Cronulla pulled of a big upset last Monday night with a win over the Sydney Roosters.
The Sharks bounced to a 26 – 0 lead at the break and protected their position in the second with several penalty conversions and staved off a Roosters comeback.
It was the Sharks sixth win in the past eight weeks and they’re hitting form at the right end of the season.
The win lifts the Sharks to 30 competition points and fifth spot on the ladder, more importantly it keeps them out of reach of a bunch of teams fighting for one of the remaining finals spot.
One of those teams is the Cowboys who, remarkably given that during the middle of the season they lost eight of ten matches, are still a chance to make the finals courtesy of string of wins over the past month.
Rabbitohs, Panthers, Titans and last week, the Knights have been accounted for during that time and with a head full of steam and a winning record of 4 – 1 since 2011 over the Sharks, they’ll venture to Sydney brimming with confidence.
The Cowboys have covered the line in each of their four wins and are in receipt of -5.5 here.
With Thurston in form anything is possible however, the loss of hooker Ray Thomas, who was starting to make the position his own, with a broken jaw will impact the Cowboys.
Sharks need to make last week’s win over Sydney counts with another one here and at home, they’ll have no excuse if they do not produce a similar performance.
TIP: SHARKS 1 – 12
Odds Comparison by NRL odds:
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| Manly Sea Eagles | 1.52 | 1.50 | 1.51 | 1.50 | 1.52 | 1.52 |
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Melbourne Storm
|
2.55 | 2.60 | 2.60 | 2.60 | 2.55 | 2.55 |
Teams:
Cronulla Sharks:
Michael Gordon, Sosaia Feki, Ben Pomeroy, Jonathan Wright, Beau Ryan, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Andrew Fifita, John Morris, Sam Tagataese, Luke Lewis, Wade Graham, Paul Gallen. Interchange: Isaac De Gois, Chris Heighington, Jayson Bukuya, Anthony Tupou, Bryce Gibbs
Nth Queensland Cowboys:
Matthew Bowen, Wayne Ulugia, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston, Robert Lui, Matthew Scott, Rory Kostjasyn, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Joel Riethmuller. Interchange: Jayden Hodges, Tariq Sims, Scott Bolton, Ricky Thorby, Ashton Sims
