Last year’s cellar dwellers continue to turn the league on its head with the upsets continuing last round. The Melbourne Storm were beaten for the second time this season by West Tigers and the premiers will be desperate this week to get a good result against Newcastle.
The Knights showed that there’s plenty of potential in the Hunter Valley with a spirited win over the Brisbane Broncos. Wayne Bennett will have his hands full this week with the Broncos having to tackle the New Zealand Warriors. The Kiwi side were too good for the Cowboys, who’ll be desperate for a win at home when they host the Bulldogs.
Canberra will take on the winless Eels and the Roosters get to square off against the Rabbitohs in the traditional grudge match. There’s plenty of value in the market and we have analysed every game for the round and our NRL Round 6 tips can be found below.
The premiership favourites were back to their brilliant best last round, putting on a clinic to ease past Cronulla.
South Sydney were brilliant last week against the Dragons, mounting a comeback that saw them fall just short of pulling off a miraculous comeback win.
The Rabbitohs will have questions marks over Adam Reynolds, with the star half removed during the second half of the game with the Dragons with a concussion injury.
Souths should be able to call up Richie Kennar, who was close to returning from a hamstring complaint.
The Rabbitohs forward pack will be without Sam Burgess, with the English forward suspended until Round Seven of the competition.
The Roosters were brilliant dismantling the Sharks last round and Luke Keary continued his hot form that could see him win a NSW State of Origin jersey.
The Roosters new combinations are beginning to fire and play to their potential. There will be plenty on the line when these two sides clash and expect the Roosters to get the points in a tough encounter.
It’s not time to hit the panic button at the Melbourne Storm but coach Craig Bellamy will be disappointed with the effort of his troops after their second loss of the season to the Tigers in New Zealand.
After a stellar off-season that saw his side lift the World Club Challenge trophy, the Storm have struggled to fire without Cooper Cronk.
Handling errors and inconsistency are not something that we normally associate with the Melbourne Storm machine. Expect the Storm to come back into premiership form this week with a vengeance.
The Knights offseason recruitment policy has paid off early in the season with Newcastle getting the win over the Brisbane Broncos.
Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga continue to show their value and Newcastle are more than capable of upsetting the premiers. Melbourne.
The Storm have rarely lost back to back games and there’s no doubt that they have the quality to stop the glut of handling errors that has left them with only two wins this season. This game will be closer than the markets suggest but the Storm are a good bet to beat the line.
The Dragons have had a brilliant start to the season and are perched at the summit of the NRL ladder after five rounds.
Ben Hunt continues to shine for the Dragons with the halfback the catalyst for the Dragons perfect start to the season.
Former Canterbury skipper Josh Graham continued his outstanding start for the season and Gareth Widdop is enjoying the space behind a dominant forward pack.
St George are playing with flair and confidence and centre Euan Aitken put in a brilliant performance last week that could catapult him into State of Origin contention.
Cronulla simply committed too many errors against a focused Roosters side last week. The Sharks have struggled with new combinations and Matt Moylan is yet to live up to his potential at his new club. Josh Dugan will have plenty of motivation this week to overcome his injury, with another opportunity to get a crack at his old side.
It’s hard to argue with the form of the Red V at the moment and the Dragons were able to grind out a win against Cronulla at Southern Cross Stadium in Round Two.
The Dragons deserve their favouritism for this clash and it’s tough to back Cronulla after last weeks performance.
It’s time for the Broncos to hit the panic button as the competition heavyweight have plummeted to consecutive losses to the Titans and Knights.
The Broncos have looked predictable in attack and many league pundits will be wondering why coach Wayne Bennett greenlit Ben Hunt’s move to the Dragons.
The Broncos are low on confidence and struggling for ideas in attack with Anthony Milford yet to rediscover his running game that has made him one of the best runners in broken field play. Wayne Bennett will be feeling the pressure with back to back losses and now facing a Warriors side that has yet to experience a loss in the competition.
The Warriors have put together their best start in the competition and are the only side keeping pace with the Dragons. The Warriors are playing well enough to break through for their first finals appearance since 2011.
On current form, this is a game that the Warriors should easily win. The Warriors have the edge in the halves with Shaun Johnson playing with real confidence next to partner Blake Green. This game will be closer than it looks and if New Zealand score first then it will be difficult for the Broncos to catch them.
The Cowboys have had a tough couple of weeks with clashes with consecutive losses to the Broncos, Panthers, Storm and Warriors.
North Queensland are improving but halfback Jonathan Thurston looked past his best in the loss last round.
The Cowboys conceded soft tries against the Warriors and the clash with the Bulldogs is a real opportunity to regain their attacking mojo.
The Bulldogs struggled to handle the dewy conditions in the loss to Canberra and their attack lacked penetration against Canberra’s forward pack.
What will be concerning for Bulldogs coach Dean Pay is that his side conceded a number of points off kicks to both flanks and Jonathan Thurston and Michael Morgan would have taken note of the Canterbury’s weakness under the high ball.
The Cowboys have been the benchmark of the competition for some time and there’s every chance that they’ll turn a corner against the Bulldogs at home.
The Bulldogs are struggling and don’t have the attacking weapons in their arsenal to trouble the Cowboys at home.
The Eels are off to their worst start in the competition in 27 years and are staring down the barrel of another loss when they take on a Canberra side that turned a corner against the Bulldogs.
The Raiders were brilliant last round with Jason Croker bagging a double on the wing as the Raiders were able to turn it on for their home fans.
Parramatta are a side under siege and now face the prospect of becoming the first side in 19 years to make the competition the finals after a 0-5 start.
The Eels struggled in attack last round converting only a single opportunity despite having 37 play-the-balls inside the Penrith’s red zone.
Parramatta have looked a shadow of the side that made the finals in 2017 and serious questions are going to be asked about coach Brad Arthur’s methods if his side can turn around this dramatic fall from grace.
The Raiders have the momentum and they are good value to record a comfortable victory against the Eels.
The Panthers have been impressive this season and sit third on the NRL ladder after another outstanding performance from James Maloney.
The veteran playmaker continues to prove his value and don’t be surprised if he is included in the NSW State of Origin Squad.
Penrith have been able to rebound from the loss of Nathan Cleary to record impressive victories over the Cowboys and Eels.
The Titans have surpassed all expectations in the competition and are currently Queensland best-ranked side in the NRL.
Gareth Brennan’s side have been able to carve out some good results against the Broncos and the Sea Eagles.
The Titans have built their game around the combination of Kane Elgey and Ash Taylor in the halves and if the pair can fire they’ll cause the Panthers a few headaches.
The Titans are good value in the market to pull off an upset win against Gareth Brennan’s old side.
The Sea Eagles will be disappointed with their efforts last week against the Titans and expect Dale Cherry Evans to lead the charge back to the winner’s circle against the Tigers.
The Sea Eagles have struggled in attack without Tom Trbojevic and they’ll be desperate to get one of their strike weapons back on the park.
The Tigers could potentially be without Josh Reynolds and Russell Packer as the duo struggled to finish the game against the Storm.
The Tigers have been impressive this season with wins over the Storm and the Roosters. The Tigers are playing like potential finalists with Benji Marshall at the helm and expect them to cause another boilover against the Sea Eagles.