The first of Sunday’s NRL Round 8 matches is between New Zealand Warriors and Gold Coast Titans. The game is set to commence at 2:00pm local time or 12:05pm AEST with the game to be played at the Mt Smart Stadium. Home team New Zealand Warriors go into the match as the clear favourites in the market which on paper looks to be a relatively close match. View our preview and teams for the game between New Zealand Warriors and Gold Coast Titans.
Mt Smart Stadium
Sunday 2pm
Featured Bookmakers:
New Zealand Warriors $1.48 vs Gold Coast Titans $2.70 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
New Zealand Warriors $1.50 vs Gold Coast Titans $2.65 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison by NRL Odds:
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| New Zealand Warriors | 1.48 | 1.48 | 1.50 | 1.48 | 1.48 | 1.48 |
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Gold Coast Titans
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2.70 | 2.70 | 2.65 | 2.70 | 2.70 | 2.72 |
Preview:
New Zealand host the Titans on Sunday afternoon and the home side will be looking to make amends for last week’s narrow lost to the Storm in Melbourne The Warriors, who languish on the bottom of the ladder with their only win coming over the Cowboys in Round 4, lead the Storm heading into the final ten minutes but couldn’t hold the defending Premiers out late and lost 28-18.
It continued a frustrating run of near misses for the Warriors having coming up just short in the two weeks prior against the Raiders (16-20) and South Sydney (22-24).
With their impressive recent record over the Titans, having won the past four matches between the clubs, and returning to a home ground advantage, the Warriors get every chance to here to register win number two.
The Titans suffered a number of injuries in last week’s heavy loss to Newcastle (6-30) and will need to show significant improvement on recent efforts when crossing the Tasman this week.
Prior to Newcastle, the Titans escaped with 20 minute second half scoring spree to beat the struggling Eels 28-22 but were poor when losing to the Broncos three weeks back 12-30.
Haven’t been in the strongest form the Titans and with a number of significant injuries and a tough trip in front of them, the Warriors are rightly favourites at $1.45.
Teams:
New Zealand Warriors:
Kevin Locke, Bill Tupou, Jerome Ropati, Ben Henry, 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, Ngani Laumape, (one to be omitted)
Gold Coast Titans:
William Zillman, Kevin Gordon, Brad Takairangi, Jamal Idris, Anthony Don, Aidan Sezer, Albert Kelly, Luke Douglas, Beau Falloon, Luke Bailey, Greg Bird, Mark Minichiello, Nate Myles
Interchange: Dave Taylor, Mark Ioane, Ryan James, Sam Irwin, Steve Michaels (one to be omitted)
Mannering, Vatuvei return for Titans clash
Captain Simon Mannering and winger Manu Vatuvei both return for the Warriors’ eighth-round NRL clash with the Gold Coast Titans at Mount Smart Stadium on Sunday.
The veterans last played in the Warriors’ 16-20 loss to Canberra on April 13.
Mannering, fourth on the club’s all-time list with 171 NRL appearances, has been sidelined with a calf injury which prevented him leading the Kiwis in the Anzac Test on April 19 as well as last Thursday’s Anzac Day 18-28 loss to Melbourne.
Vatuvei also missed the Melbourne trip with a sternum problem, but has now recovered for his 156th career match this weekend.
In his last outing against the Raiders, he scored two tries to lift his club record total to 104 tries.
Mannering joins Feleti Mateo in the second row while Ben Henry, who replaced the captain against the Storm, will start in the centres.
Warriors coach Matthew Elliott said it was a “massive boost” to have Mannering and Vatuvei fit again.
“They’re hugely important to the team with their experience and the contribution they make,” he said.
For just the second time since early June last year, the Warriors will have their four 100-game plus props – Sam Rapira, Russell Packer, Ben Matulino and Jacob Lillyman – operating as a unit.
In the past four meetings between the two teams, the Warriors have beaten the Titans each time. They won 34-14 on the Gold Coast and 22-6 in Auckland in 2011, then prevailing 26-6 at home and 32-14 away in last year’s two encounters.
However, the Warriors currently sit bottom of the NRL ladder, with just one win from seven games and remain under huge pressure to back up their only victory of the season, four weeks ago against the Cowboys.
Warriors: Kevin Locke, Bill Tupou, Jerome Ropati, Ben Henry, Manu Vatuvei, Thomas Leuluai, Shaun Johnson, Sam Rapira, Nathan Friend, Russell Packer, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering (capt), Todd Lowrie. Interchange: Ben Matulino, Jacob Lillyman, Elijah Taylor, Pita Godinet, Ngani Laumape.