Oliver Gildart set to make Sydney Roosters debut

James Gordon
Oliver Gildart

Photo: @SydneyRoosters Twitter

England centre Oliver Gildart is set to make his debut for Sydney Roosters against parent club Wests Tigers at the weekend.

Gildart, 26, has been drafted in to the centres to replace Paul Momirovski and will wear the number 20 shirt.

Huddersfield-bound Kevin Naiqama is 18th man for Trent Robinson’s side on Saturday.

It is the Roosters’ final match at the Sydney Cricket Ground before moving in to their new home at the Allianz Stadium.

They have spent the past four years at the SCG while the new ground was built as a replacement for the original Sydney Football Stadium.

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Oliver Gildart in his first year in the NRL

Oliver Gildart moved to the Roosters on loan at the start of August in search of game time.

He will be hoping to make Shaun Wane’s England squad for the World Cup at the end of the year.

The former Wigan centre arrived in the NRL ahead of 2022 at Wests Tigers, but made just eight appearances for them.

He made his debut in the opening round defeat at Melbourne and played in all but one of the first nine rounds. His one and only try came in the round 9 loss at Manly, which was his last appearance.

Gildart is still under contract with Wests for 2022, and has featured for North Sydney Bears since arriving at the Roosters.

Part of the Great Britain touring side in 2019, Gildart played for England in the series victory over New Zealand in 2018.

With question marks over the fitness of Mark Percival and Harry Newman, centre remains a position that is unclear when selecting a possible England side for the World Cup.

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