The following are previews with betting tips for Round 15 of the 2017 NRL season.
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Rabbitohs v TitansFri June 16, 7:50 pm, ANZ Stadium |
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The South Sydney Rabbitohs will play the Gold Coast Titans this Friday night after both teams endured disappointing losses last week. The Rabbitohs were ultimately their own worst enemy against the Broncos, while the Titans were very poor against a revved-up Warriors outfit. Each team is sitting on only four wins from 13 games, and if a turnaround it going to happen, it has to be now.
Souths have named an unchanged side for the clash, while the Titans will be without Origin stars Jarryd Hayne, Jarrod Wallace and Nathan Peats with a number of other players also out injured. John Olive, Kevin Proctor, Nathan Peteru and Pat Politoni will join the starting side as Eddy Pettyborne and Pat Vaivai join the bench.
Souths were not far off a good performance against the Broncos last week, only being let down by errors in key moments. It will be an area in which coach Michael Maguire expect a big improvement, and against a depleted Titans outfit – expect the Bunnies to get the points.
Betting Tip: Rabbitohs -10.5 @ $1.93 (Bet365)
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Storm v CowboysSat June 17, 5:30 pm, AAMI Park |
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The Melbourne Storm will host the North Queensland Cowboys this Saturday night in a fascinating clash between two sides depleted by Origin representation. As two of the biggest contributors to the Origin squads in the competition, this will be a scrappy contest between two usually disciplined teams. Both teams are backing up from impressive wins, so expect each squad to be playing for pride to prove they are a formidable squad without their representative players
The Storm will bring in Young Tonumaipea, Curtis Scott, Mark Nicholls, Joe Stimson, Dean Britt and Brandon Smith in a litany of changes from their usual side, while the Cowboys will include Javid Bowen, Kyle Laybutt, Ray Thompson and Corey Jensen.
Both teams will be missing four key players, but the Storm will go into the match as favourites with the big-game experience within the Storm squad a big advantage. Expect a scrappy contest but the disciplined Victorians should get the win.
Betting Tip: Storm -4.0 @ $1.96 (Crownbet)
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Sharks v TigersSat June 17, 7:30 pm, Southern Cross Group Stadium |
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The Cronulla Sharks will play the Wests Tigers this Saturday night after both teams suffered disappointing losses last round. The Sharks were edged by an in-form Storm outfit in an end to their dominance over their Victorian rivals, while the Tigers were outplayed by a classy Roosters side.
Edrick Lee, Fa’amanu Brown Daniel Mortimer, Jeremy Latimore and Jesse Ramien will join the Sharks side to cover their Origin stars. The Tigers have similarly named replacements in Malakai Watane-Zeleziak and Matt Eisenhuth joining the squad with Luke Brooks also returning in the halves.
Despite the absence of their Origin players, the Sharks will go into the contest as heavy favourites given their quality across the board. Expect another scrappy game with both sides’ combinations heavily impacted, but expect the reigning premiers to get away with the win.
Betting Tip: Tigers +10.5 @ $1.92 (Crownbet)
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Eels v DragonsSun June 18, 4:00 pm, ANZ Stadium |
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The Parramatta Eels will take on the St George Dragons this Sunday afternoon as both sides’ recent momentum was halted with disappointing losses last round. The Dragons failed to fire against the Bulldogs last week, while the Eels were poor against the Cowboys in a dominant performance from the Queenslanders.
The Eels will replace Nathan Davis with Kirisome Auva’a on the wing as the Dragons bring in Kalifa Faifai Loa and Jacob Host as cover.
It will be an interesting match to watch with both teams needing to bounce back after snags in their momentum last week. Expect the Dragons to be sharp after the high standards set this year were not met last week. With both sides possessing enormous physicality, expect a scrappy but intense contest with both sides fielding limited representative players. Dragons to get the points in a tight contest.
Betting Tip: Dragons Head to Head @ $2.25 (Topbetta)
Best Bet
Storm -4.0 @ $1.96 (Crownbet)