With the second State of Origin game scheduled for newt Wednesday (26th June), we have another split round and only four matches scheduled for this weekend.
The first sees an in-form Canterbury Bulldogs up against the Sydney Roosters who have won one of their past three games – that being over the lowly placed Parramatta.
Canterbury had to go to golden point last week to register their fourth and arguably best win of the season against Manly, 32-30.
It was their seventh win from the past eight rounds and, after a slow start to the season that saw them in last spot on the ladder after six rounds, the Dogs are now seventh and on a roll.
The Roosters will have to dig deep this week as they look to return to the winner’s stall this week and will have to do so without regular halves pairing of Pearce and Maloney who are on Origin Duty along with attacking centre, Michael Jennings.
The Roosters drummed the Dogs 38-0 when the two sides met back in round 6 of this year but two months down the track, things – especially for the Bulldogs who are now support a full roster, have changed dramatically.
All the momentum is with Canterbury and they’ll be able to reverse the score-line from earlier this year.
The last seven times these two sides have met have resulted in a total match score greater than 38 points – six of them over the 40 point mark.
TIP: CANTERBURY – 8
Odds Comparison by NRL odds:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Canterbury Bulldogs | 1.42 | 1.41 | 1.40 | 1.41 | 1.42 | 1.42 |
|
Sydney Roosters
|
2.95 | 3.00 | 3.05 | 3.00 | 2.95 | 2.88 |
Teams:
Canterbury Bulldogs:
Ben Barba, Mitch Brown, Timoteo Lafai, Krisnan Inu, Sam Perrett, Joel Romelo, Trent Hodkinson, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis, James Graham, Frank Pritchard, Josh Jackson, Greg Eastwood. Interchange: Sam Kasiano, Tony Williams, Dene Halatau, Dale Finucane.
Sydney Roosters:
Anthony Minichiello, Daniel Tupou, Aidan Guerra, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Mitchell Aubusson, Daniel Mortimer, Luke O’Donnell, Jake Friend, Martin Kennedy, Boyd Cordner, Sonny Bill Williams, Frank Paul Nuuausala. Interchange: Nafe Seluini, Dylan Napa, Sam Moa, Isaac Liu.
Referees: Matt Cecchin, Gavin Badger.
