NRL Round 21: The Preview

By Stephen Gallagher

Constantly tipping 6/8. 95/150 for the season!

 

THURSDAY: Knights V Broncos – Sunshine Coast Stadium – 21.50NZT

The Knights are on a short turnaround, but with this important fixture, they’ll make sure they’re prepped and ready to fire.

Brisbane are definitely looking better, but are still lacking in consistency and are yet to string back to back wins since the beginning of the 2020 season.

They have lost Staggs for the season which is massive, where the Knights are getting Pearce back at a crucial time.

I’m leaning towards the Knights on this one. They were definitely more complete last week than they have been. Have to build on that with the eight in their sights.

TIP: Knights 1-12

 

FRIDAY: Raiders V Dragons – CBus Super Stadium – 20.00NZT

It was a narrow Dragons win when these two sides met last month.

The Red V’s season is definitely on the decline, and dropping out of the top eight has shown that.

Canberra are still struggling with some basic errors which are letting them down.

I like the Raiders through the middle. St George Illawarra are missing a lot of tackles over the last few games, and the Green Machine will be doing their bit to make that continue.

Losing Ben Hunt is massive for the Dragons.

TIP: Raiders 13+

 

Eels V Rabbitohs – Cbus Super Stadium – 22.05NZT

A really important game for Parramatta who are on the verge of dropping out of the top four with another loss.

They play plenty of top six sides in their run home for the finals too, so it’s a bit of a practice run for the real things.

Moses named at 7 is a massive inclusion. They have looked lost without him.

The Rabbitohs though are just one of those sides that will always out score you. So the Eels have to defend well and score points to beat them.

Hard to see anything but a Souths victory with the form they’re in.

TIP: Rabbitohs 13+

 

SATURDAY: Warriors V Sharks – Suncorp Stadium – 17.00NZT

I wrote the Warriors off last week and they surprised me with an ugly win. Cronulla didn’t have the legs to compete with Manly and they’ll want a bounce back win this weekend.

There will be plenty of relief in the Warriors camp, but work still to be done to finish the season strong before heading home.

Cronulla lost last week with too many missed tackles, and not enough execution on attack.

Lacking Johnson in the halves, the two youngsters need some support to get the job done.

Warriors have some important injury returns this week which helps.

TIP: Sharks 1-12

 

Roosters V Panthers – Suncorp Stadium – 19.30NZT

This Roosters side continues to surprise me, but with the culture they’ve built it really shouldn’t.

Every week their leaders lead and put on massive individual performances than make the team lift. They’ll need that again this week against second placed Penrith.

Panthers have named a few important players, and Cleary on the reserves list with an outside chance of returning.

I can’t wait to watch this game. One of two very important games this weekend.

Roosters in a close one.

TIP: Roosters 1-12

 

Sea Eagles V Storm – Suncorp Stadium – 21.30NZT

The Storm never lose at Suncorp Stadium. Their record there is ridiculous. Their form this season is ridiculous.

But the rise of Manly from the start of the season is also unfathomable. There’s no one I’d rather watch in rugba leeg right now than Tom Trbojevic. He’s better than 09 Hayne and that’s saying something.

This is a really exciting match up. Melbourne just loves to score points and break teams that way. Manly are much the same.

Both with forward packs who can ball play and hit hard. There’s not much in this one.

A close game here could reignite this rivalry.

TIP: Sea Eagles 1-12

SUNDAY: Bulldogs V Tigers – Moreton Daily Stadium, Redcliffe – 16.00NZT

I’d love to be a fly on the wall after the Tigers shit the bed last Friday. It would have been a sight.

Whereas the Bulldogs don’t seem to be getting any better, neither do the Tigers.

So this sad fixture isn’t going to attract many viewers looking for a tense game. People might just tune in to see this calamity of eighty minutes.

I think the Bulldogs are due for a win. Gonna be ugly though.

TIP: Bulldogs 1-12

 

Titans V Cowboys – Cbus Super Stadium – 18.05NZT

With a couple of important wins to keep momentum going, the Titans are eyeing up a third win in a row.

While the Cowboys are falling back down the ladder, they’ve got to find a way to stop what’s going wrong and put up a fight.

The way the Titans edge forwards have been getting the job done is a scary prospect for North Queensland.

If there’s any answers for North Queensland, it’s got to be an early ball to the backs. There’s plenty of talent and speed that could throw a few questions to the Titans defence that’s been lacking at times this season/

TIP: Titans 13+

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