NRL predicted teams Round 1 2023, Early Mail, how your team will line up
Injuries and suspensions are set to wreak havoc on NRL teams for round one of 2023. Here’s how each side is set to line up, plus KFC SuperCoach opportunities.
Rob Sutherland
18 min read
January 18, 2023 - 11:41AM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
NRL 2023: Predicted round one teams.
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Throw out the form guide because NRL teams for round one 2023 are set to look very different to how they finished last year.
Injuries, suspensions, recruits and departures will see mass changes at many clubs.
Not to mention that we welcome an entirely new club in the Dolphins. Here’s how each side is set to line up for the opening round of the season.
BRISBANE
Predicted round one team: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Selwyn Cobbo 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Thomas Flegler 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jordan Riki 13. Pat Carrigan
Bench: 14. Cory Paix 15. Keenan Palasia 16. Brendan Piakura 17. Corey Jensen
Casualty ward: Kobe Hetherington (Biceps, indefinite)
Key positional battle: A largely settled backline with new recruit Reece Walsh locked in to play fullback much to the chagrin of fullback aspirants Herbie Farnworth and Selwyn Cobbo. It’s expected Billy Walters will hold off the challenge of Cory Paix to start at hooker. Would not shock to see Corey Jensen start with Tom Flegler coming on off the bench against tired forwards.
Early KFC SuperCoach winners/losers: Hard to find. Walters might be interesting with a full pre-season preparing to play hooker under his belt but his price is awkward. I’m a little off Payne Haas who has been overtaken in the premium FRF category by both Joe Tapine and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. Twist my arm and I suppose I would say that Pat Carrigan is a ‘maybe’, will see how he looks in the trials and what sort of minutes we might expect. But elsewhere I just cannot see value compared to price for any Bronco.
CANBERRA
Predicted round one team: 1. Xavier Savage 2. Nick Cotric 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Sebastian Kris 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papalii 9. Zac Woolford 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Corey Horsburgh
Bench: 14. Tom Starling/Danny Levi 15. Corey Harawira-Naera 16. Emre Guler 17. Pasami Saulo
Casualty ward: All expected to be available for selection by round one.
Key positional battle: The backline at the Raiders looks pretty settled leaving the only battles as 1. who plays lock and 2. how Ricky Stuart uses his hookers. Early mail is the battle for lock is between the two Coreys. The Horsburgh of the Coreys is a better defender, though a limited ball player. The Hyphen of the Coreys has much better hands but Mr Harawira-Naera can certainly miss a tackle. One other option would be to move Elliott Whitehead to lock and play Harawira-Naera in the second-row. The acquisition of Danny Levi from Super League club Huddersfield gives Canberra three hooking options – the only one who would be SuperCoach relevant is Tom Starling if he were locked in to play big minutes but his diminutive frame does not seem up for that.
Early KFC SuperCoach buys/avoids: Joe Tapine stepped up to well and truly join the elite FRF ranks in SC and real life in 2022. His workrate in offence was significantly higher than previous years, regularly taking two hit-ups in set and there was venom in the runs with career-best tackle bust numbers. If there’s is a worry it is that Tapine seems to work into his season with his average score in rounds 11-20 being significantly better than his average in rounds 1-10 in every season of the past five. Still, no Origin is a big boost and I think Tapine may have supplanted Haas as the set and forget FRF of 2023.
CANTERBURY
Predicted round one team: 1. Jake Averillo 2. Braidon Burns 3. Jacob Kiraz 4. Paul Alamoti 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Matt Burton 7. Kyle Flanagan 8. Max King 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Luke Thompson 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 13. Tevita Pangai Junior
Bench: 14. Fa’amanu Brown/Jackson Topine 15. Ryan Sutton 16. Andrew Davey 17. Chris Patolo
Casualty ward: Bailey Biondi-Odo (Knee, Rd 21), Sam Hughes (Back, Rd 3), Declan Casey (Shoulder, Rd 2)
Key positional battle: While the spine is settled there are plenty of battles still to be had at the Dogs before round one. Braidon Burns, Jacob Kiraz, Paul Alamoti appear to have the nod to fill the backline (with Jake Averillo and Josh Addo-Carr locked in). Don’t discount Hayze Perham though – training the house down is the word. In the forwards any combination of Pangai Jr, Sutton, King and Thompson can fill 8, 10, 13 and the bench with the actual starting trio still very much up in the air. The second-row battle between Andrew Davey and Raymond Faitala-Mariner is far from decided too.
