Included among the better chances for winning this year’s competition with neither the Cowboys or Bulldogs are living up to early expectations and are thirteenth and eighth on the ladder respectively.

The home-side’s season reached a new low last week with a heavy 31-12 loss to the Titans. Even though some of the key players were missing, the Cowboys offered little in terms of resistance in registering their fifth straight loss and eighth of the season.

They return home this week where they have exhibited their best form and have won 2 from 4 with the two losses coming at the hands of Melbourne and Roosters but this fact, and the possible return of some Origin players, may not be enough to address their form of the past month.

Canterbury accounted for St. George last week, making it five wins from their past six matches, albeit just.

Several times during the game, it looked like Canterbury, who established a 12-0 lead early, were going to run away with it but weren’t able to quite hit their straps as they would have done in the past.

They are clearly travelling better than the Cowboys but would like to see them, now that they have a few wins and momentum behind them, pick up a level again if they are going to be serious contenders in the back half of the season.

The Bulldogs were beaten by the Cowboys in the opening round this season but the Bulldogs are in a better place now, then they were back then with off-field drama, injury and suspensions taking their toll.

They had won the previous five encounters and would expect them to win well here.

TIP: BULLDOGS 13+

Odds Comparison by NRL odds:

Nth Queensland Cowboys	2.35	2.50	2.55	2.50	2.35	2.32
Canterbury Bulldogs	1.60	1.56	1.53	1.56	1.60	1.57

Teams:

Nth Queensland Cowboys:
Cowboys: Clint Greenshields, Ashley Graham, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston (c), Robert Lui, Matthew Scott (c), Rory Kostjasyn, James Tamou, Tariq Sims, Glenn Hall, Dallas Johnson. Interchange: Ray Thompson, Jason Taumalolo, Ashton Sims, Scott Bolton, Ethan Lowe, Michael Morgan, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Ricky Thorby

Canterbury Bulldogs:
Ben Barba, Mitch Brown, Tim Lafai, Krisnan Inu, Sam Perrett, Joel Romelo, Trent Hodkinson, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis (capt), Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Josh Jackson, Greg Eastwood. Interchange: Dene Halatau, Tim Browne, James Graham, Dale Finucane