NRL Round 12 Preview
With the naming of both the New South Wales and Queensland Origin teams now announced it brings us to the first bye round in which a number of teams will be heavily depleted and others will have the week off to assess their performances over the opening 3 months of the season. Read on as we cast our eye how each of these teams will perform without their origin stars.
Penrith Panthers ($1.90) vs Manly Sea Eagles ($1.90)
Thursday, 30th May 7:50pm, Panthers Stadium
The first game of round 12 sees the Penrith Panthers looking for back to back wins for the first time in 2019 whilst the Manly Sea Eagles will be hoping to avenge a disappointing loss at home to the Gold Coast Titans from last week. Despite Penrith being back in the winners circle the jury is still well and truly out on them as their win against the Parramatta Eels was far from convincing and to make matters worse they lose star halfback and arguably their man of the match last week in Nathan Cleary to New South Wales Blues duty as well as their centre pairing of Dean Whare and Waqa Blake to injury. For the Sea Eagles they also lose the heart of their forward pack in Jake Trbojevic to origin duty as well as impressive youngster Brad Parker in a move that has seen them recall Abbas Miski for his 2nd NRL game on the wing and handing Corey Waddell the tough duty of filling in for Trbojevic. In recent history Penrith have dominated this contest winning 8 of the last 10 fixtures including a 28-24 victory over the Sea Eagles at their home ground in round 20 of last year but in saying that they also went down 18-10 to the Sea Eagles at their home ground in round 16 of last year too. With this in mind and the fact that Panthers have recalled two of their most experienced on field leaders in James Maloney and Isaah Yeo, from suspension and injury respectively, we are leaning towards a Panthers victory in another tight tussle of a game.
Recommended Bet: Penrith Panthers 1-12 $2.95
Parramatta Eels ($1.65) vs South Sydney Rabbitohs ($2.25)
Friday, 31st May 7:55pm, Bankwest Stadium
Friday nights game sees two teams who have had largely different performances over the last month come together at Bankwest Stadium. The Parramatta Eels have been struggling to put together consistent performances and have lacked effort over the last month as they have slipped to 3 consecutive losses despite boasting a near full strength side each week. On the other hand the South Sydney Rabbitohs couldn’t even name a full 21 man squad for their round 11 clash and despite this they provided another consistent performance to extend their winning streak to 7 games in a row as they sit atop of the ladder after 11 rounds. This week sees Souths hit even further as four of their star players are called up for state of origin duty in Dane Gagai, Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Cameron Murray in a move that has seen coach Wayne Bennett hand debuts to young half Connor Tracey and hooker Billy Brittain as well as naming Bailey Sironen and Adam Doueihi for their first starts in 2019. For the Eels, coach Brad Arthur has changed his side yet again by recalling Kane Evans, Michael Jennings and Ray Stone as well as handing Tepai Moeroa the starting lock position in a move to help ignite an attack that has managed only 30 points across their last 3 games. In 2018 these two teams met twice with Souths running out winners in both fixtures, piling on a total of 68 points past the Eels and with the contrasting form of both these teams in recent weeks we are predicting the professionalism of Souths to shine through for an 8th consecutive win.
Recommended Bet: South Sydney Rabbitohs 1-12 $3.45
Canterbury Bulldogs ($2.00) vs Canberra Raiders ($1.80)
Saturday, 1st June 7:35pm, ANZ Stadium
Saturdays prime time game looks largely similar to that of the previous nights game as a Canterbury Bulldogs side who are almost unaffected by state of origin come up against a Canberra Raiders side who are largely affected by both state of origin and injury. Both sides are also coming off losses as the Bulldogs were thumped by a Josh Addo-Carr led Melbourne Storm by 22 points at their spiritual home ground of Belmore whilst the Raiders were shocked by a determined Cowboys side in a 6 point loss at home. For the Raiders this loss marked their 3rd straight loss and saw them drop out of the top four for the first time in over a month whilst the Bulldogs now see themselves languishing at the bottom of the table. Things don’t get any easier for the Raiders as they lose Jack Wighton, Nick Cotric and Josh Papalii to state of origin duty whilst they also lose England international hooker Josh Hodgson to injury in a move that has seen them recall Aiden Sezer, Sebastian Kris, Emre Guler and hand a debut to Tom Starling on the bench. For the Bulldogs they have replaced boom forward Dylan Napa with Raymond Faitala-Mariner as coach Dean Pay has resisted the urge to recall regular first graders Lachlan Lewis, Adam Elliot, Kerrod Holland and Michael Lichaa. The last time these two teams met saw a 4 point victory for the Raiders in round 17 of last year, which improved their record of 4 wins from their last 5 outings against the Bulldogs but despite this we are leaning towards a Bulldogs victory in this game as a result of the large changes to the Raiders side and the Bulldogs holding the last 2 victories over the Raiders at ANZ stadium.
Recommended Bet: Canterbury Bulldogs $2.00
Gold Coast Titans ($1.72) vs North Queensland Cowboys ($2.10)
Sunday, 2nd June 4:05pm, Cbus Super Stadium
The final game of round 12 sees a Queensland derby between two teams languishing in the bottom eight as the North Queensland Cowboys travel to the Gold Coast to take on the Titans. Both teams are also coming off impressive wins away from home last week as the Gold Coast Titans defeated the Manly Sea Eagles thanks to a spirited effort from both halves Ashley Taylor and Tyrone Roberts whilst the Cowboys knocked off a top four side in the Raiders to notch their 3rd win in their last 4 games. This week sees a much different Cowboys side take the field as Michael Morgan & Josh McGuire are called into origin camp and Matt Scott & Justin O’Neil are out injured. As a result coach Paul Green has recalled promising young half Jake Clifford and Corey Jensen as well as regaining Coen Hess and Scott Bolton who both missed the victory against the Raiders due to injury. On the other hand the Titans have been able to name the same 17 who came back from 12 points down last week against the Sea Eagles only to end up winning by 18 points. Last time these two teams mets was a mere 4 rounds ago where the Cowboys won by 14 points on the back of a 217 metre effort from Jason Taumalolo and in doing so they extended their winning streak to 8 against the Titans. Since this win the Cowboys defence has improved significantly and we are tipping the experience of their forward pack to lead them to a 9th consecutive victory against the Titans, albeit in a close encounter.
Recommended Bet: North Queensland Cowboys $2.10
Teams on Bye: Sydney Roosters, Newcastle Knights, Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Wests Tigers, Cronulla Sharks and the New Zealand Warriors.
