Matchday Details
Thursday 7 August – 7:50pm (AEST) – AAMI Park, Melbourne
📺 Broadcast: Nine / Fox League / Kayo
Referee: Name | Bunker: Name
Storm
1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. Grant Anderson 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Tyran Wishart 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero 14. Jonah Pezet 15. Ativalu Lisati 16. Tui Kamikamica 17. Joe Chan 18. Kane Bradley 19. Bronson Garlick 20. Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown 21. Alec MacDonald 22. Lazarus Vaalepu
Broncos
1. Reece Walsh 2. Selwyn Cobbo 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Ben Hunt 10. Payne Haas 11. Jack Gosiewski 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Billy Walters 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Ben Talty 17. Jaiyden Hunt 18. Tyson Smoothy 19. Jesse Arthars 20. Cory Paix 21. Josiah Karapani 22. Va’a Semu
Match Preview
Round 23 kicks off on Thursday night, with the Storm hosting the Broncos at AAMI Park in a high-stakes clash. The Storm are coming off a gritty 16-10 win over the Eels last week, while the Broncos hammered the Rabbitohs 60-14. The Storm sits in second position, looking to consolidate their spot in the top two, while the Broncos are in sixth, looking for a win to catapult their way into the top four. Recent head-to-head leans heavily in favour of the Storm – they’ve won 15 of the past 16 matchups between the two sides.
For the Storm, Trent Loiero returns at lock, pushing Ativalu Lisati back to the bench, and Bronson Garlick to the reserves. The rest of the Storm squad remains unchanged from the side that got the win over the Eels last week. Harry Grant brings up a big club milestone, notching his 100th game for the Storm.
Last week was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. It wet conditions, the Storm produced the kind of gritty defensive effort we’ve come to associate with them over the years. The return of Trent Loiero will be a key to their middle remaining strong. An underrated piece of their forward puzzle, Loiero has hit his stride since being involved in a successful Origin campaign with Queensland. With ball in hand, he’ll be looking for second phase play to give Harry Grant and the Storm spine a platform to open up the Broncos defence. If they win the ruck battle, expect Grant to once again take the lead without Jahrome Hughes in the side, scheming out of dummy-half and creating opportunities close to the line for his forwards. Another factor in their favour is their impeccable Thursday night record – they’ve never lost a home game on a Thursday night (19-0 across all venues).
For the Broncos, Xavier Willison is out after suffering a broken arm in last week’s win over the Rabbitohs. Payne Haas replaces him in the front row after being a late withdrawal last week due to infection. The rest of their squad is unchanged.
After a scintillating display where they dropped 60 points on the Rabbitohs at home, the Broncos could be forgiven for being extremely confident going into this match-up against the Storm. The forward battle will be critical to the outcome of this game. Despite losing an in-form Willison, they’ll be bolstered by the return of their spearhead Payne Haas – a scary thought considering what they were able to do without him in the side. A hurdle they’ll need to overcome is their record at AAMI Park – it’s not good. They’ve not won a game there since 2016. Having said that, the Broncos are firing in attack and the Storm have shown defensive vulnerabilities out wide this year. Expect Reece Walsh and the Broncos outside backs to feature prominently if there’s dry conditions throughout the game.
Prediction
RLZ Tip: Storm by 4.
See our full Round 23 Predictions (live Wednesday 12pm) here: 2025 NRL Tipping: Round 23 Writer Predictions
Have your say: Who wins? Drop your tip in the comments or vote in our poll.
