‘Didn't work out': Fifth halves pairing's a charm as Roosters reveal Radley blow
Smith will partner Sam Walker against Melbourne after an error-strewn loss to Cronulla dropped the Roosters to 10th on the NRL ladder and cost Townsend the No.6 jersey following his first game since April.
Robinson also revealed enforcer Victor Radley is expected to miss up to a month with an ongoing shoulder issue despite the back-rower telling reporters on Tuesday that he was not anticipating missing more than a week.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy remains unsure of Ryan Papenhuyzen's return from a month-long calf injury, while Melbourne will be without Cameron Munster as he attends his father's funeral and Nelson Asofa-Solomona (suspension).
At the Roosters scrum base, Hugo Savala will be sidelined for another week with wrist ligament damage, prompting Smith's recall after he was initially dropped when Walker made his injury comeback.
Robinson said before the Sharks clash that Smith was dropped to reserve grade because 'he can play better ', while Townsend had impressed in NSW Cup.
Smith was then withdrawn from reserve grade after Townsend's four mistakes against Cronulla and recalled to first grade based on his training in recent weeks.
'It didn't work out how we wanted last week, but I've also been really clear about what I'd like from [Smith] and his improvement,' Robinson said.
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News.com.au
41 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Wallabies vs British and Irish Lions: Second test scores, latest talking points from the MCG
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Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
St Kilda hope booming star can cause more nightmares
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is "booming" but St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says the star alone can't lift the Saints to the promised land. Wanganeen-Milera has quickly built a reputation as one of the AFL's best rebounding defenders. But the 22-year-old showed what a weapon he could be in the midfield last week with 36 disposals, 10 clearances and two goals in a 31-point loss to Geelong. Lyon indicated Wanganeen-Milera will again be deployed in the midfield for Sunday's clash with Melbourne at Marvel Stadium. St Kilda face a fight to retain the out-of-contract speedster, who is set to field massive offers from rival clubs. But even if the Saints do hold onto him, Lyon knows there's still plenty of work to do to get them into premiership mode. "Naz is booming. Obviously he's an exciting player, but it's a weakest link game, not a strongest link," Lyon said. "We're not basketball, when one player can dominate and take you to a championship. "We need an even spread of contribution." A few weeks ago, Hawthorn tried several taggers on Wanganeen-Milera, with little success. It even led Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell to joke that he would be having nightmares about the star Saint. "Even when he was on the bench I was worried about him by the end," Mitchell joked. Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says he will contemplate sending a tagger to Wanganeen-Milera this Sunday. "Clearly teams have had some success in tagging him but he still plays to a pretty high level," Goodwin said. "Last week you saw Geelong just back their system in and got a pretty positive result as well. "He's an incredible player. We'll be prepared for both but we probably won't give the Saints too much of a heads up about what we're going to do." Both St Kilda (5-13) and Melbourne (6-12) are well and truly out of the finals race. The Saints have recalled Zak Jones, Lance Collard and Arie Schoenmaker, with Lyon making the big call to drop Liam Henry. Max Heath also goes out of the side, with Darcy Wilson ruled out due to concussion. The Demons welcome back Tom Sparrow and Harrison Petty from concussion, while Charlie Spargo and Blake Howes also return. Steven May, who will contest his three-match ban at the AFL Appeals board next week, is out with concussion, while the axe fell on Koltyn Tholstrup, Harry Sharp and Matthew Jefferson.
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Why Wallabies could have the 'blueprint' to defeating British and Irish Lions in second Test
When the Wallabies watched back their defeat to the British and Irish Lions in the first Test, they could have hit the pause button after just 10 seconds to identify a key area of the match in which they were soundly beaten. Making a hit-up on the second phase following the kick-off in Brisbane last Saturday night, Wallabies loose-head prop James Slipper was abruptly halted by a stinging two-man tackle executed by Lions hooker Dan Sheehan and back-rower Tom Curry. The moment set the tone for the match, as the Lions had immediately signalled they were intent on dominating the physical contest, a key battleground in any Test. After Sheehan and Curry stopped Slipper in his tracks, the Lions imposed themselves again by winning a defensive breakdown penalty in the next phase, from which they established a 3-0 advantage on the scoreboard in the second minute of play. The Lions enjoyed a 24-5 lead soon after half-time, and despite a spirited Wallabies' fightback, the tourists completed a comfortable 27-19 victory, with the final scoreline not reflecting how dominant they were in the series opener. Lions coach Andy Farrell admitted his team had room for improvement, an ominous warning ahead of Saturday night's second Test at the MCG. Having been out-muscled on both sides of the ball by the Lions, "physicality" virtually become a buzzword for the Wallabies after arriving in Melbourne. Reacting to the Wallabies' loss, coach Joe Schmidt added some world-class firepower to his forward pack in the form of back-rower Rob Valetini and lock Will Skelton. Both players were sorely missed in the first Test, having been sidelined due to calf injuries. Valetini and Skelton have the potential to provide much-needed aggression to the Wallabies' attack and defence, and have shown they can win the collisions at the Test level. "When you get two people with their presence and experience coming into your side, it always does give you confidence," Wallabies captain Harry Wilson told reporters on Friday. "They're two real leaders in the group and to have them back in such a big match is really exciting for us." There are question marks over Valetini and Skelton's match fitness, however, given they were also unavailable for the Test against Fiji in Newcastle earlier this month. It's one of the reasons Schmidt opted to select six forwards — including damaging ball-runner Langi Gleeson — on his eight-player reserves bench, wanting to maintain an aggressive template he hopes Valetini and Skelton can create for the Wallabies before they are replaced. "We want to impose ourselves physically," Wilson said. "We want to back our skills and go out there and start fast … and throw your body around, knowing there's some quality bench players to come and finish." Personnel changes can go a long way to teams upping the ante when it comes to physicality, but an attitudinal adjustment can be just as effective. The Wallabies would be wise to take a leaf out of the First Nations and Pasifika XV's playbook in the wake of their performance against the Lions in Melbourne last Tuesday night. It wasn't a mistake-free display from the First Nations and Pasifika XV, who trailed 14-0 early, conceded 12 line breaks and gave away 13 penalties to the Lions' eight during the 80 minutes. But they stuck to their pre-match plan of being aggressive in attack and defence to rattle the Lions, who were forced to cling on during the final 10 minutes before prevailing 24-19 at the Docklands stadium. Such was the physical presence of the First Nations and Pasifika XV, their captain Kurtley Beale believed they showed the Lions can be vulnerable. "You need to take it (physicality) to them," said Beale, who has appeared in 95 Tests for the Wallabies. "There were patches there where we had the momentum and the Lions were kind of taking a backfoot step, and I think that created opportunities for us. "These boys (First Nations and Pasifika XV), they love the physicality. You need the physicality to lay the platform for your backs to play off." The First Nations and Pasifika XV's effort didn't go unnoticed by the Wallabies. "Just seeing the way they went after them (Lions) with the line speed, the big hits in defence," Wilson said. "It was a great blueprint there about how really to try to physically dominate them." Defence is said to be built on attitude and mindset, so the Wallabies have had plenty to think about in the past week. They also don't need a reminder about what's at stake when both teams run out on the MCG in front of a crowd that may exceed 90,000 spectators. "There is no denying — we've got to go out here, we have to win," Wilson said. "We've got to win the next two (Tests) to win the series."
