NRL Round 10 Preview and Tips

NRL ROUND 10 PREVIEW

(BYE: Wests Tigers, South Sydney Rabbitohs)

FRIDAY

Brisbane Broncos v Manly Sea Eagles

Suncorp Stadium, 7:00pm (local).

BRONCOS: Josh Hoffman, Gerard Beale, Jack Reed, Justin Hodges, Dale Copley, Corey Norman, Ben Hunt, Ben Hannant, Andrew McCullough, Petero Civoniceva, Alex Glenn, Sam Thaiday (c), Corey Parker. Interchange: Luke Capewell, Josh McGuire, Matt Gillett, Ben Te’o

SEA EAGLES: Brett Stewart, Jorge Taufua, Jamie Lyon (c), Steve Matai, David Williams, Liam Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Jason King (c), Matt Ballin, Brent Kite, Anthony Watmough, Jamie Buhrer, Glenn Stewart. Interchange (from): Vic Mauro, Joe Galuvao, Darcy Lussick, George Rose, Daniel Harrison, Dean Whare.

There’s always something a bit special about a Broncos v Sea Eagles match and this one is also shaping up to be a quality encounter. Both teams will be without one of their halves; Peter Wallace won’t be playing for Brisbane because of a groin complaint and Manly’s Keiran Foran will remain on the sidelines for another week. Off season recruit Luke Capewell will be taking Wallace’s place in the side and I doubt he’ll be lacking any confidence in front of the Brisbane crowd which will be full of fans thanks to this match being leg one of a double header.

Manly are attempting to rack up three consecutive wins for the first time this year and the Broncos could be about to face 2 straight losses for the first time. The Sea Eagles are aware that any team coming off a loss can be particularly dangerous and Coach Geoff Toovey knows that few are more dangerous than a Broncos side playing in QLD.

Manly lock Glenn Stewart will be ready to fire after he returned from injury last week and will also be looking to impress the right people into choosing him for State of Origin in 2 weeks.

Chance of winning: Broncos 46%, Sea Eagles 53%, Draw 1%

Mike’s Tip: Sea Eagles

Mike’s Suggested Bet: Manly Head to Head at around $1.80 looks like a sound bet. For a small wager I’ll take Glen Stewart as man of the match.

Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs v Gold Coast Titans

Suncorp Stadium, 8:45pm (local).

BULLDOGS: Ben Barba, Jonathan Wright, Josh Morris, Tim Lafai, Bryson Goodwin, Josh Reynolds, Kris Keating, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis (c), Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Dene Halatau, Greg Eastwood. Interchange (from): James Graham, David Stagg, Corey Payne, Joel Romelo, Martin Taupau

TITANS: William Zillman, Kevin Gordon, Jamal Idris, Dominique Peyroux, David Mead, Aidan Sezer, Jordan Rankin, Luke Bailey (c), Matt Srama, Nate Myles, Greg Bird, Mark Minichiello, Ashley Harrison. Interchange (from): Matthew White, Luke Douglas, Luke O’Dwyer, Bodene Thompson, Phil Graham

The Titans are finding wins hard to come by in 2012 and a 3^rd win was looking likely in last week’s match against the Tigers when they fell agonisingly short in golden point. This week they go searching for that 3^rd win against the Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium in the 2^nd leg of the Friday night double header.

The Bulldogs managed to thump another lacklustre looking Eels outfit last week and are looking good to do the same job this week unless the Titans can sort out their handling errors and put up a good fight.

These two sides met in Round 5 and although the Dogs won 30-20, they had to fight back after the Titans had them 10-0 down. Hopefully the Titans can draw from that positive experience and take this one down to the wire.

Chance of winning: Bulldogs 53%, Titans 46%, Draw 1%

Mike’s Tip: Bulldogs

Mike’s Suggested Bet: 1^st scoring play: Bulldogs try

SATURDAY

Warriors v Sydney Roosters

Mt Smart Stadium, 7:30pm (local).

WARRIORS: Jerome Ropati, Bill Tupou, Ben Henry, Konrad Hurrell, Manu Vatuvei, James Maloney, Shaun Johnson, Russell Packer, Alehana Mara, Ben Matulino, Elijah Taylor, Simon Mannering (c), Feleti Mateo. Interchange: Lewis Brown, Ukuma Ta’ai, Sione Lousi, Jacob Lillyman.

ROOSTERS: Anthony Minichiello, Peni Tagive, Joseph ‘BJ’ Leilua, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Sam Perrett, Braith Anasta (c), Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Martin Kennedy, Aidan Guerra, Mitchell Aubusson, Tinirau Arona. Interchange (from): Boyd Cordner, Lama Tasi, Brad Takairangi, Mose Masoe, Jack Bosden.

The NRL heads across the ditch where the Warriors host the Roosters at Mt. Smart Stadium. The Warriors finally showed some top form last week when they did away with the Broncos 30-20 following a solid 80 minute performance.

The Roosters ground out a win against the Knights in Sydney but go into this match as $3.00 underdogs. This is largely due to the bookies that have been waiting all year for the Warriors to find the form that saw them reach the Grand Final in 2011. Whilst I think the Warriors can win this match, it will be a lot closer than many expect which to me makes the Roosters at the line a healthy betting prospect.

Let’s not forget that these two sides met in Round 5 and they Roosters won convincingly 26-8.

Chance of winning: Warriors 51%, Roosters 48%, Draw 1%

Mike’s Tip: Warriors

Mike’s Suggested Bet: Roosters +8.5 @ $1.90

Newcastle Knights v North Queensland Cowboys

Hunter Stadium, 7:30pm (local).

