The following are previews with betting tips for The Grand Final of the 2019 NRL season.
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Roosters v RaidersSun, Oct 6, 6:30pm |
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The winner of the 2019 NRL Grand Final will be decided on Sunday evening with a resurgent Canberra squad looking to shatter the Roosters’ dream of back-to-back titles. Both teams have performed superbly throughout the finals series with the Roosters showing their class to dispose of the Storm last week, while the Canberra were impressive against the Rabbitohs – particularly after they conceded no points in a panicked 10-minute period where star fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was sin-binned.
Raiders’ mentor Ricky Stuart has the luxury of naming an unchanged 17 for this match. Star hooker Josh Hodgson was absent from training on Tuesday with a virus but the Englishman looks set to take the field. For the Roosters, veteran enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will return at prop, pushing Siosiua Taukeiaho to the interchange bench and Lindsay Collins to the reserves. Jake Friend is also a chance of returning from a long-term injury absence after the veteran rake was again included in the reserves.
This Grand Final match up once again proves the old adage that defense wins premierships, with the Roosters and Raiders boasting the second and third best defensive records in the competition respectively, behind only the Melbourne Storm. Both clubs will field very balanced football teams, with speed and power through the middle and plenty of strike on the edges, but it will be each squad’s spine – particularly the halves – where this contest is decided. The form of Luke Keary and Cooper Cronk is hard to dismiss in this contest which shapes as a physically brutal game that will likely come down to execution in key moments. While the Raiders have every chance to take this match, expect the class within this Roosters line-up to prove the difference and the ‘Tri-colours’ to win consecutive Grand-Final victories for the first time since 1993.
Betting Tip: Roosters -7.5 @ $1.91 (Bet365)
Best Bet
Roosters -7.5 @ $1.91 (Bet365)