Rugby League News

Tigers and Warriors have surplus halves; Bulldogs face centre issues, while Dragons select a rookie against the Roosters for ANZAC Day.

Fox League

The Tigers and Warriors have gone from having no halves to an awkward embarrassment of riches, while the Bulldogs are struggling with a centre crisis.

And the Dragons have made a huge call to throw a rookie to the wolves against the Roosters on ANZAC Day.

Read on for the key Talking Points ahead of Round 8.

Wests Tigers vs. Canberra Raiders, Thursday @ 7.50pm

New Zealand Warriors vs. Dolphins, Saturday @ 6.05pm

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Anzac weekend may mark rugby league's first-ever sellout for all eight games across multiple cities and states.

The Australian

This could be footy history across six cities, two countries and three states on the patriotic Anzac weekend.

For the first time ever, all eight rugby league games in one round are heading towards crowd sellouts, starting with a ground capacity for Wests Tigers' big game against Canberra on Thursday night at Leichhardt Oval.

NRL attendance sellouts will be shortly been announced in Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne, Wellington in New Zealand and hopefully Townsville.

Aside from Magic Round, which is played at the one venue, rugby league has never in its 118-year history sold-out every game in a single round at eight different venues.

Seven games are already headed for sellouts with North Queensland's match against Cronulla tracking towards capacity with around 3000 tickets left for Saturday evening's game at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

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Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall says Heamasi Makasini's week off will aid recovery from foot bruising and boost confidence.

The Australian

Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall says a week off will do a world of good for rising star Heamasi Makasini, who limped into training on Wednesday morning in a moon boot a day after he was left out of the team to face the Raiders.

There had been speculation that the 18-year-old had been dropped after a tough night against Brisbane on the weekend, but bone bruising in his foot emerged as the reason he wasn't picked.

Even if Makasini was fully fit, Marshall may have given the towering outside back a week away from the NRL spotlight after what's been a meteoric rise in the space of a few months.

"He's got a bit of bone bruising in his foot, so he wouldn't have been available this week anyway," Marshall said on Wednesday morning ahead of his side's captain's run at Leichhardt Oval.

"But it was probably timely because I think he was ready for a rest. But one thing I will say about Heamasi is he's such a bright talent and he's got a great future ahead of him, and he'll just get some confidence back and come back into the team.

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Simi Sasagi is sidelined for Round 8 with a hamstring injury; the Raiders hope he'll return next week.

The Australian

Raiders x-factor Simi Sasagi has been ruled out of the club's round eight game against the Wests Tigers with a hamstring injury.

Sasagi who played a major role in the Raiders last two victories, complained of a tight hamstring after Tuesday's session. Canberra officials decided to rest their star player during Wednesday morning's practice.

The decision to rest Sasagi is precautionary, Raiders officials highlighted playing four games in the last 18 days as the reason for resting their star player for Thursday night's game.

The club is hopeful he will be fit for next week's game against the Titans in the Gold Coast.

Both Savelio Tamale and Daine Laurie are options to replace Sasagi on Thursday night.

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