Saturday’s NRL 2018 Round 3 match is between Parramatta Eels and Cronulla Sharks. The opening kick is set to commence at 19:35 local time with the game to be played at ANZ Stadium. The away team Cronulla Sharks are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Parramatta Eels and Cronulla Sharks.
When: 19:35 | Saturday 24/03/2018
Where: ANZ Stadium
Preview:
Plenty at stake in this match with the winner notching their first win of the season while the loser slumps to an unenviable 0-3.
The Sharks hold a slight edge in the series of 7-5 since 2010 and have won the last 3 and 4 of 6.
In a major boost for Parramatta, they regain veteran forward Beau Scott who has been named on the bench.
For the Sharks, Jesse Ramien comes into the centres for Aaron Gray.
Despite being on the receiving end of last week’s 54-0 shellacking on the peninsula, the Eels start the game as slight favourites and are 11-5-0 as the favourite since 2016.
After a loss, the Eels are 4-3 (57.1 percent) at ANZ Stadium since 2017.
Cronulla, meanwhile, have a 2-3 (40.0 percent) line record at the Homebush venue since 2011.
As an away team, the Sharks are 33-57 (36.7 percent) since 2011 in the “L/L (half-time/full-time)” market.
The Verdict
Expect a more committed effort from the Eels who need to restore the faith of long-suffering Eels fans who held false hope that their premiership window was opening in 2018.
While there’s a still a long way to go, there’s bad signs for the blue and golds, especially in defence where they’ve given up 78 points over the opening two rounds.
If they can stiffen up their defence, they certainly have the attacking potency to trouble the Sharks and give Eels fans something to smile about.
Unibet Odds: Parramatta Eels 1.81 Cronulla Sharks 2.02
Odds:
OFFER: Deposit $50 BET with $200 via this link – Ends Soon!
Tip: Cronulla Sharks at $1.95
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Josh Dugan at $15.00
More Info:
Teams:
Eels:
1 Bevan French, 2 Josh Hoffman, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Jarryd Hayne, 5 Kirisome Auva’a, 6 Corey Norman, 7 Mitchell Moses, 8 Daniel Alvaro, 9 Cameron King, 10 Tim Mannah (c), 11 Manu Ma’u, 12 Tepai Moeroa, 13 Nathan Brown
Interchange: 14 Beau Scott, 15 Kenny Edwards, 16 Suaia Matagi, 17 Kane Evans
Reserves: 18 Will Smith, 19 Peni Terepo, 20 David Gower, 21 Kaysa Pritchard.
Sharks:
1 Josh Dugan, 2 Sosaia Feki, 3 Jesse Ramien, 4 Ricky Leutele, 5 Valentine Holmes, 6 Matt Moylan, 7 Chad Townsend, 8 Andrew Fifita, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Matt Prior, 11 Jayson Bukuya, 12 Wade Graham (c), 13 Paul Gallen (c)
Interchange: 14 Kurt Capewell, 15 James Segeyaro, 16 Avagalu Seumanufagai, 17 Joseph Paulo
Reserves: 18 Kurt Dillon, 19 Jack Williams, 20 Edrick Lee, 21 Luke Lewis.
NRL News:
St George Illawarra have overcome an early deficit to shock Cronulla 20-16 in a bizarre NRL local derby at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
The Sharks looked to have the game within their grasp a number of times, leading 14-0 after 26 minutes and then with a man advantage midway through the second half when the game was locked at 16-all.
But after a near perfect first half in attack, Cronulla could only muster three play-the-balls with Jason Nightingale off the field for a professional foul, handing the Dragons back-to-back penalty goals and the four-point victory.
Ben Hunt and Gareth Widdop again showed the potential of their combination, as the Red V made use of a blustery wind at their backs in the second half.
They kicked for both of the Dragons’ initial two tries of the comeback, Widdop’s first highlighted by a miraculous leaping Nene Macdonald effort to get the ball down before his feet went out.
After Hunt fortuitously put Tyson Frizell in via a miskick following the halftime break, he and Widdop combined to put Euan Aitken outside his opposite centre to score.
Aitken also played a key role in the win, having moments earlier forced the ball loose from Josh Dugan as the former Dragon crossed the line in his first game at fullback for the Sharks.
Cronulla were left to rue blowing a first-half effort where they made just one handling error.
Matt Moylan’s impact was more pronounced than in last week’s loss to North Queensland, forcing two line drop-outs off his boot and having his first assist for Cronulla when he threw a bullet cut-out pass for Sosaia Feki.
His combination with Josh Dugan at fullback was also impressive, however the five-eighth blew a difficult chance to win the match for the Sharks when he fumbled a tough Kurt Capewell offload in front of the posts with minutes to play.
Meanwhile Valentine Holmes had an unhappy night back on the right wing.
He was jumped over by Macdonald for the Dragons’ first try, threw an intercept as the Sharks mounted pressure late in the opening half and then made another error early in the second.
