Sunday’s NRL 2018 Round 20 match is between Gold Coast Titans and New Zealand Warriors. The opening kick is set to commence at 14:00 local time with the game to be played at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast. The away team New Zealand Warriors are the favourites for the match.
View our preview and teams for the game between Gold Coast Titans and New Zealand Warriors.
When: 14:00 | Sunday 29/07/2018
Where: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Preview:
The Titans last week looked in control until they started to internally combust.
Giving up a 14-point lead will no doubt give the coach more headaches after another game was lost.
The NZ Warriors were beaten but not quite in that same fashion.
They were good and had their chances but fell short.
I expect them to turn up to the sunny state with confidence and a real mindset to be determined to leave with the 2 points.
Currently sitting in 8th spot, they need to make every post a winner.
Although they only managed to score 6 points last week they were also up against the best defensive side in the comp.
This week they are up against the worst.
Look for plenty of points in this game.
KEY BATTLE: Jarrod Wallace v Agnatius Paasi
Ex-Titans player Agnatius Paasi’s matchup with Wallace will be a good one.
Both have been great for their side.
Passi has been one of the most consistent forwards for Stephen Kearney this year.
The Verdict
Tough game for the home team, look for a similar style open game we saw when they played Brisbane on that sunny Sunday three weeks ago.
The Warriors have an 8-6 (57.1 percent) record as an away team in day matches since 2016.
Unibet Odds:
Gold Coast Titans at $2.35
New Zealand Warriors at $1.61
Odds:
Tip: New Zealand Warriors at $1.65
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Ken Maumalo at $12.00
More Info:
Teams:
Gold Coast Titans:
1 Michael Gordon, 2 Anthony Don, 3 Konrad Hurrell, 4 Brenko Lee, 5 Phillip Sami, 6 AJ Brimson, 7 Ashley Taylor, 8 Jarrod Wallace, 9 Nathan Peats, 10 Ryan James (c), 11 Kevin Proctor, 12 Keegan Hipgrave, 13 Jai Arrow
Interchange: 14 Mitch Rein, 15 Moeaki Fotuaika, 16 Jack Stockwell, 17 Will Matthews
Reserves: 18 Leilani Latu, 19 Brendan Elliot, 20 Morgan Boyle, 21 Kane Elgey.
New Zealand Warriors: 
1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, 2 David Fusitu’a, 3 Gerard Beale, 4 Solomone Kata, 5 Ken Maumalo, 6 Blake Green, 7 Shaun Johnson, 8 James Gavet, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Agnatius Paasi, 11 Isaiah Papali’i, 12 Tohu Harris, 13 Simon Mannering
Interchange: 14 Jazz Tevaga, 15 Sam Lisone, 16 Joseph Vuna, 17 Bunty Afoa
Reserves: 18 Peta Hiku, 20 Karl Lawton, 21 Leivaha Pulu, 22 Mason Lino.
NRL News:
The Warriors say they’re better equipped to stymie the Melbourne Storm if the NRL premiers are in the mood for another magical half of rugby league.
Nobody was more gobsmacked than the Warriors themselves when Craig Bellamy’s team raced 38-0 clear by halftime in their ANZAC Day drubbing.
The 50-10 loss is still on their mind heading into Sunday’s clash in Auckland.
Coach Stephen Kearney describes the first 40 minutes in Melbourne three months ago as like being “hit by a hurricane”.
Even Bellamy referred to it as “surreal” this week when reflecting on a game in which everything that could go right on attack, did so for his team.
Nine Storm players ran for more than 100m through a generous Warriors defence, bursting the Kiwi team’s early-season confidence bubble.
Kearney admits his players weren’t in an ideal mental space that week.
They’d come off their best performance of the season, an upset of then-leaders St George Illawarra, and were defying all expectations by sharing the competition lead through seven rounds.
“It was a good reminder for us of the intensity you need to play at,” Kearney said.
“We learned that when you’re sitting on the table where we are, then teams make sure they bring their best game of footy.
“I don’t think there was anything that they could do wrong in that particular game.”
The Warriors have slipped to seventh, five spots below Melbourne but only two points behind them in a crammed top eight.
Former Storm forward Adam Blair reckons his Warriors are a wiser outfit than in April as they build towards the play-offs.
They’ve had a handful of other heavy losses and are slowly learning how to cope with serious opponents, underlined by their 26-6 drubbing of the Broncos in Brisbane last week.
“We’re a different team from then, without a doubt,” Blair said of the Storm humbling.
“We’ve moved forward in the right direction. We’re playing a good style of football and hopefully we’ll see a similar style to what we played against the Broncos.”
Replicating the offload-heavy approach that was successful in Brisbane may prove difficult, with wet conditions forecast.
Also, the Warriors must overcome a worrying home record, having lost their last three games at Mt Smart Stadium.
STATS THAT MATTER
* The Storm are chasing a record sixth straight win over the Warriors.
* Storm skipper Cameron Smith will play his 30th match against the Warriors, the most by any player.
* The Warriors have failed to reach 15 points in their last five matches against the Storm.
