Melbourne are set to be at full strength for their blockbuster NRL grand final rematch against Penrith with Nelson Asofa-Solomona escaping another ban.
The giant Kiwi missed last year’s losing title decider due to a five-week suspension but is free to play in Thursday’s AAMI Park showdown.
There were fears Asofa-Solomona would again be sidelined after he was put on report while playing for the Storm’s feeder club Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Queensland Cup on the weekend.
While he was charged with a grade one offence for a hip drop tackle on PNG prop Zebedy Kip, he was only given a warning by the Queensland Rugby League match review committee.
Looking to avenge a 14-6 defeat, the Panthers match will be the first time Asofa-Solomona will line up alongside star front-row recruit Stefano Utoikamanu.
Melbourne opened their season with big win over Parramatta but had a second round bye as Penrith suffered a shock 38-32 loss to the unheralded Sydney Roosters.
Meanwhile, the unbeaten Canberra Raiders have been dealt a blow ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manly, losing luckless second-rower Zac Hosking.
The 28-year-old, who was restricted to eight games last year due to a serious shoulder injury, had surgery on his broken hand suffered in the clash against Brisbane.
He’s expected to be out for four to six weeks.
Ponga forces rethink
Queensland Origin coach Billy Slater admits the red-hot form of Newcastle skipper Kalyn Ponga could force a rethink over who wears the No.1 jersey in Origin this year.
Ponga has been a standout performer for the Knights in their back-to-back wins while Maroons incumbent Reece Walsh has been below his best in Brisbane’s win over the Roosters and upset loss to the Raiders to start the season.
“He was so impressive, 10 out of 10 to be honest,” the Maroons mentor said on The Billy Slater Podcast.
“I was there at McDonald Jones Stadium watching Kalyn destroy the Dolphins. He is so influential in that football team and it’s not a one-off. This was all of last year and the year before, he is so influential in his football side.
“They have won their opening two games of the season and it’s off the back of Kalyn.
“Kalyn is the spark, he’s the creator, he’s doing a lot more kicking at the moment and he’s controlling the attack. He’s just got so much freedom and they are playing a really good style that gets him the football in good situations.
“He was brilliant, so influential, both with the footy and making try-saving tackles.”
Slater has also taken notice of Canberra forward Corey Horsburgh’s return to form as the one-time Maroons representative has fought his way back into the NRL after a stint in the NSW Cup last year.
“We saw a couple of years ago he was capable of it,” he said.
“It just shows you when you commit yourself and you get yourself nice and fit, what you can actually do.”
Kalyn Ponga. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Turuva sees Panthers DNA at Tigers
Winger Sunia Turuva sees similarities between the new-look Wests Tigers and NRL juggernauts Penrith as he makes a hot start to life at his new club.
The former Panther scored a hat-trick of tries in Wests’ 32-6 dismantling of Parramatta on Sunday, only his second game for the three-time reigning wooden spooners.
Fijian international Turuva steamed down the right flank to bamboozle the Eels all afternoon, finding pockets of space high and low as he crashed and dived into the right corner.
The two-time premiership-winning winger picked up where he left off from last season, when a try in Penrith’s grand final triumph counted among his 17 for the year.
Turuva said he’d noticed links between the improving Tigers and the Panthers after joining the club with five-eighth Jarome Luai this year.
“(Our set-up) is similar to be honest. One reason is because we have Jarome here,” Turuva told AAP.
“He’s driving the standard, driving the culture.
“It’s a real young group, so that’s pretty good for me as well. Hopefully we can change this club around.”
Benji Marshall had a near full-strength squad available in round two, welcoming back try-scorers Jahream Bula and Starford To’a, as well as captain Api Koroisau.
The Tigers conceded the least amount of points they have in any game since June 2021 as they welcomed back their reinforcements.
Terrell May and Alex Seyfarth led the defence as they contributed to one in four Tiger tackles.
But it was 19-year-old five-eighth Lachlan Galvin who stole the show amid fresh speculation about his future, scoring a try, setting up two and gelling with an energetic Luai.
“(Galvin) he’s the man. Lachie, Jarome, Api, Starford, it’s good to see our strongest team out there,” Turuva said.
“For us consistency (matters most). It’s something we’ve been doing during the pre-season. I’m trying to win and turn up each day.”
with AAP