KNIGHTS: Darius Boyd, James McManus, Junior Sa’u, Timana Tahu, Akuila Uate, Jarrod Mullen, Tyrone Roberts, Kade Snowden, Matt Hilder, Evarn Tuimavave, Chris Houston (c), Zeb Taia, Neville Costigan. Interchange: Richie Fa’aoso, Willie Mason, Adam Cuthbertson, Alex McKinnon.

COWBOYS: Matthew Bowen, Ashley Graham, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston (c), Ray Thompson, Matthew Scott (c), Aaron Payne, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Tariq Sims, Dallas Johnson. Interchange: James Segeyaro, Ricky Thorby, Ashton Sims, Glenn Hall.

Following their 30-6 drilling of the Dragons last week, the Cowboys look like they may have finally hit their straps and will be eagerly seeking another victim to slay. That potential victim this week is the Newcastle Knights, a team that is not living up to expectations so far in 2012.

The history between the two sides is even with both having won 3 games from the last 6 encounters with the last 2 match ups being won by the away team, both of which were last year.

Based purely on form it’s hard to tip against the Cowboys given that the Knights are struggling to find themselves at the moment whereas the Cowboys look to be building momentum.

Chance of winning: Knights 47%, Cowboys 52%, Draw 1%

Mike’s Tip: Cowboys

Mike’s Suggested Bet: Cowboys head to head.

SUNDAY

Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels

Canberra Stadium, 2:00pm (local).

RAIDERS: Josh Dugan, Blake Ferguson, Jarrod Croker, Jack Wighton, Reece Robinson, Josh McCrone, Sam Williams, David Shillington (c), Travis Waddel, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Josh Papalii, Joel Thompson, Shaun Fensom. Interchange (from): Shaun Berrigan, Joe Picker, Sam Mataora, Dane Tilse, Bronson Harrison.

EELS: Jarryd Hayne, Luke Burt, Ryan Morgan, Cheyse Blair, Ken Sio, Casey McGuire, Chris Sandow, Tim Mannah, Matthew Keating, Fuifui Moimoi, Nathan Hindmarsh (c), Joseph Paulo, Matthew Ryan. Interchange: Taniela Lasalo, Mitchell Allgood, Justin Poore, Taulima Tautai

Sunday footy kicks off in the nation’s capital as the Raiders take on an Eels side that is under an enormous amount of pressure to perform. The Eels are strong favourites to take out the wooden spoon and it’s no wonder given the lack of effort they have shown in some games this year. They get a chance to score their 2^nd win of the year against a Raiders side that showed plenty of fight last week against the Sea Eagles before going down by just 6 points. Terry Campese’s replacement Sam Williams has shown he is more than capable of taking on the halfback role in the Raiders team and his decisions will make all the difference in this game.

In the last 8 match ups between these two, each team has won four of them.

Chance of winning: Raiders 55%, Eels 44%, Draw 1%

Mike’s Tip: Raiders

Mike’s Suggested Bet: None

Cronulla Sharks v Melbourne Storm

Toyota Stadium, 3:00pm (local).

SHARKS: Matthew Wright, Stewart Mills, Ben Pomeroy, Colin Best, John Williams, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Bryce Gibbs, Isaac De Gois, Ben Ross, Jeremy Smith, Jayson Bukuya, Paul Gallen (c). Interchange (from): Andrew Fifita, Wade Graham, John Morris, Sam Tagataese, Mark Taufua.

STORM: Billy Slater, Matt Duffie, Dane Nielsen, Will Chambers, Justin O’Neill, Gareth Widdop, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith (c), Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Todd Lowrie. Interchange (from): Ryan Hinchcliffe, Rory Kostjasyn, Siosaia Vave, Jason Ryles, Anthony Quinn.

It’s 1^st v 3^rd as top of the table Storm heading to the Shire to take on the Sharks who have enjoyed plenty of success in the opening 9 rounds.

The Sharks are probably the fairytale story so far this year and as much as I’d love to get onboard for this game, how does one tip against the Storm? They haven’t lost a game in the first 9 rounds and have scored over 40 points on 3 occasions already!

Key an eye on the team lists leading up to kick off as Sharks dynamo Paul is still just a 50/50 prospect of playing in this one due to a leg injury.

Chance of winning: Sharks 43%, Storm 56%, Draw 1%

Mike’s Tip: Storm

Mike’s Suggested Bet: This should be a low scoring game and i’ll be taking the ‘Unders’ option in ‘Over/Under’ betting.

MONDAY

Penrith Panthers v St George Illawarra Dragons

Centrebet Stadium, 7:00pm (local).

PANTHERS: Lachlan Coote, Etu Uaisele, Geoff Daniela, Brad Tighe, Josh Mansour, Blake Austin, Travis Burns, Sam McKendry, Kevin Kingston, Tim Grant, Cameron Ciraldo, Clint Newton, Luke Lewis (c). Interchange (from): Ryan Simpkins, Danny Galea, Dayne Weston, Matt Robinson, Chris Armit.

DRAGONS: Brett Morris, Daniel Vidot, Kyle Stanley, Matt Cooper, Jason Nightingale, Jamie Soward, Ben Hornby (c), Dan Hunt, Mitch Rein, Michael Weyman, Trent Merrin, Ben Creagh, Dean Young. Interchange: Nathan Fien, Jeremy Latimore, David Gower, Jack de Belin, Atelea Vea, Jake Marketo

Chance of winning: Panthers 39%, Dragons 60%, Draw 1%

Mike’s Tip: Dragons