The first of Saturday’s NRL Round 9 matches is between New Zealand Warriors and Canterbury Bulldogs. The opening kick is set to commence at 7.30pm (NZ time) with the game to be played at Mt Smart Stadium. The away team the Canterbury Bulldogs are the current favourites in the market to win away from home where the Warriors are very tough to beat. View our preview and teams for the game between New Zealand Warriors and Canterbury Bulldogs.

Mt Smart Stadium

Featured Bookmakers:

New Zealand Warriors $2.32 vs Canterbury Bulldogs $1.60 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

New Zealand Warriors $2.50 vs Canterbury Bulldogs $1.55 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by NRL Odds:

New Zealand Warriors	2.32	2.35	2.50	2.35	2.32	2.35
Canterbury Bulldogs	1.60	1.60	1.55	1.60	1.60	1.63

Preview:

Despite having only registered two wins this season, including a narrow victory of the Gold Coast Titans last week by one point, fancy the Warriors are travelling better than their record indicates.

In the past month they have lost narrowly to South Sydney (24-22) and two weeks back, led the Melbourne Storm well into the second half before the letting in two late tries and going down by ten points (28-18).

The Warriors also hold a record of two wins from three encounters between the two sides over the past three years however, they we’ll need to produce their best as they host a Dogs outfit that, after a slow start to the season, appear to gaining momentum and are coming off two very good wins.

After facing the Storm, Rabbitohs, Sea Eagles and Roosters in consecutive weeks, the Dogs registered a much needed win over the Sharks two weeks back before easily accounting for the West Tigers last week 40-4.

The Dogs welcomed back key forwards Graham and Kasiano in last week’s match and the impact the pair had was immediate.

The Canterbury halves looked far more comfortably behind a pack that was able to dominate and produced seven tries accordingly.

Canterbury will be keen to keep the momentum up but face a much tougher task here then they have in their past two weeks and this will be a competitive clash.

Teams:

New Zealand Warriors:
Glen Fisiiahi, Bill Tupou, Ben Henry, Konrad Hurrell, Manu Vatuvei, Thomas Leuluai, Shaun Johnson, Sam Rapira, Nathan Friend, Russell Packer, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering (c), Todd Lowrie
Interchange: Ben Matulino, Jacob Lillyman, Elijah Taylor, Pita Godinet, Carlos Tuimavave (one to be omitted)

Canterbury Bulldogs:
Ben Barba, Mitch Brown, Josh Morris, Tim Lafai, Sam Perrett, Josh Reynolds, Trent Hodkinson, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis (c), 10 Sam Kasiano, 11 Tony Williams, 12 Frank Pritchard, 13 Greg Eastwood.
Interchange: Dene Halatau, Josh Jackson, James Graham, Dale Finucane, Martin Taupau, Tim Browne

Perrett on Warriors’ radar in Wellington

The Kiwis contingent in Canterbury’s monster forward pack are problematic enough for Warriors coach Matthew Elliott, but their winger Sam Perrett is setting off as many alarm bells ahead of their historic NRL match.

Saturday’s fixture in Wellington is the first competition match hosted by the Warriors outside Auckland.

They played five games in the capital from 2001 to 2004 and didn’t win any, including four that were officially Bulldogs’ home games.

Reversing that record will be a challenge for Elliott’s men against the Sydneysiders, who now closely resemble the outfit who bulldozed their way into last year’s grand final after a slow start to 2013.

The return of powerhouse props Sam Kasiano and James Graham provided an ominous lift in muscle last weekend. They climbed to 10th with a 40-4 thrashing of the Wests Tigers, their third win after a slow start to the season.

Hardened Kiwis forwards Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Greg Eastwood and Dene Halatau help make the Bulldogs pack one of the most dominant in the NRL.

Elliott admitted his team – who improved to 14th after last weekend’s one-point win over the Gold Coast Titans – would have their hands full up front.

However, he said the Bulldogs’ go-forward was often sparked from other parts of the field, singling out Perrett as highly effective.

“Sammy’s more than a fair player. A lot of their play comes off Sam Perrett’s fast play-the-balls,” Elliott said of the 21-Test veteran.

“He’s a guy I thought really helped turn their season around last year. Don’t underestimate the impact someone like that can have on a game.”

It is 10 months since the Warriors last won back-to-back games, before they spiralled into an eight-game losing streak at the end of last season.

Elliott says while his team underwent more last-quarter jitters against Gold Coast, the fact they won had injected a different mentality this week.

“For me personally, it was an opportunity to learn from winning as opposed to learn from losing,” he said.

“I’ve got to say, the guys’ resilience right through those tough times where they’ve been playing against really high quality teams and not getting the result was quite inspiring.”

Both teams trained lightly in freezing temperatures on Friday.

Ticket pre-sales have reached 24,000, a figure which will please Warriors management because of the cost associated with shifting cities.