Matchday Details
Saturday, September 13 – 7:50pm (AEST) – Shark Park
📺 Broadcast: Nine / Fox League / Kayo
Referee: Todd Smith | Bunker: Chris Butler
Sharks
1. William Kennedy, 2. Sione Katoa, 3. Jesse Ramien, 4. KL Iro, 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6. Braydon Trindall, 7. Nicho Hynes, 8. Addin Fonua-Blake, 9. Blayke Brailey, 10. Toby Rudolf, 11. Billy Burns, 12. Teig Wilton, 13. Jesse Colquhoun, 14. Oregon Kaufusi, 15. Siosifa Talakai, 16. Thomas Hazelton, 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele, 18. Daniel Atkinson, 19. Mawene Hiroti, 20. Jayden Berrell, 21. Briton Nikora, 22. Hohepa Puru
Roosters
1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Billy Smith, 4. Robert Toia, 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase, 6. Hugo Savala, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Spencer Leniu, 9. Connor Watson, 10. Lindsay Collins, 11. Angus Crichton, 12. Victor Radley, 13. Naufahu Whyte, 14. Benaiah Ioelu, 15. Egan Butcher, 16. Blake Steep, 17. Siua Wong, 18. Ethan King, 19. Salesi Foketi, 20. Sandon Smith, 21. Tom Rodwell, 22. Makahesi Makatoa
Match Preview
The regular season is done and dusted, so the attention turns to finals football in Cronulla this Saturday evening. The Roosters will be looking to become just the fifth team to win a finals match from eighth position in the NRL era. The last team to do it was in 2022 when Canberra beat Melbourne 28-20 at AAMI Park. The Roosters don’t feel like your typical eighth place team that scraped into the finals, so this shapes up to be a close battle at Sharks Stadium.
It wouldn’t be a proper finals match without controversy and controversy is what we have even before a ball has been kicked off. The match review committee downgraded the Nicho Hynes hip drop charges from a one-week suspension to just a fine and he’s available to play this weekend. This means the Sharks get to name their strongest halves pairing as Braydon Trindall returns from an ankle injury that kept him out of the Sharks’ statement win over the Bulldogs last week. Another notable inclusion in the Sharks squad is in jersey number 21: after a long three-game suspension Briton Nikora is named on the reserves list but is expected to come into the final 17 before kick-off. The Roosters have had a less dramatic week with coach Trent Robinson naming the same 17 players that secured their finals slot in that 36-6 win over the Rabbitohs at Allianz Stadium Friday night.
Recent head-to-head records would suggest the Roosters have the edge over the Sharks, winning nine out of the last 12 meetings. The last match-up, as recently as round 20 this year at Sharks Stadium, saw Cronulla take a comfortable 31-18 victory, with Will Kennedy setting the tone early with a fifth minute try. The Sharks have also made their home ground a bit of a fortress over the last two to three months, winning their last six in a row here as well. All this information does is further highlight just how close this match is on paper and how tough it is to tip a winner.
We have a fantastic individual battle on our hands to look forward to, with Sharks left winger Ronaldo Mulitalo lining up with Roosters right winger Mark Nawaqanitawase. Mark has had a breakout season, finishing on top of the try scorers list not only for his club and the whole of the NRL (winning the 2025 Ken Irvine Medal). He fought a late fightback from Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, scoring a remarkable seven tries in the last two games of the regular season. While Ronaldo didn’t find those numbers, he did maintain his reputation as a prolific try-scorer, scoring 14 tries and setting up five in his 23 appearances. His record at Sharks Stadium is impressive, scoring 45 tries in just 42 appearances. The form advantage may look like Nawaqanitawase’s, but Mulitalo knows every inch of the left edges at Sharks Stadium, has the home crowd behind him, and will be ready to battle it out on Saturday evening.
It’s also worth quickly mentioning another exciting match-up to look forward to, with Roosters left edge second rower Angus Crichton matching up with Sharks right edge second rower Briton Nikora. Nikora has to prove his fitness first after missing close to a month of football, but if he slots into that 17 this will be the forward battle to look forward to. Crichton started the season a bit slower than what we are used to, but just like the Roosters they’ve timed their best form coming into the finals. Nikora is arguably the best line runner in the competition, and if he’s getting top quality balls off Hynes, you can expect him to cross for a try or at least get the Sharks on the front foot in the red zone. Your guess is as good as mine when predicting who wins this game, but we have a great elimination finals match on our hands.
Prediction
RLZ Tip: Sharks by 2.
See our full NRL Week 1 Finals Predictions (live Wednesday 12pm) here: 2025 NRL: Week 1 Finals Writer Predictions
Have your say: Who wins? Drop your tip in the comments or vote in our poll.
Related Links
- 2025 NRL Round 27 Injury List
- 2025 Ladder and Head-to-Head Stats
- Week 1 Finals Fixtures and Club-by-Club Finals Stats