Early KFC SuperCoach winners/losers: Not a lot of SuperCoach gold on offer to my eye at Belmore. There is some cheapie sparkle though with boom youngster Paul Alamoti a chance to finally show his wares in the NRL. Alamoti is not a certainty of selection to start the season but there is a centre slot up for grabs and he’s a strong chance of nailing it. Alamoti has been a star throughout his junior years and in 2022 he played against the men in the NSW Cup. In 15 games he scored four tries, assisted in four more, averaged almost three tackle busts per game while running for 150 metres per. Come on Ciraldo, do us SuperCoaches a solid and pick the kid will ya?
CRONULLA
Predicted round one team: 1. William Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Siosifa Talakai 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Matt Moylan 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Toby Rudolf 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Braden Hamlin-Uele 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Dale Finucane
Bench: 14. Cameron McInnes 15. Wade Graham 16. Royce Hunt 17. Oregon Kaufusi
Casualty ward: Matt Ikuvalu (Knee, indefinite)
Key positional battle: The backline is very settled with the only likely moving pieces being in the forwards. Wade Graham has signed on to play one more year for the Sharks and is preparing to fill plenty of gaps in 2023. “I’m floating all over the place at the moment in training,” he told Michael Carayannis on SEN Radio. “I’m playing in the back row, a bit of middle. I even got in the halves a couple of times.
“Round one is still a fair distance away but if we were to play tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t be in the starting team, if I’m honest, the way we’re training. But, there’s still plenty of time to go before round one. We will just see how we go. Footy’s a funny thing, you never want to look too far ahead.”
I expect Royce Hunt and Braden Hamlin-Uele will play similar minutes no matter who gets the start.
Early KFC SuperCoach winners/losers: Nicho Hynes was immense in his first year at the Sharks scoring 1973 points (the eighth best season score ever) averaging 85.8PPG. With a position leading base average of 32PPG and base/power of 42PPG, Hynes is about as safe a scorer any halfback. However, no halfback is immune from strength of schedule factors – full draw analysis is not far away I promise – and the Sharks have a tough start to the season. Hynes’ average against top-eight teams in 2022 was 63.6PPG from eight games. Compare that to his average against bottom-eight teams (97.5PPG from 15 games – gee the Sharks had a soft draw eh?) and it is a worry for those taking Hynes early.
DOLPHINS
Predicted round one team: 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Euan Aitken 4. Tesi Niu 5. Edrick Lee 6. Anthony Milford 7. Sean O’Sullivan 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Mark Nicholls 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Kenny Bromwich 13. Tom Gilbert
Bench: 14. Kodi Nikorima 15. Ray Stone, 16. Jarrod Wallace 17. Herman Ese’ese
Casualty ward: All expected to be available for selection by round one.
Key positional battle: Travis Meyn reports that
the starting pack is pretty much set which just leaves a battle for the fullback position (Tabuai-Fidow is likely in front though he is dealing with an ankle niggle), halfback (the experience of O’Sullivan against the spectacular talent of young Isaiya Katoa) and centre (Gildart and Brenko Lee snapping at heels of those listed) and a rather unsettled bench. Hopefully we get a better guide from the trials.
Early KFC SuperCoach winners/losers: With only a strong vibe about how the round one backline will look – and no real idea on how it will gel, I’m making Tom Gilbert my guy to watch at the Fins. Gilbert was excellent for the Cowboys in 2022 whether that be on an edge or rolling up his sleeves and working through the middle. With dual position eligibility and tipped to get first crack working through the middle as the team’s starting No. 13 I think he’ll blossom in 2023 and prove a savvy buy.
