Kevvie’s cutthroat call for season opener

Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters has chosen Brodie Croft to start in the No. 7 jersey against the Parramatta Eels on Friday evening, snubbing young gun Thomas Dearden.

Although the 19-year-old Dearden was expected to feature in Brisbane’s round one encounter, he was not named in the club’s starting 13 — which was revealed on Tuesday afternoon.

Instead, Croft will occupy the halfback position where he struggled last season under Anthony Seibold’s guidance.

The Broncos said in a statement: “Croft and Dearden have both had big pre-seasons and were neck-and-neck to fill the No. 7, but coach Kev Walters has leaned towards Croft’s experience and strong trial form.”

According to The Courier-Mail’s Travis Meyn, Broncos fans were eager for Dearden to partner with Anthony Milford in the halves against the Eels.

Dearden impressed NRL pundits during the pre-season, but will have to wait for another opportunity to prove his worth at halfback this year.

Walters discussed the decision-making process on Fox League’s NRL 360, adamant whoever filled the playmaker role would “do a great job” on Friday evening.

“Tom played over the weekend in an Intrust Super Cup trial, he’s only a young guy, he’s got lots of football in front of him so it’s a tough one for us,” Walters said on Monday evening.

“They’re both very equal in what they produced for us in the trials so we’ll see what happens (on Tuesday). We’re going to meet with the coaches in the morning and make our final decision on whether Brodie plays or Tom plays. But either way, I feel we’re in a good position with our halves.”

Tom Dearden during a training session.Source:Getty Images

Dearden has played 17 games for the Broncos since making his NRL debut in 2019. He was Brisbane’s first-choice halfback for the second half of the 2020 season.

MELBOURNE STORM VS SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS

Thursday, March 11th at 8:05pm — AAMI Park

Storm team: 1 Ryan Papenhuyzen, 2 George Jennings, 3 Reimis Smith, 4 Justin Olam, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Jahrome Hughes, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Brandon Smith, 10 Christian Welch, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Ken Bromwich, 13 Nelson Asofa-Solomona 14. Chris Lewis 15. Tui Kamikamica 16. Tom Eisenhuth 17. Nicho Hynes

Rabbitohs team:

1 Latrell Mitchell, 2 Alex Johnston, 3 Dane Gagai, 4 Campbell Graham, 5 Josh Mansour, 6 Cody Walker, 7 Adam Reynolds, 8 Tom Burgess, 9 Damien Cook, 10 Tevita Tatola, 11 Jacob Host, 12 Jaydn S’ua, 13 Cameron Murray 14. Benji Marshall 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Keaon Koloamantangi 17. Jai Arrow

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS VS CANTERBURY BULLDOGS

Friday, March 12th at 6pm — McDonald Jones Stadium

Knights team: 1 Tex Hoy, 2 Starford To’a, 3 Enari Tuala, 4 Bradman Best, 5 Gehamat Shibasaki, 6 Kurt Mann, 7 Mitchell Pearce, 8 David Klemmer, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Daniel Saifiti, 11 Tyson Frizell, 12 Mitch Barnett, 13 Connor Watson 14. Sauaso Sue 15. Jacob Saifiti 16. Josh King 17. Brodie Jones

Bulldogs team: 1 Corey Allan, 2 Nick Meaney, 3 Will Hopoate, 4 Nick Cotric, 5 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 6 Jake Averillo, 7 Kyle Flanagan, 8 Ofahiki Ogden, 9 Sione Katoa, 10 Jack Hetherington, 11 Adam Elliott, 12 Corey Waddell, 13 Josh Jackson 14. Bradley Deitz 15. Renouf Atoni 16. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 17. Dylan Napa

BRISBANE BRONCOS VS PARRAMATTA EELS

Friday, March 12th at 8:05pm — Suncorp Stadium

Broncos team: 1. Jamayne Isaako 2. Xavier Coates 3. Herbie Farnworth 4. Tesi Niu 5. David Mead 6. Anthony Milford 7. Brodie Croft 8. Tevita Pangai Junior 9. Jake Turpin 10. Matthew Lodge 11. Alex Glenn 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. John Asiata 15. Thomas Flegler 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Ben Te’o 18. Tom Dearden 19. Rhys Kennedy 20. Richard Kennar 21. Cory Paix

Eels team: 1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Tom Opacic 4. Waqa Blake 5. Blake Ferguson 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Ryan Matterson 13. Nathan Brown 14. Oregon Kaufusi 15. Isaiah Papali’i 16. Keegan Hipgrave 17. Will Smith 18. Haze Dunster 19. Joey Lussick 20. Jordan Rankin 21. David Hollis

Brodie Croft.Source:Getty Images

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS VS GOLD COAST TITANS

Saturday, March 13th at 3pm — Central Coast Stadium

Warriors team: 1. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2. David Fusitu’a, 3. Euan Aitken, 4. Peta Hiku, 5. Ken Maumalo, 6. Kodi Nikorima, 7. Chanel Harris-Tavita, 8. Addin Fonua-Blake, 9. Wade Egan, 10. Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, 11. Eliesa Katoa, 12. Bailey Sironen, 13. Tohu Harris 14. Jazz Tevaga, 15. Ben Murdoch-Masila, 16. Leeson Ah Mau, 17. Bunty Afoa, 18. Adam Pompey 20. Sean O’Sullivan, 21. Tom Ale 22, Josh Curran

