With the State of Origin decider next Wednesday night, only four games make up Round 18 of the NRL, the first of which sees the struggling Brisbane Broncos host the Cronulla Sharks.
Brisbane slumped to their fifth last from their past six games last Friday night when handed a 32-0 drumming by the Melbourne Storm.
The loss now sees the Broncos required to win their last eight games of the season to ensure a finals birth but this week obviously, they’ll be without their origin players – Thaiday, Parker, Hodges and Gillett.
Also missing will be centre Jack Reed who is out for 4-6 weeks with a damaged collarbone.
Cronulla will be without NSW Captain Paul Gallen and Man of the Match from State of Origin Game 1, Luke Lewis but still have enough personal to worry the Broncos.
The Sharks sit ninth on the ladder and need a win here to keep pace with the top half of the competition.
Coming off a good win last week against West Tigers (36-22), which was their fourth in the past six weeks, there’s a lot more to like about the Sharks heading into this match than there is about the home team.
Last time the two sides met (round 17, 2012) Cronulla snapped a five game losing streak to the Broncos and would expect them to make it successive victories this weekend.
Tips: CRONULLA 1 – 12
Odds comparison by NRL Odds:
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| Brisbane Broncos | 2.35 | 2.40 | 2.32 | 2.35 | 2.35 | 2.35 |
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Cronulla Sharks
|
1.60 | 1.60 | 1.63 | 1.60 | 1.60 | 1.60 |
Teams:
Broncos: Corey Norman, Jordan Kahu, Corey Oates, Josh Hoffman, Lachlan Maranta, Scott Prince, Peter Wallace, Ben Hannant, Andrew McCullough, Josh McGuire, Alex Glenn (c), David Stagg, Mitchell Dodds. Interchange: Ben Hunt, David Hala, Dunamis Lui, Lama Tasi, Jarrod Wallace, Nick Slyney, Scott Anderson
Sharks: Michael Gordon, Sosaia Feki, Stewart Mills, Jonathan Wright, Nathan Stapleton, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Bryce Gibbs, John Morris, Sam Tagataese, Jayson Bukuya, Wade Graham (c), Chris Heighington. Interchange: Isaac De Gois, Tyrone Peachey, Mark Taufua, Ben Ross, Ben Pomeroy
