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Latrell twist in ‘scary’ Souths situation; bizarre Robbo call to haunt Roosters — NRL Talking Points The Sydney Roosters decided to rest the majority of their stars last week but could that decision come back to bite them. Meanwhile, two star forwards have been earmarked as to whether the New Zealand Warriors will be able to claim their maiden NRL premiership. Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Elsewhere, the Rabbitohs have emerged as the team to beat with a star-studded back-line and stacked forward pack but could the Knights be their kryptonite? Read on for the key Talking Points heading into the finals series. WHY SOUTHS ARE TEAM NOBODY WANT TO FACE Rabbitohs v Knights, Friday 7:50pm @ Allianz Stadium South Sydney have been backed to make some serious noise in September. After missing out on playing finals football for a number of years, the Rabbitohs enter September with a ton of momentum and have emerged as the team nobody wants to face. With a star-studded backline and full-strength forward pack, Souths have all the ingredients to cause some serious damage in the finals. “They’re the team that probably scares anyone in the top four about what they could do,” Cooper Cronk said on Fox League’s Matty & Cronk Show. “The Roosters rested on the weekend. Wayne Bennett didn’t. They’ve had the Jai Arrow celebration the last couple of weeks. There is momentum. “They’re good players feel like they’re playing with authority.” But before they can dream of making the grand final, they must survive a sudden-death clash with the Newcastle Knights. According to Cronk, he believes their premiership hopes rest on whether their biggest stars can produce their best football when the pressure is at its highest. “The key for South Sydney is that their best players need to play well. It’s as simple as it is for South Sydney,” Cronk added. “They’ve been primed. Latrell has had ten weeks off. He’s been tippy-toed back in. Now he’s ready to go. “Cam Murray’s fit. Cody Walker’s playing with confidence. (David Fifita) is damaging on the right-edge, so their best players need to play well. “I think that’s the key for South Sydney. Cody Walker, Cam Murray, Latrell Mitchell, David Fifita, they all need to have nine out of ten games for South Sydney to win.” Braith Anasta also backed the Rabbitohs to get the job done against the Knights, while CODE Sports reporter Michael Carayannis believes they are arguably the most dangerous out of all the teams in the finals. “If you look all across the board, I think South Sydney will be too good for them,” Anasta said on NRL 360. Carayannis added on NRL 360, “I think South Sydney can do some real damage in this competition.” “You look at this forward pack. They’re almost back to full strength, the Rabbitohs, they’re so damaging.” THE DUO WHO COULD DECIDE WARRIORS’ PREMIERSHIP FATE Warriors v Dolphins, Saturday 4:05pm @ Go Media Stadium Cooper Cronk believes the New Zealand Warriors’ premiership hopes rest on the shoulders of tw men - Erin Clark and James Fisher-Harris. Labelled the club’s “spiritual alpha males”, Cronk believes the pair will be crucial to setting the tone early against the Dolphins and getting the home crowd behind the Warriors. With a huge crowd expected, the Warriors will enter the clash with enormous expectations as they chase their maiden premiership this season. And Cronk believes it will be the opening exchanges in the first 20 minutes which will ultimately determine whether the home side can rise to the occasion. “If Fisher-Harris and Erin Clark - the spiritual alpha males - start well and put the Dolphins on the back foot with every carry, every tackle, I think it’s just going to get the stadium up and about,” Cooper Cronk said on Fox League’s Matty & Cronk. “And the system from the Warriors will get confidence from it. “Fisher-Harris will be Captain of the Year and Erin Clark will be Lock of the Year. “There are a lot of these other guys that do a lot more highlight things, but the key to the game for the Warriors is their start and it comes down to their spiritual leaders.” While Clark has emerged as one of the most important players in the Warriors forward pack over the past two seasons since arriving from the Gold Coast Titans, it is Fisher-Harris who is set to play a larger role. The veteran front-rower is the only member of the Warriors roster with multiple titles to his name, and he will be the player his teammates look towards if times get tough on the field. “I feel he is the only one who has won multiple comps and experienced what this is all about,” Cronk continued. “They will be going Fish what do we do and he’ll be doing, ‘ This is what we do, follow me. I feel like he is the key to it all.” As Clark and Fisher-Harris prepare to lead the Warriors on the field, former NRL playmaker Luke