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It’s now or never for the Glendale Raptors. Last year’s finalists face a must-win scenario against the Seattle Seawolves on Saturday. A loss would put them on very shaky ground particularly given this is their final home game of the season.
The good news is they enter the match well rested after a bye week and on a high, having thrashed the Utah Warriors by a record score two weeks ago. The bad news is that star flanker Hanco Germishuys continues to be sidelined and is joined this week by first choice tighthead prop Marco Fepulea’i.
Kelepi Fifita steps up into the No3 jersey, the position he played for most of the game against the Warriors. The only other change up front is the return of Zach Fenoglio at hooker with Chad Gough moving to the reserves. Otherwise it’s an identical lineup.
It’s a 6-2 split on the bench but one without a tighthead specialist. It will be up to either Noah Barker or Blake Rogers to fill in for Fifita if necessary. There is also a notable absence of scrumhalf cover for Shaun Davies, with only Will Magie and Mika Kruse available to cover the backs.
Seattle ran rampant in the first half against New York but fell away in the second to just barely escape Coney Island with the win. There is only one change to their lineup as Roland Suniula is ruled out with a head knock, meaning Canadian battering ram George Barton gets the call at outside center.
It’s a different story on the bench, which looks particularly fearsome with two high profile additions. World Cup veterans Jake Ilnicki and Jeff Hassler are set to make their Major League debuts as replacements, one week after Samu Manoa made his grand entrance. The strength in depth is what will be most concerning to Glendale fans.
This is the closest call of the weekend with the previous meeting this season a razor-thin 20-18 victory for the Seawolves in a rematch of last year’s final. Neither has been as convincing this season but Seattle’s forwards look the more potent of the two. If they can avoid falling flat as they did in Toronto, look for the visitors to spoil Glendale’s party but the Raptors will not go quietly.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 6pm Eastern, 3pm Pacific. The match will be broadcast by CBS Sports Network, with a live stream available on the MLR Facebook page for those residing outside the USA.
GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Noah Barker, 2 Zach Fenoglio, 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Brendan Daly, 5 Luke White, 6 Malon Al-Jiboori, 7 Peter Dahl, 8 Murphy Taramai, 9 Shaun Davies (capt.), 10 Ata Malifa, 11 Harley Davidson, 12 Robbie Petzer, 13 Chad London, 14 John Ryberg, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson
Replacements: 16 Chad Gough, 17 Max Lum, 18 Blake Rogers, 19 Kody O’Neil, 20 Will Munro, 21 Connor Cook, 22 Will Magie, 23 Mika Kruse
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Stephan Coetzee, 3 Tim Metcher, 4 Api Naikatini, 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Brad Tucker, 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 George Barton, 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner
Replacements: 16 Dan Trierweiler, 17 Kellen Gordon, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Eric Duechle, 21 Phil Mack, 22 Jeff Hassler, 23 Dion Crowder
Date: Saturday, May 18
Venue: Infinity Park, Glendale
Kickoff: 16:00 local (15:00 Pacific, 18:00 Eastern)
Referee: Elgan Williams (WRU)
Assistants: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR) & Steve Gore (USAR)
Broadcasts: CBS Sports Network, Facebook
