The second match of Round 6 of the NRL 2013 season is between Sydney Roosters and Canterbury Bulldogs. The opening kick is set to commence at 7:35pm local time with the match to be played at Allianz Stadium. The home team the Roosters are the current favourites in the market. View our full preview and teams for the game between Sydney Roosters and Canterbury Bulldogs.
Allianz Stadium
Friday 19.35
Featured Bookmakers:
Sydney Roosters $1.65 vs Canterbury Bulldogs $2.30 at Sportsbet Australia
Sydney Roosters $1.59 vs Canterbury Bulldogs $2.40 at Luxbet Australia
Odds Comparison:
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Sonny Bill Williams will once again be in the spotlight this Friday night when he faces former club Canterbury in a big grudge match. With this in mind we’ll refund losing try scorer bets if he scores a try!
Preview:
Watch Out Roosters: There’s no guessing which way the Bulldogs will be heading – to their left. That’s because the Roosters’ right-side defence has been remarkably shaky to date. Despite holding two teams to zero points the Roosters’ right-side defence have leaked eight tries so far compared to just two on their left side. Armed with that information you can bet tactically astute Des Hasler will bark instructions for the likes of Josh Reynolds, Josh Morris and Frank Pritchard to try to create plenty of scoring opportunities.
With two games under his belt in 2013, Ben Barba could be ready to explode. No player made more line-breaks in 2012 (27) and he has yet to make one – who’s prepared to say he won’t make a brace here? He’ll certainly feed off the memories of the last time these sides met when he scored a try and had the final hand in three others.
Watch Out Bulldogs: A feared tackle-busting outfit last season, in 2013 the Bulldogs have been playing like they’re attached to a short leash – and they’ve hardly been straining at it either. On their journey to the 2012 Grand Final, the Dogs registered the fourth-most tackle-breaks and line-breaks – but after five games in 2013 they rank rock bottom for brushing aside opposition defenders (just 20 a game – heck, Ben Barba made 12 on his own the last time these sides met… ) and have made the fourth-fewest line busts (just 2.8).
You need look no further than Tony Williams to see what’s wrong: T-Rex finished 2012 with the second-highest tackle-breaks average in the NRL – with 6.5 per game. And in his first three games in 2012 before injury he totalled 26! Overall he averaged almost 14 runs per game.
Fast forward to 2013 and to date Williams has just six tackle-breaks from five games. Worse, in last week’s defeat to Manly he received the ball 16 times – yet ran on only seven occasions! Either this is a coaching glitch or else he’s not in the game. Clearly Canterbury need Williams, at his best the most punishing back-rower in rugby league, to fire up; perhaps the clash with his namesake will do the trick.
Plays To Watch: Sonny Bill Williams (11 offloads, four line-break assists and three try assists) on a roving commission, standing in the tackle and offloading down the left and right edges (Tim Lafai in particular beware); Josh Jackson lifting on the Bulldogs right edge, channelling his three-try performance last time they met; Jared Waerea-Hargreaves taking it to the Dogs in the centre of the ruck; Kris Keating and Josh Reynolds dummying from close range.
Key Match-Up: James Maloney v Josh Reynolds. A strong runner of the football, Maloney has proven a match-winning asset to the Roosters, while Reynolds’ outside-the-square vision provides the Dogs with plenty of unpredictability.
Maloney has hit the ground at pace in the Roosters’ jersey, leading all halves for line-breaks (five) and scoring three tries. He has an excellent passing game but his support play hitting holes, in particular in opposition red zones, is what’s really proved exciting for fans – and for the man inside him Mitchell Pearce.
Meanwhile Reynolds is a threat promoting second-phase play (four offloads) and can turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye. His kicking game wide for his wingers and also around the goalposts for fullback Barba will be crucial plays that Des Hasler will hope will yield points.
Where It Will Be Won: Playing football after the hype. We’d be surprised if the Bulldogs players paid too much attention to the ‘SBW revenge’ angle beaten up in the media this week – but they may not be able to completely disregard it due to the crowd’s reaction and roars on the night. How they focus will be paramount to their performance.
Likewise the Roosters’ players may want to take to the field with cotton wool in their ears given the deafening chorus of boos that awaits their strike weapon. They need to try to dominate early – or else they run the risk of being wiped out by a monster wave of emotion.
The first 40 minutes will be crucial: The Roosters have led at halftime in four of their five games, for three wins. Meanwhile Canterbury have not outpointed any opponent in the second half of their opening five matches – including a scoreless second stanza in their win over Parramatta.
Teams:
Sydney Roosters:
Anthony Minichiello (c), Daniel Tupou, Michael Jennings, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Sam Moa, Mitchell Aubusson, Sonny Bill Williams, Boyd Cordner
Interchange: Daniel Mortimer, Martin Kennedy, Isaac Liu, Aidan Guerra, Luke O’Donnell, Michael Oldfield (two to be omitted)
Canterbury Bulldogs:
Ben Barba, Mitch Brown, Josh Morris, Tim Lafai, Sam Perrett, Josh Reynolds, Kris Keating, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis (c), Martin Taupau, Tony Williams, Josh Jackson, Greg Eastwood
Interchange: Dene Halatau, Dale Finucane, Tim Browne, Frank Pritchard, David Klemmer (one to be omitted).
