Can you dig the article back up and check if Hastings and Brown were in the 13 or 17 or not? If they weren't already named in starting positions that could also make the circumstances different where Roosters couldn't possibly play Radley at hooker as he was already named to start in another position.
Barrett submitted a team list at the start of the week with Fainu as #9. The NRL rejected it. Nobody wore #9 in the game. Matt Wright ended up starting at hooker.
Following week was rep round. The Tuesday morning after that they released Hastings and Fainu was added to the top 30 in his place.
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Two more...
Tom Starling was given dispensation to debut for Canberra in 2019 despite not even being a dev player. He was contracted to Mounties. Raiders had Havili but no other hookers, and Sticky argued that it wasn't fair for Havili to be expected to play 80. He was then given a dev contract and was allowed to play.
Jakob Arthur in 2021. They named him in the team at 6 when he was a dev player. The NRL rejected it because Parra had Jordan Rankin in their top 30. The Eels upgraded Arthur so he could play.
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I'd like to read about this Radley one, because they have been pretty consistent with it from what I have seen. So you're saying Radley and a hooker were both named, and then the hooker pulled out mid-week? Maybe they got permission to bring in a hooker based on the team having started preparing for the game.