Sydney Roosters v Melbourne Storm: NRL preliminary final – live

Updates from the game at the SCGAny thoughts? Email or tweet @JPHowcroft 10.55am BST 1 min: Roosters 0-0 Storm: There’s some biff on the first carry! Nelson Asofa-Solomona took the first carry and at the play the ball throws a couple of slaps at Siosiua Taukeiaho who then retaliates with a sharp jab. Ten minutes in the bin for both forwards for striking! Wow! What a start. The outcome on the field is a penalty to the Roosters. 10.52am BST Underway at the SCG! 10.49am BST The teams are making their way out onto the SCG. The Roosters are in their famous tricolour uniform, the Storm are in their change strip of predominately white with purple accents. 10.46am BST Boyd Cordner did not attempt to play down the pain of missing the suspended Waerea-Hargreaves. “He leaves a big hole in the forward pack,” the Easts skipper said. “To lose experience like that is not ideal.” 10.44am BST If you were wondering how big this match was, Channel 9 has it on its main channel in Melbourne, including the full pregame. 10.43am BST How influential with the venue be tonight? After losing at the SCG in the opening round of the season to the Bunnies the Roosters have won nine on the spin at their temporary home. By contrast, this is Storm’s first visit to the venerable old cricket ground. 10.39am BST Time to kick into gear #EastsToWin #NRLFinals pic.twitter.com/BsKlZt7F1h 10.35am BST Tonight’s winners will have to get past the Raiders after they prevailed in a low-scoring final against the Rabbitohs last night. Related: Canberra Raiders end 25-year wait to reach NRL grand final with victory over Rabbitohs 10.32am BST Some NRLW stories to share, starting with the Broncos suffering their first ever loss, at the hands of the Warriors, in the curtain raiser to tonight’s prelim. Related: Brisbane Broncos suffer first ever NRLW loss at hands of the NZ Warriors Related: Ruan Sims: curtain falls on playing career of NRLW’s modern-day pioneer | Larissa O'Connor 10.31am BST Warm up pic.twitter.com/0PuCWCBAWm 10.30am BST Trent Robinson has just been on TV and he was asked about the likelihood of a few Garryowens heading Chambers’s way. Plenty, was his answer. 10.27am BST Melbourne have won the coin toss, the Roosters will kick-off. Cameron Smith could barely hide his disdain for having to participate in the process. 10.24am BST It’s dry under the lights at the SCG, but there’s a brisk southerly keeping the temperatures on the cool side and offering an added degree of difficulty for anything aerial. Will Chambers in particular must be expecting plenty of bombs in his general direction. 10.18am BST Craig Bellamy has also been forced into one change with flying winger Suliasi Vunivalu ruled out with a hamstring injury. That means a return for Will Chambers on the wing and the late inclusion of Sandor Earl on the bench, selected ahead of Joe Stimson who was named earlier in the week. 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen, 17. Will Chambers, 3. Curtis Scott, 4. Justin Olam, 5. Josh Addo-Carr, 6. Cameron Munster, 7. Jahrome Hughes, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Cameron Smith, 10. Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 11. Felise Kaufusi, 12. Kenneath Bromwich, 13. Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14. Brandon Smith, 15. Tui Kamikamica, 16. Max King, 21. Sandor Earl 10.14am BST Trent Robinson has been forced into one change with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’s suspension allowing Siosiua Taukeiaho a promotion to the starting side and Lindsay Collins to come into the matchday squad. There was some speculation over co-captain Jake Friend’s availability but he remains sidelined with an arm injury, while any rumours over the fitness of Luke Keary also proved unfounded. 10.02am BST Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the NRL preliminary final between the Roosters and Storm from the SCG. Kick-off in Sydney is around 7.50pm. The top two sides on this year’s ladder, last season’s grand finalists, and the most recent two premiers; match-ups do not get any bigger than this. Without intending to troll Raiders supporters, this fixture ought to be the grand final, but Canberra’s excellence against Melbourne a fortnight ago and Souths last night means tonight’s blockbuster is for the right to face the Raiders next weekend. Continue readingread full article

Source: TheGuardian

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