Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Parramatta coach Brad Arthur and Panthers counterpart Ivan Cleary have named their teams for Sunday’s NRL grand final at Accor Stadium.
Injured Tom Opacic has been named an extended bench but is expected to miss Sunday’s grand-final blockbuster against Penrith in a crushing blow for the England-bound Parramatta centre.
Bailey Simonsson has kept his spot at left centre.
For the Panthers, Charlie Staines remains on the wing with Taylan May falling short in his bid to overcome a hamstring injury.
Arthur has named Nathan Brown on the bench, pushing Bryce Cartwright onto the extended bench.
NRL GRAND FINAL TEAMS
Panthers v Eels, Sunday October 2, 7.30pm at Accor Stadium
EELS STAR SET TO MISS GRAND FINAL
Injured Tom Opacic is set to be ruled out of Sunday’s grand-final blockbuster against Penrith in a crushing blow for the England-bound Parramatta centre.
News Corp can reveal Opacic (hamstring) is virtually no hope of being fit for the western Sydney derby decider and needs a miracle recovery over the next 48 hours to be a late inclusion for Parramatta’s shot at glory at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
The former Broncos and Cowboys centre was named in Parramatta’s extended squad on Tuesday but the Eels are resigned to being without their Mr Reliable threequarter on grand-final day.
It is a heartbreaking outcome for Opacic, who tweaked his hamstring in Parramatta’s 40-4 semi-final defeat of the Raiders a fortnight ago.
The 28-year-old, who missed last week’s preliminary final win over the Cowboys, underwent sprinting drills at Parramatta training on Monday in the first step towards proving his fitness for the biggest game of his career.
Opacic has been a mainstay of the Eels top team, playing 40 games in the past two seasons since his arrival from the Cowboys, but Parramatta coach Brad Arthur is bracing for his rugged centre to be scratched.
Opacic will join Super League side Hull KR next season and was hoping to depart Parramatta with a premiership ring in his maiden grand-final appearance, but it is increasingly likely his Eels career is over.
In the absence of Opacic, Arthur is set to keep faith in 24-year-old Bailey Simonsson, who played centre against the Cowboys and is bracing for his second NRL grand final after playing for Canberra in the 2019 decider.
Opacic told News Corp he is wary of putting himself before the team, backing Simonsson to handle a Penrith onslaught in a threequarter alliance with Eels winger and former Panther Waqa Blake.
“He (Simonsson) did a great job last week,” Opacic said.
“I daresay I’d have to run fully on Wednesday or by the main session on Friday. It’s all about running at high speed and under fatigue.
