Round 10 of the 2020 NRL season kicks off with a Grand Final rematch between the Roosters and the Raiders. The action kicks off live at 7:50pm on Thursday night from a ground rarely seen used for NRL, the Sydney Cricket Ground. Read on for our big preview and free NRL betting tips thanks to NRL guru Scooby!
NRL Round 10: Roosters vs Raiders Betting Tips
Sydney Cricket Ground, Thursday 7:50pm
The Grand Final rematch has been robbed of quality with so many players out injured. The Roosters bounced back as winners after comprehensively defeating the Cowboys on the road 42-16. It was a dominating performance, even with a 72% completion rate, further highlighting the gap between the top teams and the rest of the competition. Two tries in the last 10 minutes flattered the hosts, with the Roosters dominating in defence; despite making almost 40 more tackles, they missed only 17 across 80 minutes to go with 8 linebreaks and 11 offloads. The Raiders were brave against the Storm at home, eventually going down 20-14. The biggest loss of the night was of their hooker, Josh Hodgson, who has suffered a season-ending knee injury. This places further stress on their squad, although, they will take plenty from last week’s match. They completed at 80% and missed on 26 tackles; they were their own worst enemy at times, making 11 total errors and halting passages of momentum when in attacking positions. They also had to endure 10 minutes of a player off the field, albeit, under questionable circumstances.
The Stats
The Roosters are undoubtedly the most dangerous attacking team in the competition. They average 29.8 points per game (1st & 5.2 points more than any other team), average 4.3 try assists (1st), 5.9 linebreaks (1st) and average the second most run and post contact metres. The Raiders are ranked 10th for points scored (18.2 per game), 9th for try assists (2.6), 8th for linebreaks (3.4), 6th for run metres and 7th for post contact metres. The other major difference is missed tackles where the Roosters average 25.2 per game (15th), while the Raiders miss 34.2 per game (3rd). Their inability to stop their opponents attacking momentum may have the most say in the outcome of this match.
Verdict
The form line of both sides ahead of this game is through the Storm; they defeated the Roosters in thrilling circumstances in Round 8 and the Raiders in Round 9. Without making excuses, the Roosters were certainly not at their best in that loss, while also suffering injuries to key players, the strength of the Roosters squad is far superior. The Raiders will no doubt have revenge on their mind and you can never completely count this team out. Their coach, Ricky Stuart, will build a siege mentality that will have his players ready to fire. It is interesting to note that 8 of the past 10 matches have been decided by an average of 4.4 points (an 8-point victory was the largest in Round 12, 2017). Of those 10 matches, the visitor has only been successful in one match (Round 19, 2019). That being said, it is hard to see this game being close given the current circumstances of the Raiders. They were far from impressive in recent weeks with the players they had, let alone with further omissions. Combine this the fact that the Roosters average 2 more tries per game than the Raiders and it is hard to go past a commanding victory for the home side.
