Another excellent 3 game slate of NRL games is on the cards this Super Saturday. Who knows what the Titans or Dragons will dish up in the early game. In the next game, there’s plenty of team changes for the Tigers and Cowboys with a top 8 position up for grabs. Can the undefeated Eels stop the rampaging Roosters on Saturday night?
NRL Round 6 Saturday Betting Tips
Titans vs Dragons
(Sat, Jun 20 3:00pm)
After a huge win over the Tigers, it was a familiar sight for the Titans last Saturday afternoon as they just couldn't stop Souths in the first half as they went down 32-12. So once again, they sit dead last on the NRL ladder and easily owned the worst defensive record in the league. But on the positive side, they seem to enjoy playing at Suncorp with a few wins at the venue in the last 2 seasons. Moeaki Fotuaika and Tanah Boyd have both also looked impressive for the Titans so they're starting to build a solid group at the moment. They've made a decent move off the field as well with the addition of Corey Thompson from the Tigers and he'll lineup at fullback. Phillip Sami will move to the wing and has been on fire in the try-scoring department. Brian Kelly will also move back to the centres.
The Dragons finally showed some signs of Rugby League life on Sunday as they upset the Sharks at Campbelltown Stadium. It's hard not to be impressed by the form of Cameron McInnes at the moment after another huge performance (52 tackles & a try). Meanwhile, Paul McGregor made a few interesting moves before kick-off last week, such as Hunt coming off the bench and Dufty back to fullback. Which seemed to work wonders as the Dragons attack actually clicked after scoring just 2 points in their previous 2 games. So we'll see if they can back it up this Saturday against the Titans average defence. The Dragons starting 17 will probably change but for now, James Graham is back in the starting 13 and Ben Hunt is named on the bench.
This clash definitely seems like it will be high scoring in dry conditions at Suncorp Stadium and that should see both sides throw the ball around. So we do like the Over which has saluted in 3 of the last 4 meetings.
Over 41.5 Total Points
$1.90
Wests Tigers vs Cowboys
(Sat, Jun 20 5:30pm)
The Tigers battled hard against the Raiders last Saturday night in a 14-6 defeat. But with so many team changes, it was always going to be an uphill challenge for the home side. A 77% completion rate didn't help their cause either as they made plenty of errors against the Raiders pressure defence. But they should be much more confident against a Cowboys side that's struggling to keep points off the board at the moment. In team news, the Michael McGuire axe is out again as Chris Lawrence has been dropped along with Seyfarth, Packer and Talau. Benji Marshall is on the sidelines again and Luciano Leilua may not play with an ankle injury. Luke Garner is back in the starting 13 and the same can be said for Robert Jennings on the wing.
The Cowboys have been really disappointing in the same 2 weeks after heavy defeats against the Sharks / Warriors. The task against Wests won't be much easier as Val Holmes and Jordan McLean after both out injured. The major problem for the Cowboys is injuries but also their edge defence has been exposed in both games. So the likes of David Nofoaluma will be dangerous in this clash. In place of Holmes at fullback, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow will move into the #1 jersey and he looked really impressive on the wing last week. Jason Taumalolo also returned from a knee injury and should be better for the run this week.
Both sides are 2-3 on the season and also have plenty of structural team issues at the moment. However, Wests welcome back a bit of experience this week and showed good defence against the Raiders last week. Meanwhile, the Cowboys leaked 37 points to the inconsistent Warriors and have lost Holmes/McLean. So we have to favour the home side here. There's the no travel factor for the Tigers (playing at the same venue back to back) and they smashed the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval last August 28-4.
Roosters vs Eels
(Sat, Jun 20 7:35pm)
The Roosters are absolutely cruising at the moment after back to back crushing wins over the Bulldogs/Broncos. In those 2 games, they've conceded just 1 try while scoring 101 points! So it'll be interesting to see if Parramatta can stop the juggernaut. Sydney will also be playing on a 4-day break after beating the Bulldogs on Monday, which is something to consider in terms of fatigue levels. But really, they haven’t had much defensive work in those 2 games. Kyle Flanagan just continues to impress at halfback for the Roosters after an impressive performance on Monday. James Tedesco is absolutely on fire at the moment and the 6 again rule has really worked in his favour. Angus Crichton is also in rich try-scoring form. In team news, they welcome back Jared Waerea-Hargreaves from injury and that pushes Collins to the bench. Mitchell Aubusson has been left out of the 17 with Sam Verrills taking the last spot on the bench.
It was a huge comeback win by the Eels on Friday night as they rallied from 10-0 down to beat the Panthers 16-10. They now sit atop the NRL ladder as the only undefeated side left. But the Roosters will pose their toughest challenge yet and you can't say Parramatta have been at their absolute best in the last 2 weeks. They struggled in the second half against Manly and couldn't get past the Panthers in the first half last week. So a full 80-minute performance will be needed to beat this Roosters team. The Eels have also lost their last 3 clashes with the Roosters by a combined total of 124-38.
While the Roosters have played in two soft wins in their last two weeks, the total points set for this clash just looks very low. We don't believe the 4-day break will impact them this Saturday and they've enjoyed plenty of points against Parra in recent seasons (scoring 40+ twice since 2017). Meanwhile, Parramatta have plenty of attacking weapons on the park and love playing at Bankwest Stadium. So we like the Over here.
Over 36.5 Total Points
$1.90