Titans team: 1. AJ Brimson 2. Corey Thompson 3. Brian Kelly 4. Patrick Herbert 5. Anthony Don 6. Ashley Taylor 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Jarrod Wallace 9. Mitch Rein 10. Moeaki Fotuaika 11. Kevin Proctor 12. David Fifita 13. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui 14. Tyrone Peachey 15. Sam Lisone 16. Jaimin Jolliffe 17. Erin Clark 18. Phillip Sami 19. Beau Fermor 20. Herman Ese’ese 21. Sam McIntyre

SYDNEY ROOSTERS VS MANLY SEA EAGLES

Saturday, March 13th at 5:30pm — Sydney Cricket Ground

Roosters team: 1. James Tedesco, 2 Daniel Tupou, 3 Josh Morris, 4 Joey Manu, 5 Brett Morris, 6 Lachlan Lam, 7 Luke Keary, 8 Lindsay Collins, 9 Jake Friend, 10 Siosiua Taukeiaho, 11 Angus Crichton, 12 Sitili Tupouniua, 13 Isaac Liu 14. Adam Keighran, 15. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 16. Nat Butcher 17. Daniel Suluka-Fifita

Sea Eagles team: 1 Dylan Walker, 2 Jason Saab, 3 Brad Parker, 4 Moses Suli, 5 Reuben Garrick, 6 Kieran Foran, 7 Daly Cherry-Evans, 8 Josh Aloiai, 9 Lachlan Croker, 10 Martin Taupau, 11 Jack Gosiewski, 12 Curtis Sironen, 13 Jake Trbojevic 14. Tevita Funa, 15. Andrew Davey, 16. Morgan Boyle, 17. Taniela Paseka

Kieran Foran back in the @SeaEagles 6 jersey. What a thing of beauty. Josh Schuster very unlucky not to be named at 14. He's on the reserves list. Dylan Walker at 1. He's played there twice before at NRL level, last time was in 2016 and he's 0 and 2 there. #NRL

PENRITH PANTHERS VS NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS

Saturday, March 13th at 7:35pm — Panthers Stadium

Panthers team: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Charlie Staines 3. Paul Momirovski 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Brian To’o 6. Jarome Luai 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Apisai Koroisau 10. James Fisher-Harris 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Kurt Capewell 13. Isaah Yeo 14. Tyrone May 15. Spencer Leniu 16. Matthew Eisenhuth 17. Liam Martin 18. J’maine Hopgood 19. Matt Burton 20. Robert Jennings 21. Mitch Kenny

Cowboys team: 1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Esan Marsters 4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 5. Valentine Holmes 6. Michael Morgan 7. Jake Clifford 8. Francis Molo 9. Reece Robson 10. Jordan McLean 11. Mitchell Dunn 12. Coen Hess 13. Jason Taumalolo 14. Jake Granville 15. Josh Mcguire 16. Corey Jensen 17. Lachlan Burr 18. Shane Wright 19. Reuben Cotter 20. Murray Taulagi 21. Ben Hampton

CANBERRA RAIDERS VS WESTS TIGERS

Sunday, March 14th at 4:05pm — GIO Stadium

Raiders team: 1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2 Bailey Simonsson, 3 Sebastian Kris, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Jordan Rapana, 6 Jack Wighton, 7 George Williams, 8 Josh Papalii, 9 Josh Hodgson, 10 Dunamis Lui, 11 Hudson Young, 12 Elliott Whitehead, 13 Joseph Tapine 14. Saliva Havili 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Sia Soliola, 17. Ryan James, 18. Sam Williams, 19. Tom Starling, 20. Emre Guler 21. Harley Smith-Shields

Tigers team: 1 Daine Laurie, 2 David Nofoaluma, 3 James Roberts, 4 Joey Leilua, 5 Asu Kepaoa, 6 Moses Mbye, 7 Luke Brooks, 8 James Tamou, 9 Jacob Liddle, 10 Joe Ofahengaue, 11 Luke Garner, 12 Luciano Leilua, 13 Alex Twal 14. Tommy Talau 15. Thomas Mikaele 16. Stefano Utoikamanu 17. Russell Packer

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS VS CRONULLA SHARKS

Sunday, March 14th, 6:15pm — Netstrata Jubilee Stadium

Dragons team: 1 Matt Dufty, 2 Cody Ramsey, 3 Jack Bird, 4 Zac Lomax, 5 Mikaele Ravalawa, 6 Adam Clune, 7 Ben Hunt, 8 Blake Lawrie, 9 Andrew McCullough, 10 Paul Vaughan, 11 Josh Kerr, 12 Tariq Sims, 13 Tyrell Fuimaono 14. Poasa Faamausili 15. Trent Merrin 16. Daniel Alvaro 17. Brayden Wiliame

Sharks team: 1 Will Kennedy, 2 Sione Katoa, 3 Josh Dugan, 4 Jesse Ramien, 5 Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6 Matt Moylan, 7 Chad Townsend, 8 Braden Hamlin-Uele, 9 Blayke Brailey, 10 Aaron Woods, 11 Briton Nikora, 12 Wade Graham, 13 Toby Rudolf 14. Connor Tracey 15. Aiden Tolman 16. Jack Williams 17. Billy Magoulias

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