Friday night NRL action will be held in Sydney this week, with both fixtures promising to be an exciting match, either side of the Harbour Bridge. The first heads south to Cronulla, with the Sharks facing off against the Roosters. Both have high hopes of featuring in the Finals this season and have been performing well. Home ground advantage will be important but so too will be execution and consistency. This game promises to set a great standard ahead of the 8pm game also.
Check out our best bets for the game below, as well as our NRL Tips page for more Round 7 content!
NRL Round 7 Preview & Betting Tips
Cronulla Sharks vs Sydney Roosters
Friday 14th April, PointsBet Stadium, 6pm (AEST)
The Sharks enjoyed a week off last week, following a disappointing 32-30 loss to the Warriors at home. Leading 20-nil inside 20 minutes, many thought that the Sharks were well in control. While they were at that point, failure to go on with the strong start is puzzling for a talented enough team. They let the Warriors back into the contest and once their opponents had enough momentum, they could not stop them. Dominating just about every area statistically, the Sharks were let down by their defence, missing 41 total tackles. This is an area they will need to fix ahead of this match.
The Roosters are also out to make amends for a poor effort. They headed down to Melbourne to face the Storm, only to be on the wrong end of a 28-8 result. Scoring the first points of the match, the Roosters failed to develop enough momentum to build pressure in attack positions. They were outclassed in defence and forced into defensive errors. They were responsible for the outcome; with just 41% possession, they completed at just 61%, made 14 total errors, had just 1 line break and missed 42 tackles. Just as their confidence appeared to be growing, this setback will be a good challenge to see where this squad is at mentally.
The Roosters are listed as favourites ($1.74 vs $2.10) and a lot has to do with the return of Tedesco at fullback. His inclusion strengthens their edge defence too, with Manu shifting back to centre. The Sharks will be without two regular starters in Finucane and Rudolf, two forwards who are key players in their pack. This will impact the platform which their halves can perform from. If one thing has been known in recent years though, it is to never discount the toughness of the Sharks, especially at home.
As suggested on the NRL Power Rankings, these two sides are far closer than the odds suggest. Interestingly, the Roosters have a superior record at this ground (59% vs 57%), adding further strength to the argument that they are deserving of favouritism. If the Sharks are to win, they will have to drag the Roosters into a grinding, arm-wrestle style of a match. Point scoring hasn’t been a strength of theirs this season, they have scored the second most amount of points this season, just 8 points ahead of the Tigers. The Sharks will be wary of this and if anything, it ensures that in a match which is almost too close to call, the ‘unders’ is the way to go. Stick with this option. For the sake of making a selection, the Sharks (only at the price) are preferred or with a +6.5 line in their favour.
Prop Bet
SGM – Mulitalo and Manu to Score @ $6.50 – 0.5 Units
Either Team By Under 8.5 Points & Total Points Under 44.5
$3 (2 Units)
