Newcastle Knights vs Brisbane Broncos 2014 NRL Round 7 preview, tips and teams

The Knights bounced back after a poor Monday night loss to the Cowboys in round 5, with a 26 – 12 win over the unpredictable Canberra Raiders last week.

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It was the second leg of a tough road trip for the Knights who would’ve have been pleased with their improved effort and will now be looking forward to playing this game at home, only their third for the season.

The scores were locked 12 all at halftime and the game in the balance last week but Newcastle, with the inclusion of five-eight Jarrod Mullen who was playing his first game this season, used the ball and possession in a more efficient manner than their opponents in the second half, scoring two further tries whilst keeping their opponents scoreless.

Mullen will be much better for the outing and the return home, where Newcastle have comfortably defeated Cronulla and were beaten on the buzzer by Canberra in their two games this season, will see an improved effort again but it will have to be as the take on the Broncos.

Brisbane faced-up against competition leaders Gold Coast Titans last week at Skilled Stadium.

It was a real arm-wrestle and a tightly contested match that, at the 60th mark, saw the Broncos in front 8 – 4 and on the attack however, the game swung dramatically at that point.

Titans fullback David Mead swooped up a grubber kick on his own line and proceeded to run 95 metres to score. The subsequent conversion saw the Titans in front and with the home-crowd behind them, all the momentum for the final 15 minutes of the game.

A further try to man-of-the-match and Gold Coast five-eight Aidan Sezer in the 73rd minutes sealed the game and handed the Broncos their third defeat in the past four weeks.

The Broncos didn’t do much wrong last week or in any of their three losses this year (which been by 4, 7 and 4 points) however, they have seen the Broncos slide to seventh spot on the ladder and with Souths in round 8, followed by the Cowboys in Townsville in round 9, they cannot afford another one here.

The two sides met twice last year for a draw and a 26 – 18 win to the Knigths however, Brisbane are going better this year than 2012 and haven’t lost in their last three appearances at Hunter Stadium.

Newcastle will lift here for their Coach Wayne Bennett as they come up against his old side and will give a spirited performance but the Broncos have been the more consistent side this year and should sneak home in this one.

TIP: BRISBANE $2.10

Odds Comparison:

Newcastle Knights 1.77 1.67 1.73 1.67 1.77 1.70
Brisbane Broncos 2.10 2.25 2.15 2.25 2.10 2.15

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

Teams:

Newcastle Knights:Newcastle Knights logo.svg

1. Darius Boyd, 2. James McManus, 3. Dane Gagai, 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Josh Mantellato, 6. Jarrod Mullen, 7. Tyrone Roberts, 8. Kade Snowden, 9. Kurt Gidley (c), 10. Willie Mason, 11. Beau Scott, 12. Chris Houston, 13. Jeremy Smith Interchange: 14. Adam Clydsdale, 15. Korbin Sims, 16. Robbie Rochow, 17. Zane Tetevano

 

Brisbane Broncos:Brisbane Broncos logo.svg

1 Ben Barba, 2 Daniel Vidot, 3 Jack Reed, 4 Justin Hodges (c), 5 Dale Copley, 6 Josh Hoffman, 7 Ben Hunt, 8 Josh McGuire, 9 Andrew McCullough, 10 Corey Parker (c), 11 Alex Glenn , 12 Sam Thaiday, 13 Matt Gillett
Interchange: 14 Martin Kennedy, 15 Todd Lowrie, 16 Ben Hannant, 17 Corey Oates, 18 Jarrod Wallace

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