It's time for Round 14 of the 2020 NRL season and we've got another great round of action ahead of us. Action kicks off on Thursday night with the Roosters taking on the Storm in a mouth-watering clash between two contenders. Scooby is back with his preview and NRL betting tips for the Roosters vs Storm match.
Sydney Roosters (4th) v Melbourne Storm (2nd)
Thursday, 7:50pm (Sydney Cricket Ground)
Despite not dropping a game, the Roosters appeared to return to form in one way or another with their 24-16 win over the Dragons. Missing more players and dropping their halfback, the Roosters' class was demonstrated in this contest. This was evident in their 92% completion rate, 5 linebreaks and just 8 total errors. With the result never really challenged, the Roosters appeared to have more confidence in their attacking movements than in recent weeks. They still had their limitations though. They allowed the Dragons to make more metres, more post contact metres and a greater share of possession. They will have to lift again if they are to compete against the Storm, a team they came so close to defeating in thrilling circumstances back in Round 8.
The Storm had no such issues in their commanding 41-10 victory over the Bulldogs. They jumped out to a 22-nil lead in as many minutes and were never troubled by their opponents. Even with a 69% completion rate, the Storm had just under 300m more than the Bulldogs, 33 tackles breaks and only 17 missed tackles. While that is an effort that has come to be expected of the Storm, the task ahead of them became more difficult with the loss of Cameron Munster to a knee injury.
The Stats
As far as benchmarks go, these teams are the envy of other clubs. They are similar in many areas - the Roosters have a 77.2% completion rate, average 26.8 points per game, 25.1 missed tackles and 11.2 errors. The Storm have a 77.1% completion rate, average 26.9 points per game, 26.7 missed tackles and 11.2 errors. A dividing factors comes with metres made. The Roosters average 1853.9m per game compared with the Storms 1718.2m. When it comes to post contact metres, the Roosters average 645.2m per game (3rd), while the Storm make 578.2m (7th). When it comes to players missing through injury, the Storm have only missed both Cameron Smith and Cameron Munster twice since 2015, losing on both occasions.
Verdict
The Roosters head into this game as favourites, with the bookies rating the loss of the Storm's players far greater than the Roosters. When you read above, this comes as no surprise. Each out will undoubtedly be exploited by their opponents and it will be thrilling to see how each team adapts. The potential of the Storm has been somewhat overlooked and underestimated. They are a quality team and the loss of C.Smith is countered by the promotion of B.Smith to the starting side. The loss of Munster is something that the Storm have been forced to adapt to recently also; hence, the shift ahead of this game isn't as dramatic as it may sound. This is where the Storm will like to be ahead of this game; underestimated by many and ready to prove their doubters wrong. There has been something missing from the Roosters in recent weeks and, while they’ve been able to win games, they’ve hardly been tested by quality opponents recently. Teams are on guard and ready to lift against them and the Storm should be no different. With the averages of both sides so close in many areas, the ideal margin appears to be less than two converted tries.
