Friday March 15th, WIN Stadium
LAST WEEK
St. George Illawarra – ($2.10)
The Dragons draw the short-straw first round and had to travel to Melbourne to take on the reigning premiers in the Storm, where the Dragon hadn’t won since 1999, and unfortunately for Dragons fans, that losing streak now extends to twelve games. The Dragons were never in the hunt, trailing 18-0 at half-time with the usual suspects for Melbourne causing the damage. Early in the second half Jamie Soward took an intercept and ran the 70m metres to put the Dragons on the board, with their second and only other points of the game, coming 15minutes later, courtesy of a Jason Nightingle try. The game was played under hot conditions and it’s hard to be too critical of a team who is trying to crack the storm’s defence but, as they did last year, the Dragons appeared to struggle in finding attacking options to worry their opponents.
Brisbane Broncos- ($1.75)
Brisbane commenced their 2013 season hosting the Manly Sea Eagles at Suncorp Stadium and, with the game marking the 25th year anniversary since the Brisbane side joined the NRL competition; there was a real build-up for the Broncos for their opening clash. This was reflective in their first half effort where they took a 14 – 6 lead into the break, courtesy of tries to Gillett and Maranta, with Justin Hodges playing a vital role in both. However, as was the case last year, the Broncos weren’t able to finish off their opponents in the second half and Manly scored three tries within ten minutes to run out winners, 22 – 14 Both Captain and Coach of the Broncos were visibly disappointed in the final result and their ability to concentrate for the entire 80 minutes is an issue that will need to be remedied quickly.
HEAD TO HEAD
Brisbane have enjoyed playing the Dragons in recent years, having won six of the past eight encounters however, the last four victories have been by margins of eight point or less.
St George Illawarra Dragons $2.10 vs Brisbane Broncos $1.75 at Sportsbet Australia
St George Illawarra Dragons $2.05 vs Brisbane Broncos $1.79 at Luxbet Australia
HAVING A PUNT
Recent clashes suggest there is not much between these two teams and expecting that to be the case again this weekend. Only twice in the past thirteen games have Brisbane surpassed 20 points and the Dragons seem to be a bit too one dimensional in their offence last week. If the Broncos can concentrate for full 80 minutes, expect they’ll be able to score to many points for the Dragons and cover the line of -2.5 @ $1.90.
