A massive Sunday afternoon clash closes out Round 24, as the Knights head down the M1 to take on the Sharks at PointsBet Stadium. With the Sharks heading for a top 4 spot if they keep winning, they will be desperate to get the two points here against a Knights team that is surely one loss away from kissing goodbye their 2024 finals chances. Should be a fun game.
NRL Round 24 Preview & Betting Tips
Cronulla Sharks vs Newcastle Knights
PointsBet Stadium, Sunday 18th August, 4:05pm (AEST)
Last Week
The Sharks put on one of their dominant displays last weekend, as they hammered the Titans 44-0. They have a habit of piling on the points against the competitions also rans, and last weekend was no different, as the game was effectively over after half an hour, with the visitors leading 30-0. Jack Williams had a career-best game, running for 218 metres, making 32 tackles, scoring a try with a line-break and busting five tackles. Rookie winger Sam Stonestreet also managed two tries, as the Sharks were never troubled in an easy away victory.
The Knights also managed a solid win, as they triumphed over the Tigers 34-18 in Newcastle on Sunday afternoon. Fletcher Sharpe put on a masterclass on the wing, scoring four tries in a breakout game for the rookie winger. Meanwhile, Kalyn Ponga looked back to his scheming best, running for over 200 metres whilst setting up a couple of tries and breaking the line once himself. If he can continue this form, the Knights might just sniff an unlikely finals berth this season.
Match Preview
The Sharks and Knights last met back in round 26 last season, when the Knights were in tremendous form and pushing towards the finals. The Knights smashed the Sharks 32-6 after closing 7.5-point favourites at home. Kalyn Ponga was superb, running for over 200 metres whilst scoring a try and setting up another, whilst Dane Gagai was at his tackle busting best, running for 221 metres and breaking 13 tackles. The total closed 45.5, and with the Sharks failing to trouble the scorers after the 8th minute, never really looked like going over.
This weekend, the Sharks opened 5.5-point home favourites prior to last weekend’s matches, before re-opening 8.5-point favourites on Monday. It seemed like a rather large move, and Knights money has slowly filtered into the market, to where the Sharks now sit as 7.5-point favourites. The number seems about right to me, and I don’t see any real value in the spread. The Knights are desperate enough to keep this close, but the Sharks have shown they can blow lesser teams off the park.
The total opened 48.5, and that number hasn’t changed. Whilst the Knights have been a heavy under team this season, with Ponga back the attack seems to be humming along a lot better. I do lean towards the under here, however I just can’t pull the trigger given it’s a Sunday afternoon clash where both teams will be throwing everything they have at the result.
I’m not extremely confident with anything in this matchup, and as a result will be betting small on our best bet here. I trust the Knights to have enough in attack to keep this within two converted tries and will take this game to end up with a margin of 12 or less.
Either team By 1-12
$1.90 (1 Unit)
