NRL Round 8 Preview and Tips – Saturday Fixtures

THE LONG HARD LOOK WITH MIKE WILSON

SATURDAY

Gold Coast Titans v Sydney Roosters
Skilled Park, 5:30pm

Not much separates these two when you look at the head to head stats. Neither team has been able to string consecutive wins together this year. After losing in the final minutes last week, I like the Titans to really bounce back here. Scott Prince needs to step up as his 2011 season has hardly been inspiring. The home crowd will play a big part in getting the Titans home here.

Mike’s Best Bet: $52 on the Titans Head to Head @ $1.84 (Betfair)

Melbourne Storm v Newcastle Knights
AAMI Park, 7:30pm

Jarrod Mullen knows that State of Origin is just around the corner and is under pressure to perform if he wants a coveted No. 7 jersey for New South Wales. Can he stand up? I’d hate to be doing it against the Storm in Melbourne and he has a massive task cut out for him. With the general form that Melbourne are in, it’s difficult to see them losing 2 in a row at homes. I think the deciding factor here will be field position. The Knights struggle to be consistent in finding metres, even when they are racking up completions. The Storm are so good at taking advantage of these deficiencies by rolling the ball forward up the middle.

Mike’s Best Bet: $52 on the Storm -5.5 @ $1.72 (Centrebet)

North Queensland Cowboys v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Dairy Farmers Stadium, 7:30pm

I’d say that the bookies have the Cowboys favourites here based on the home ground advantage. They have similarly styled playing rosters and a good game is shaping here. The key to a Manly victory will be to play from in front early. Manly should own the second half based on the two teams performances in the final 40 minutes of this year’s matches. Manly finish well, the Cowboys don’t. A lot of this matches’ points will come from out wide. Foran at 5/8^th for Manly and Thurston, the Cowboys halfback are going to provide the entertainment in a preview of Friday’s upcoming Test Match between Australia and New Zealand where the two will oppose each other for the second time in 6 days.

Mike’s Best Bet: None