Ahead of the two opening games of the season on Sunday in Las Vegas,ย Zero Tackleย has you covered with all the latest injury and team news.
Before the game begins, the Brisbane Broncos are set to make a late change for their match against the Sydney Roosters, whilst Cody Walker has been deemed a sure starter for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Despite being named on the reserves, it has been reported by several publications, including The Courier Mail, that veteran Martin Taupau will be elevated onto the Broncos interchange bench ahead of the game.
With Kevin Walters set to make a late change, the experience of Taupau will come in handy as they face off against the Roosters in a new location.
The 34-year-old is understood to be replacing prop Xavier Willison, who has played 11 NRL games to date.
โMarty brings experience,โ teammate Payne Haas said.
โHe has played for his country New Zealand and having someone in your team with Marty's experience is pretty good.
โHe is someone you can lean on for advice when the going gets tough.
โI'm not sure if he plays, but if he does play he will do his job."
The Rabbitohs will head into their opening game without Jack Wighton, Campbell Graham, Izaac Thompson and Tyrone Munro. However, they have been given a major boost with Cody Walker overcoming a calf injury to play in the game, per News Corp.
The veteran representative five-eighth will start alongside Lachlan Ilias in the halves, with coach Jason Demetriou confirming the news.
โHe's fine,'' Souths coach Jason Demetriou said viaย News Corp.
โHe's trained all week and has been really good.
โHe's a world class player. I'm really happy that he was able to get the training done in San Diego, that was important for his prep and to be able to have a full week of training going into round one is got him in a good head space.''
