Two teams that look like they’ll be battling it out for the spoon kick off Super Saturday in NRL Round 3, as the Titans head to Belmore to take on the Bulldogs. With both teams yet to find a win so far in 2024, a victory here will propel the winners of the bottom of the ladder.
Below, we will dissect the matchup, supply our Best Bet, and suggest a Same Game Multi. Be sure to keep up to date with all the NRL fixtures, as we preview every single game all season long, for free!
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- Guide to Betting on the NRL
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- Factors to Consider When Betting on the NRL
2024 NRL Round 3 Preview & Betting Tips
Canterbury Bulldogs vs Gold Coast Titans
Belmore Sports Ground, Saturday 23rd March, 3:00pm (AEDT)
Last Week
The Titans are off the bye in round 2, with their round 1 loss at home to the Dragons not ageing particularly well, after the Dragons were blown off the park by the Dolphins last week. The Titans appear to be a side on the slide, however with Keiran Foran due back this week they should look better in attack. In their round 1 loss, Foran was a late scratching, and the Titans couldn’t get anything going in attack, only managing one line-break, whilst missing 41 tackles defensively. I’m sure Des Hasler will have them ready this week against his former team, the Bulldogs.
Speaking of the Bulldogs, they are coming off a disappointing 25-6 loss to the Sharks last Friday night. The Bulldogs managed to score first, however from there it was all the Sharks, who put on three tries in 18 minutes in the middle part of the second half to pull away from the Doggies. It all looked eerily similar for the Bulldogs, who were good at staying in games last season, only to be blown off the park in the second half. With their spine ranking towards the bottom of the league, points aren’t going to be easy to come by most weeks for the Bulldogs.
Match Preview
Despite their poor seasons last year, these teams put on a couple of fantastic games of football in their two matchups, splitting the honours. In round 12 at Accor Stadium, the Bulldogs got the win after a late Jayden Okunbor try and Matt Burton goal got them home 20-18. The Titans repaid the favour in round 27 at home, winning 34-30.
The Bulldogs opened short 1.5-point favourites at home this week, with the market not moving at all throughout the course of the week. I don’t believe this is a result of the market being sold on their ratings for these two teams, particularly the Titans, who have only played the one game, but more so on the fact that punters aren’t confident backing either side in this one. I have a slight lean towards the Titans in this one in my numbers, but I don’t trust them enough to get the job done here.
As for the total, it opened 43.5 which is where it remains, however the over is heavily juiced indicating the total may close 44/44.5. If I was basing my handicap of the total from last season, I’d bet the over in a heartbeat, however these teams have so far shown no ability to score points this season, so I have to leave it alone until we have some more data.
With no bet on the side or total, we will go a little abstract with the play for this one. Neither team appears to be capable of blowing another side off the paddock, so a tight one could well be on the cards. Both teams will be desperate for a win, with the loser well and truly placing themselves in wooden spoon contention. The Bulldogs only managed one-win last season by a 13+ margin, with the Titans managing three. Let’s take either team to win by 1-10 and hope both teams can keep this one tight.
Either team by 1-10
$1.87 (1 Unit)
Same Game Multi
Under 22.5 (1st half) – Both these teams have struggled in first halves with the ball, whilst the Bulldogs have been known for the past couple of years to be stingy in defence early. Under 4 converted tries seems a nice pick here.
Khan-Pereira (1+ try) – AKP couldn’t stop scoring tries in his rookie campaign, and he kicked off season 2024 with another in the Titans first round loss to the Dragons.
M Burton (1+ try) – Burton will surely be tasked to run the ball more this week against a suspect Titans defence. Burton has been copping a lot of criticism of late, and he can put that to sleep with a try or two here.
SGM Odds: $16.18 at Neds
