Friday night footy in Round 17 features a couple of intriguing top 8 battles. The Knights will look to bounce back from a shocker last week against the also inconsistent Sharks. Meanwhile, it’s Craig Bellamy up against Wayne Bennett once again this Friday as the Storm travel to ANZ Stadium for a mouthwatering clash with South Sydney.
NRL Round 17 Friday Betting Tips
Knights vs Sharks
Fri, Sep 4 6:00pm
Last week's 36-6 defeat against the Warriors has put a huge doubt on the Knights chances of avoiding an ugly finals exit in a few weeks time. They were out-gained by almost 800 run metres, controlled just 36% possession and conceded 8 penalties in an ugly display. So hopefully for Newcastle fans, they can bounce back at their home stadium against a fellow top 8 side. In team news, they'll be without the suspended Saulo on the bench and Jones come in. Crossland is also back on the bench for Randall.
Cronulla are in the midst of a 2-2 record in their last 4 games and will look to build some consistency before a likely finals berth. They're currently 8th on the ladder by 4 points and points difference over the Warriors so a couple more victories should seal up a finals spot. Last week, they crushed the struggling Cowboys 28-12 and will enjoy the return of Chad Townsend at halfback this week, especially with Johnson sidelined with an injury. Meanwhile, Andrew Fifita has been dropped at this stage.
These two sides are arguably the worst defensive teams in the current top 8 so we feel that either side can have plenty of success in attack. For the Sharks, Townsend has been in good form this year and their last 3 games have totalled 40 or more points. Meanwhile, Newcastle conceded 36 points last week and they have scored 26+ points in 2 of their last 3 home games.
Rabbitohs vs Storm
Fri, Sep 4 7:55pm
South Sydney are hitting form at the right end of the season after five wins on the trot, highlighted by an impressive 38-0 defeat of the Eels at Bankwest last Thursday. However, a season-ending injury to Latrell Mitchell is a cruel blow for their premiership chances. But with Adam Reynolds in sparkling form, Wayne Bennett's men will be quietly confident of continuing their form without Mitchell. With Mitchell on the sidelines, Johnson is back at fullback. Meanwhile, the Rabbitohs do get Gagai back from a hammy and Steven Marsters will drop out of the side.
Cameron Smith, Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes all made a successful return from injury last Sunday as the Storm outclassed the Sea Eagles 30-6. Justin Olam continued his impressive form against Manly with another hat-trick and the Storm ran riot on their left edge with Addo-Carr/Papenhuyzen throughout the 80 minutes. But there's more injury news for the luckless Storm again. Nelson Asofa-Solomona has injured his calf and Seve is out for the season with an ACL. In a great story, Chris Lewis will move into the starting side, who's a typical Craig Bellamy backrower. Brenko Lee returns into the centres for Seve as well.
The Rabbitohs certainly don't enjoy playing the Storm in Melbourne (0-16 SU) but at ANZ Stadium, it's a different story with Souths winning 30-20 in the last meeting. So we feel this will be a high scoring affair. The Storm have their spine back from injury and it showed last week as they scored 30 points. So their left side attack of Munster/Papenhuyzen will be dangerous. Despite Mitchell out with injury, Souths have scored 37 points on average in this 5 game winning streak and should be able to take advantage of the injury-hit Storm, likely through their forward pack.
