The Brisbane Broncos will be looking for consecutive wins when they host the Bulldogs on Thursday night at Suncorp Stadium. Wayne Bennett has been under real pressure in 2018 after Brisbane’s indifferent start to the season.
The Newcastle Knights will be out to continue their good form when they clash with the Bunnies and the Panthers will be wanting to keep the Cowboys at the bottom of the ladder when they do battle in Sydney. The Titans tackle the Raiders and the New Zealand Warriors will go up against the Wests Tigers.
Manly will be out to reverse their alarming form slump when they come up against the Sydney Roosters and NRL champions, the Melbourne Storm will look to continue their good form when then clash with the Dragons.
Wayne Bennett will have a spring in his step at Red Hill this week after the Broncos were able to spring an upset over the Rabbitohs in Sydney.
The league world was excited to see Payne Haas unleashed and the 17-year old didn’t disappoint with an exciting debut from the bench.
The Broncos will be without Maroons forward Josh McGuire who picked up an ankle injury in the win over South Sydney.
The Bulldogs have lost back to back games and have struggled to get over the try line this season. The Bulldogs have two wins to their name and have won one of their last five outings. Kieran Foran looms as the key man for the Bulldogs and if he can ignite the Bulldogs by reverting to his running game.
The Broncos have won five of their last six games at Suncorp Stadium against the Bulldogs.
The Broncos were far more settled last week with Jack Bird in the centres and Kodi Nikorima could slot into the halves with Anthony Milford. The Bulldogs showed some promise last week with an improved performance, but it won’t be enough against a Broncos side that are slowly gaining confidence and starting to look like the Broncos of old.
The Rabbitohs will be without prop Sam Burgess who is serving the second week of his two-match suspension.
Newcastle were able to take advantage of Manly’s woes last week to record a memorable win and will be looking to Kalyn Ponga for inspiration, after the young fullback set-up the match-winning try in their victory over the Sea Eagles.
South Sydney were unlucky in their loss to the Broncos and will be looking to make the most of their chances against a Newcastle side that is very much a work in progress.
The Knights take some outstanding form into the match, having won three of their last four games. Newcastle have a perfect record at home this season, but Souths have won their last eight games against the Knights.
The Rabbitohs look like they are enjoying their football and with Reynolds running the show in the halves they’ll have too many options for the Knights to handle.
The Cowboys looked short of ideas last week against the Raiders and their stars seem to be lacking confidence.
Halfback Jonathan Thurston seems to be unable to rediscover his match-winning form as he faces his final season in the NRL competition.
The Cowboys have had a tough draw across the first eight rounds of the competition and they’ll be fighting to stay in contention for the finals against the Panthers.
Penrith have been in outstanding form under the guidance of veteran James Maloney. Maloney has stepped into the halfback role after an injury to Nathan Cleary and the Panthers have thrived under his leadership on the field.
Penrith overcame a horror injury toll against the Bulldogs to power away to a win in the second half and they should be able to do the same against the Cowboys.
North Queensland are struggling, and Michael Morgan may find himself at fullback again in a bid to turn things around for the Cowboys this season.
The Raiders were able to grab a rare win against the Cowboys in Townsville and will be looking to repeat their outstanding effort against the Titans at home.
The Raiders have been unlucky this season with three close losses and their win last week showed the side still harbours ambitions of a return to finals football.
The Titans were unlucky in the loss to the Sharks last week at home. After showing plenty of determination the Titan’s lack of a recognised playmaker came back to haunt them.
The Titans were able to surprise the Green Machine with a shock win in the early rounds of the competition, but it won’t be a case of lightning striking twice.
The Raiders should be able to get the points in what should be a competitive encounter.
The Warriors were brought back to earth last round thanks to the brilliance of the Melbourne Storm and face another of the surprise packets in the competition when they come up against the Wests Tigers.
The Warriors will be without hooker Issac Luke who is expected to miss a month of football after picking up a knee injury in the loss to Melbourne.
The Tigers have stuttered with close losses to Newcastle and Parramatta in the last two weeks of the competition.
The Tigers will struggle with the trip across the Tasman with the Warriors turning things around completely from their efforts in 2017. New Zealand should be able to cope with the loss of Luke at hooker and record a comfortable win against the Tigers.
Parramatta were able to record a memorable two-point win against the Wests Tigers last round and will be out to improve on that effort in their clash with the Sharks.
Cronulla were able to sneak past a determined Gold Coast side, thanks to the efforts of halfback Chad Townsend who kicked the winning field goal in a one-point win.
The Eels seemed to have rediscovered the confidence that made them a top-eight side in 2017 and will prove to be a difficult proposition for a Cronulla side that have struggled with injuries in the last two weeks of the competition.
Wade Graham is expected to add some experience to the forward pack that is still missing Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis.
Corey Norman provided the attacking spark for the Eels in the halves and while he may not be in contention for a Maroons State of Origin spot the former Brisbane Bronco will be able to lead his side to a victory against Cronulla.
The Sharks were lucky to get past the Gold Coast but will struggle to contain the enthusiasm of an Eels side who’ll be determined to get another victory on the board. Parramatta have momentum on their side and the Eels are good value to run out winners by two tries in this match-up.
The ladder leading Dragons face a resurgent Melbourne side in what promises to be the match of the round. There’s a strong rivalry between these two sides that stretches back to the Storms maiden Grand Final win in 1999. The Dragons would love nothing more than to square the ledger with the Storm in the finals in September but for now, they would take a win against Melbourne this early in the competition.
The Storm are starting to hit top four after an inconsistent start to the season that saw them drop two games against the Wests Tigers.
The Melbourne stars are beginning to play to their potential and the Storm will be looking to put some doubts in the minds of Dragons halfback Ben Hunt. In his first season at the Dragons,
Hunt has done an admirable job in stepping out of the Broncos shadow to help the Dragons to one of their best starts to the competition. This is a difficult game to split but the home ground advantage does count for something and the Dragons will get over the line in what should be the match of the round.
Manly are in an alarming slide with issues on and off the field and face a tough task this week against the Roosters.
The Sea Eagles dramas have been well documented this season and Manly coach Trent Barrett needs to restore confidence in a side that should on paper be in the top half of the competition.
The Roosters have struggled for consistency across the opening rounds of the competition and will be hoping to bounce back after a heavy loss to the Dragons.
The Sea Eagles are struggling with injury and this clash looms as a real opportunity for the Roosters to find some form that could potentially put them in good shape heading into a critical part of the season.
Barring a major upset, the Roosters will be able to win this clash easily and push towards the eight after a slow start to the competition.