Keary believes coach Andrew Webster deserves a ton of credit for building a side capable of competing for a title without a superstar spine. “He must be an unbelievable coach,” Keary told foxsports.com.au. “What he’s been able to do there, the system he’s put in place. “Take three halfbacks out of any other team and they’re dead. That’s just a fact. They don’t have a superstar either. “They don’t have Tedesco or a Cleary. They don’t have a Katoa or a Hammer. They don’t have a Nicho Hynes or a Trindall. They don’t have Latrell. They don’t have any of them. It’s just a really good footy team. “The system he’s built in attack and the system he’s built and the way they work for each other in defence, other than Ivan and Craig’s probably the best ever, he’s got to be talked about as one of the best coaches in the game.” HUGE PAYTEN CALL AS PRESSURE MOUNTS ON COWBOYS Sharks v Cowboys, Saturday 7:50pm @ Allianz Stadium Throughout this season, there has been plenty of scrutiny on Cowboys coach Todd Payten and an early finals exit could crank the pressure up another notch. Scraping into the top eight, the North Queensland Cowboys inconsistent frm has raised questions over Payten’s long-term future at the club. However, multi-time premiership winner Luke Keary has thrown his support behind the Cowboys coach, even if his side bows out in the opening round to the Cronulla Sharks. Speaking to foxsports.com.au, Keary declared he couldn’t see a better option that is currently available to replace Payten and questioned whether the club could find a strong candidate than him. “Even looking now, there is not much out there to just go and get,” Luke Keary told foxsports.com.au. “The obvious one is Brad Arthur, other than him. But there are not any other really proven coaches. “Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a better coach than Todd Payten (that is available right now).” Keary also failed to explain the Cowboys’ wildly inconsistent form throughout this year’s campaign with the club producing strong performances one week, before struggling the next. “You can’t make sense of it. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s just who they are,” the former Roosters halfback added. “No one can explain that. How do they beat the Roosters with 12 men on the field in 20 minutes?” Meanwhile, Cooper Cronk believes the clash against the Sharks is almost impossible to tip with the Fox League analyst believing the individual battles will decide who walks away as the winner. “These two teams (Sharks and Cowboys) I don’t have a lot of confidence in either of them,” Cronk said on Fox League’s Matty & Cronk Show. “I feel like it comes down to match-ups and whoever wins the match-ups (will walk away victorious). “You look at Taumalolo versus Addin Fonua-Blake. Who wins that? If Taumalolo beats up Fonua-Blake then I’m starting to lean towards that the Cowboys could do this. “Let’s go fullback. Drinkwater or Kennedy? Who do you think would win that? Maybe Drinkwater, he’s a bit of a gun-slinger there. “Then you’ve got Dearden versus Hynes. Trindall comes back; does he beat Clifford? “I think it’s not necessarily about the form guide but it’s about individuals. “Even Todd Payten versus Fitz [Craig Fitzgibbon]. Both theres guys are trying to manage both their teams to get the best performance from a low base. This is a flip of a coin for me.” SHARKS TRUMP CARD REVEALED Sharks v Cowboys, Saturday 7:50pm @ Allianz Stadium Cronulla have a dire record when it comes to delivering come finals time. They can make the top eight, and have done in each of their four seasons under Craig Fitzgibbon, but have been unable to deliver. Their last two seasons have ended in preliminary finals, but they haven’t exactly pushed for a spot in the grand final – and a chance at a title. They scored on the buzzer in what was otherwise a comfortable 22-14 win for the Storm last year while the Panthers outclassed them 26-6 in 2024. “There is a bit of pressure on Cronulla to jump that final hurdle,” league legend Gorden Tallis said on NRL360. But do the Sharks have a trump card this season? “I think the Sharks can win, and win well this week… I think with (Braydon) Trindall back, changing their dynamic in attack,” NRL360 host Braith Anasta said. “Bringing more confidence to Nicho (Hynes), add to that the attitude they had last week and they win, but it’s beyond that concerns me given their form.” Trindall is set to return from a shoulder dislocation just in time for an elimination finals clash, with the Sharks struggling in his absence in recent weeks. His 2026 campaign has arguably been the best of his career, proving to be a genuine attacking threat in steering Cronulla around the park. Not only can he score tries and put his teammates in space, Trindall also unlocks his halves partner in Hynes – who has struggled in recent weeks without his