After a day or two to catch our breath following the conclusion of a dramatic State of Origin series, Round 18 of the 2022 NRL season kicks off on Friday night with a tantilising clash between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Cronulla Sharks. Two contenders going at it as the first match of our NRL double header on Friday night. Both sides are in excellent form and it's a genuine coinflip contest.
Greg Davis is back to preview the encounter and provide us with his NRL betting tips below!
North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks
Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townville, Friday 15th July, 6:00pm AEST
Squads
North Queensland Cowboys
1.Scott Drinkwater 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 4. Peta Hiku 5. Brendan Elliot 6. Tom Dearden 7. Chad Townsend 8. Jamayne Taunoa-Brown 9. Reece Robson 10. Coen Hess 11. Tom Gilbert 12. Connelly Lemuelu 13. Jason Taumalolo 14. Jake Granville 15. Luciano Leilua 16. Ben Hampton 17. Griffin Neame 18. Tomas Chester 19. Emry Pere 20. Kane Bradley 21. Ben Condon 22. Riley Price
Cronulla Sharks
1. Will Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Connor Tracey 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Matt Moylan 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Toby Rudolf 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Royce Hunt 11. Teig Wilton 12. Wade Graham 13. Dale Finucane 14. Aiden Tolman 15. Cameron McInnes 16. Braden Hamlin-Uele 17. Andrew Fifita 18. Braydon Trindall 19. Jesse Colquhoun 20. Kade Dykes 21. Siosifa Talakai 22. Lachlan Miller
Match Preview
The 2022 Cowboys have made a habit of bucking trends.
And they will have to get bucking, and then some, to take care of business against Cronulla in a top four blockbuster in Townsville on Friday night.
It is a shame this contest has been relegated to the graveyard timeslot of the early game on Friday night as it features the second-placed North Queensland against the fourth-placed Sharks with both teams bringing four-game winning streaks into the clash. It is as close as you get to a genuine 50-50 contest between two sides that are rumbling through the back-half of the season in good form.
The Sharks have had the wood on North Queensland in recent times, winning the last seven match-ups between the clubs. The last time that the Cowboys beat Cronulla was way back in Round 1, 2018 when some reasonably handy bloke called Johnathan Thurston was still wearing the blue, gold and grey.
Heading to the shiny new Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville has not daunted the Sharks who have won both games played at the venue.
The Cowboys are resting Maroons Origin heroes Valentine Holmes and Jeremiah Nanai while winger Murray Taulagi (Covid) and prop Jordan McLean (hamstring) will also be sidelined.
Origin debutants Tom Dearden and Tom Gilbert are set to back-up and while they’ll be tired from the pulsating series decider in Brisbane on Wednesday night, they’ll be inspired by the stunning result for the Maroons. Both Dearden and Gilbert showed they were up to the level at Origin with their debuts completing a heavy commitment to the interstate series from the Cowboys in 2022 after their rapid rise up the ladder.
The Cowboys have won both matches this season that followed Origin games with wins over St George Illawarra and Brisbane, so they have handled the tough workload before.
The Sharks do welcome back halfback Nicho Hynes from Covid and are coming off a very impressive win over Melbourne when they dominated the Storm who without their Origin contingent. Centre Siosifa Talakai is the only Shark backing up from Origin after he was on the Blues interchange bench.
It will be tight and tough but the new steely resolve in the Cowboys may just give them an edge at home. They still have their playmaking spine intact and plenty of strike out wide. Their enviable forward depth will also fill most of the void left by the loss of Nanai and McLean. They are second on the ladder at this stage for a reason.
First try bet: Will Kennedy - $15 (Ladbrokes)
Cowboys win 1-12
$3.15 (1.5 units)
