Delouise Hoeter, the young gun centre, gets another chance to impress for the Wests Tigers in their clash against the Roosters this Friday night.
When Tim Simona was ruled out for four weeks with an ankle injury picked up last Saturday in the Test match for Samoa, coach Jason Taylor had no hesitation in naming the exciting 21 year old Hoeter to partner old stager Chris Lawrence in the centres.
Lawrence himself returns to the starting 13 after keeping the bench warm in the Tigers’ last start, the big win against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.
But Lawrence will need to break his 16 match try drought if he doesn’t want to go back to the bench when Simona returns in four weeks’ time.
This round 9 clash with the Roosters at Allianz Stadium is as good a time as any for “Lawrence of Leumeah’’ to get his try scoring mojo back.
Most Wests fans certainly want to see him succeed so he can be around for a few more years yet.
In naming the team, Taylor also pencilled in the return of big Keith Galloway from a shoulder injury, resulting in an extended interchange bench of Dene Halatau, Ava Seumanufagai, Matthew Lodge, Sauaso Sue and Jack Buchanan.
With the Roosters coming into Friday’s match on the back of four straight losses, Taylor said his side were still expecting a very tough battle against the 2013 premiers, and indicated that those results weren’t a true reflection of the Tricolours’ talent and ability.
“They’ve lost on the scoreboard [in those last four], but when you look at those games, they’re well and truly in every game that they’ve played this season,” Taylor said.
“They’re a really good defensive team and even though they’ve lost those games, they’ve defended well in all of them so far so we’re expecting a tough tight game.”
The other significant team naming news item at the Wests Tigers bunker is the return of Curtis Sironen’s “little brother’’ Bailey Sironen on the bench in the Holden Cup side.
Except that Bailey, a backrower, is no “little’’ brother; in fact he’s another giant from the Sironen clan who also has very good football skills.
Their old man, Paul Sironen, wasn’t a bad footy player either for the old Balmain Tigers.
Bailey, 19, is 186cm tall and weighs around 95 kilos and according to some experts it is only a matter of time before he plays first grade alongside his older brother.
In NSW Cup team news, David Nofoaluma has been named to return from an ankle injury at centre, while Tim Moltzen will slot in at fullback following the departure of Shannon McDonnell.
♦ Wests Tigers NRL – Round 9 v Roosters:
1. James Tedesco
2. Kevin Naiqama
3. Delouise Hoeter
4. Chris Lawrence
5. Pat Richards
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Aaron Woods
9. Robbie Farah (C)
10. Keith Galloway
11. Curtis Sironen
12. Kyle Lovett
13. Martin Taupau
Interchange:
14. Dene Halatau
15. Ava Seumanufagai
16. Matthew Lodge
17. Sauaso Sue
18. Jack Buchanan
INJURY LIST – Tim Simona (ankle – four weeks), Brenden Santi (nose – two weeks)
Wests Tigers NSW Cup – Round 9 v Wyong:
1. Tim Moltzen
2. Keith Lulia
3. David Nofoaluma
4. Nathan Milone
5. Kurtis Rowe
6. Joel Luani (C)
7. Josh Drinkwater
8. Jack Buchanan
9. Manaia Cherrington
10. Jordan Grant
11. Lamar Liolevave
12. Asipeli Fine
13. Andy Fiagatusa
Interchange:
14. Michael Bullock
15. Salesi Funaki
16. Sitaleki Akauola
17. Wesley Lolo
Wests Tigers Holden Cup – Round 9 v Roosters:
1. Jeremy Marshall-King
2. Ryland Jacobs
3. Watson Heleta
4. John Tohi
5. Jayden Wheelhouse
6. Te Maire Martin
7. Veiru Mapesone
8. JJ Felise
9. Jacob Liddle
10. Dwayne Lemafa
11. Tyler Cassel
12. Esan Marsters
13. Matthew Woods (C)
Interchange:
14. Junior Tatola
15. Pio Sokobalavau
16. Tom Harris
17. Bailey Sironen
18. Jamie Hill
