Round 1 teams: Knights make big call in the halves, Bulldogs injured brigade cleared for Vegas

Justin Holbrook has made his first big call in the halves with the new Knights coach naming Fletcher Sharpe at five-eighth to partner high-profile recruit Dylan Brown as the teams for the Las Vegas extravaganza dropped to officially kick-off the weekly Tuesday drama.

There had been plenty of debate as to whether Sharpe or former Rooster Sandon Smith would get the nod in the halves, with Holbrook picking the speedy Sharpe which will put extra playmaking pressure on Brown.

It’s a big call for a team that claimed the wooden spoon and scored the fewest points in 2025.

Brown will receive big help from former Dally M winner Kalyn Ponga who will again be crucial from the back, while Jermaine McEwen beat out Thomas Cant for a starting spot in the back row.

They take on a Cowboys side missing Zac Laybutt to suspension which opens the door for the luckless Tom Chester to start at centre.

“Everyone’s looking forward to watching him play,” Cowboys coach Todd Payten said.

“We’d love him to punch out 15 games straight. He was going great before he hurt himself with that minor indiscretion.

“We gave him a two-week break, he’s tracking along well now and has managed to get a week and a half training under his belt at full-tilt. I’ve got no worries about him, I’m super excited about how he’s going to play.

“The boys love having him in the team, he’s brought a great amount of energy here every day and we just want to see him play football.”

The big surprise is in the back row where Sam McIntyre has won a starting spot and has forced English veteran John Bateman to the bench, with Matt Lodge not included in the 19.

There is huge relief at the Bulldogs with star trio Matt Burton, Jacob Kiraz and Marcelo Montoya named to take on the Dragons despite battling injury concerns.

Coach Cameron Ciraldo was confident all three would play when he spoke at Sydney airport last week before they flew out, with veteran Sean O’Sullivan on the bench if Burton has any problems.

Meanwhile, the Dragons have handed an NRL debut to winger Setu Tu who impressed in the trials.

Speedster Tyrell Sloan hasn’t been included in the 19-man squad, with all eyes on how new recruit Daniel Atkinson and Kyle Flanagan combine in the halves.

It will be interesting to see how the four teams in Vegas handle the new interchange rules that will now see six players on the bench, although coaches can still only use four of them.

The Cowboys and Bulldogs don’t have specialist outside backs on their current benches, but both teams have guys they can bring in if they want to make late changes to provide cover if there’s an early injury.

NRL ROUND ONE TEAMS

KNIGHTS V COWBOYS

Sunday March 1, 1:15PM (AEDT) Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

Knights

1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Dominic Young 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Greg Marzhew 6. Fletcher Sharpe 7. Dylan Brown 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Trey Mooney 11. Dylan Lucas 12. Jermaine McEwen 13. Tyson Frizell

Interchange: 14. Sandon Smith 15. Mathew Croker 16. Thomas Cant 17. Pasami Saulo

Reserves: 18. Fletcher Hunt 19. Francis Manuleleua 20. Tyson Gamble 21. Cody Hopwood 22. James Schiller

Cowboys

1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Braidon Burns 3. Jaxon Purdue 4. Tomas Chester 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Jake Clifford 7. Tom Dearden 8. Coen Hess 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. Heilum Luki 12. Sam McIntyre 13. Reuben Cotter

Interchange: 14. Soni Luke 15. Thomas Mikaele 16. Harrison Edwards 17. Kai O’Donnell

Reserves: 18. Griffin Neame 19. John Bateman 20. Liam Sutton 21. Matthew Lodge 22. Robert Derby

BULLDOGS V DRAGONS

Sunday March 1, 3:30pm (AEDT) Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas

Bulldogs

1. Connor Tracey 2. Jacob Kiraz 3. Bronson Xerri 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Matt Burton 7. Lachlan Galvin 8. Max King 9. Bailey Hayward 10. Samuel Hughes 11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Jaeman Salmon

Interchange: 14. Kurt Mann 15. Sitili Tupouniua 16. Harry Hayes 17. Josh Curran

Reserves: 19. Sean O’Sullivan 20. Jake Turpin 21. Enari Tuala 22. Jonathan Sua 23. Alekolasimi Jones

Dragons

1. Clinton Gutherson 2. Christian Tuipulotu 3. Moses Suli 4. Valentine Holmes 5. Setu Tu 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Daniel Atkinson 8. Emre Guler 9. Damien Cook 10. Toby Couchman 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Jaydn Su’A 13. Hamish Stewart

Interchange: 14. Hame Sele 15. Josh Kerr 16. Blake Lawrie 17. Ryan Couchman

Reserves: 18. Lyhkan King-Togia 19. David Fale 20. Jacob Halangahu 21. Mathew Feagai 22. Tyrell Sloan