NRL fans are blessed with 3 games back-to-back this Sunday and the action promises to be exhilarating. The first match heads across to New Zealand with the Warriors hosting the Sharks. Both teams have high hopes of featuring in the Finals and will want to record a victory to increase their chances of this happening.
Check out our preview and betting tips for the Warriors vs Sharks match below, and head over to our NRL Tips page for more free NRL tips.
NRL Round 20 Preview & Betting Tips
New Zealand Warriors vs Cronulla Sharks
Go Media Stadium, Sunday 16th July, 2pm (AEST)
The Warriors returned to winning form last week with an impressive 46-10 defeat of the Eels. Facing an opponent who were missing key players through representative selection and injury, the Warriors went about their business and were impressive in their 8 try display. The game was all but over at HT, with a 30-6 lead in their favour. Overall, they dominated possession (56%) but will want to improve on their completion rate (73%) moving forward. They lead all areas involving metres made and had 12 line breaks; they are a team growing in confidence.
The Sharks were also victorious in Round 19, defeating the Tigers 36-12 in a performance where they were rarely troubled. They completed well (82%) and carried the ball strongly (10.2m per carry & 577 post contact metres). Missing only 20 tackles also helped their cause. They sit in 3rd place on the competition ladder but the NRL Power Rankings is a clearer indication of how this team is traveling. They are yet to defeat a team inside the Top 8 and face a tough challenge, on the road, to do that this week.
This game is the only fixture this weekend which isn’t impacted by Origin, but questions do surround whether Shaun Johnson will take his place for the Warriors as his wife is due to give birth to their second child. This would likely be why the Warriors are listed as outsiders ($1.95 vs $1.85) for this match; all things being equal and having a positive home record (Warriors 57% vs Sharks 50%), they appear to be the better team. Furthermore, the Warriors were also successful against the Sharks 32-30 back in Round 5 whereby they overcame a 20-nil deficit to scrape home. Wins for the Warriors over the Sharks have been rare recently though, the Round 5 performance made it just 2 from the past 8 games between these two sides.
As mentioned above, the Sharks have their issues against teams in the Top 8. While not yet at full-strength, this is the closest they have been for some time. They are a squad which is confident in their ability and that might be enough to break the Top 8-curse in 2023. They will need to tighten up their defence; they currently allow an average of 20ppg compared to the Warriors 18ppg but have a noted edge in attack, averaging 28ppg while the Warriors average 23ppg. With a lot of uncertainty (mainly around Johnson’s inclusion) at time of writing, the Suggested Bet is to play it safe; this should be a tight game between two sides who want to gain an advantage over a possible opponent in the Finals. Of course, if he does play, you would be encouraged to change to Warriors -1.5 (@ $1.90 – 2 units) but if omitted, the Sharks 1-12 (@ $3.30 – 1 unit) appears a suitable option.
Either Team by 1-12
$1.65 (2 Units)
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Total Points Over 44.5 – the previous meeting between these two sides, as well as their season averages, suggests that this game could be high scoring.
Watene-Zelezniak & Mulitalo 1+ Try Each – Watene-Zelezniak (13 tries) and Mulitalo (15 tries) are the leading try scorers for their teams and know how to find their way to the line, with both also in strong form recently.