partner in crime. Speaking to media, Hynes explained that both he and his partner tick the boxes of being a halfback, despite the marquee man wearing the No.7 jersey. “He just brings more of a seven role to the team I think, I know I played No.7 but we can both play that sort of role,” Hynes said. For league legend Gorden Tallis, he believes that fluid partnership is the secret sauce for the Sharks. “It just unlocks them, both of them, they don’t have to panic and they can both slide into second receiver,” Tallis said. Meanwhile, The Australian’s Brent Read added: “They have the capacity to get it right”. However, winning a grand final from outside the top four is a notoriously difficult task, especially when you consider Cronulla’s wayward finals record. “The reason I’ve been doubtful over them is because of their record in finals,” Anasta said of Cronulla’s hopes in late July. “Straight sets in 2022, straight sets in 2023, prelims the last couple of years, which isn’t actually that bad. I think a lot of us have probably just watched the way they’ve gone out and thought they can’t win the comp with this team. “... It does really rely on Nicho for them to win a comp, I think, because what he’s doing right now is what they need in the finals. If he can do this in the finals, they can win the comp. “That’s what it’s going to come down to, and I stand by that. But if he doesn’t play like this in the finals, they can’t win the comp... nothing’s changed really.” CALL THAT COULD COME BACK TO BITE ROBBO Panthers v Roosters, Sunday 4:05pm @ CommBank Stadium Will Trent Robinson’s decision to rest nine star players in the final round come back to bite him? During the 50-20 drubbing at the hands of the Rabbitohs last Friday night, about $5 million worth of Roosters talent was resting up on the sidelines. Robinson wasn’t aware of who his side would be facing in Week 1 of the finals but it could have been the Warriors in New Zealand. He decided to give his team a freshen-up ahead of what he hopes will be a big month of footy ahead. NRL 360 host Braith Anasta asked the panel on Monday night: “Will the Roosters regret resting players. Is it a good decision?” “We’ll find out in a couple of weeks, I guess. If they go on to win the comp it’s a masterstroke, if they don’t, well then questions will be asked,” reporter Dean Ritchie said. It was an interesting call from Robinson following the injury to Sam Walker in the loss to the Dolphins two weeks ago. After knowing the side would be without Walker, for possibly the remainder of the season, many thought Robinson should have played new halves pairing Hugo Savala and Daly Cherry-Evans. It would’ve given the new combination a game under its belt before being thrown into the pressure cooker of finals footy. But Ritchie said the club decided that reps on the training paddock would be more useful. “It was explained to me this way. Hugo and Daly are going to partner up in the halves. Rather than one game (together), they’ve been rested,” Ritchie said. “If they played that game, they would have had very little time together. Now they’ve had two solid weeks. It’s going to benefit the Roosters’ halves.” Fellow reporter Brent Read thought Robinson’s strategy was wrong. “I think it’s a mistake. They got flogged (by Souths),” Read said. “Anytime you lose by 50 points or concede 50 points, it’s a mistake. It wasn’t all the reserve grade team, they had some first graders playing in that game. “You need some confidence going into the finals. They’ve now lost three games in a row and conceded 50 in the last game. For me, that’s a mistake. That’s not premiership winning form heading into the finals.” Ritchie hit back, saying the game against Souths wasn’t a true reflection of where the Roosters were at. “There’s an asterisk on this game, and you know it, and you’re just trying to muckrake here. The asterisk says it was Round 27, they couldn’t drop any further than fourth place, and they rested nine players. So there’s your asterisk,” Ritchie said. The panel then turned to Robinson and his future at the glamour club. Anasta asked if there was pressure on him to deliver another title after last holding the Provan-Summons Trophy up in 2019. “I don’t think the pressure’s there in terms of Robbo’s future. But clearly Robbo and the Roosters would love another premiership. Their motto goes, we play for premierships, their last premiership was in 2019,” Ritchie said. “They have had a very good football team every year. But certainly Robbo’s under no pressure in terms of Nick Politis or the Roosters, he’s a favourite son, so he should be, but I think it’s time for the Roosters to take that next step again.” Read doubled down on what he thought of the Roosters premiership credentials. “I think they’ll go out in straight sets anyway,” Read said. “I think everyone’s underestimating the absence of Sam Walker.”