Logo
6.8
NZ
Team Ave Team Average
Jackson Ford
8.3
Jackson Ford
Highest Best Performance
Ali Leiataua
3.6
Ali Leiataua
Lowest Needs Improvement
TEAM LIST
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 1
7.0 (48)
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 2
6.1 (48)
Ali Leiataua 3
Right Centre
3.6 (48)
Adam Pompey 4
Left Centre
7.1 (48)
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 5
7.9 (48)
Chanel Harris-Tavita 6
Five-Eighth
7.9 (48)
Tanah Boyd 7
Halfback
8.0 (48)
James Fisher-Harris 8
Right Prop Captain
7.8 (48)
Wayde Egan 9
7.2 (48)
Jackson Ford 10
Left Prop
8.3 (48)
Kurt Capewell 11
Right Second Row
8.0 (48)
Jacob Laban 12
Left Second Row
6.1 (48)
Erin Clark 13
6.7 (48)
Sam Healey 14
Interchange
5.5 (48)
Demitric Vaimauga 15
6.1 (48)
Leka Halasima 16
Interchange
6.3 (48)
Tanner Stowers-Smith 17
6.3 (48)
Taine Tuaupiki 18
Interchange DNP
Morgan Gannon 20
Interchange DNP
COACH
Andrew Webster HC
Andrew Webster
Head Coach
8.0 (48)
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