With centre Jamal Idris ruled out for the rest of the year and captain Aaron Woods also sidelined with a knee injury, Wests Tigers head coach Ivan Cleary has made a number of key changes to the team that will take on Souths this Friday night.
Chris Lawrence will captain the Wests Tigers in the round 10 clash at ANZ Stadium.
Having already triumped over the Rabbitohs back in Round 1, Cleary’s side will be looking to repeat the performance this Friday as both teams celebrate the NRL’s Indigenous Round.
Woods, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Cronulla Sharks in Round 9 will be replaced in the starting side by Sauaso Sue.
Young gun JJ Felise comes on to the interchange bench in jersey 17 after playing his first game of 2017 against the Sharks.
David Nofoaluma (knee) was also under some doubt for the match after pulling out of the Samoa Pacific Test, but has been named and is expected to play come Friday night.
Having not featured since Round 7 with a hamstring injury, Jamal Idris will be unavailable for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL.
The news is much better for Tim Grant (illness) and James Tedesco (concussion), who have both been named to play.
Mid season igning Malakai Watene-Zelezniak rounds out the extended 21 man squad for Wests Tigers, and could become Wests Tigers Player #202 should he make his debut on Friday night against South Sydney.
Kickoff for the match is at 7:50pm.
The Wests Tigers team named by Ivan Cleary is:
1. James Tedesco
2. David Nofoaluma
3. Michael Chee Kam
4. Moses Suli
5. Kevin Naiqama
6. Mitchell Moses
7. Luke Brooks
8. Sauaso Sue
9. Matt McIlwrick
10. Ava Seumanufagai
11. Joel Edwards
12. Chris Lawrence
13. Elijah Taylor
Interchange:
14. Tim Grant
15. Josh Aloiai
16. Jacob Liddle
17. JJ Felise
