NRL Round 13 Newcastle Knights v Brisbane Broncos Preview

The Sunday main game takes place up at Suncorp Stadium as the out of form Newcastle Knights take on the second placed Brisbane Broncos. The Knight have definitely been questioned on their effort in recent weeks as well as the overall ability of their squad. It is definitely going to be a tough season for coach Wayne Bennett and every ounce of his coaching ability and patience will be tested. Meanwhile at his former club, the Broncos have been moving along just nicely, despite going down to Melbourne last Friday night. It was always going to be an uphill battle for them but they are a young squad which certainly do not back down from any challenge. It will be interesting to see how they are travelling mentally in this game. There would be a lot of punters suggesting that the Broncos will walk all over the Knights, but the last thing that Broncos fans would want to see is complacency creep into their squad. Coach Anthony Griffin is doing a great job and should keep his squad's eyes on the bigger picture here.

Brisbane Broncos
As stated earlier, the Broncos will be looking to bounce back after a loss to the Storm. Not many people have mentioned this, but this will be the first game that the Broncos have played under daytime conditions this year. I find it extremely hard to fathom this as it is Round 13 and we are half way through the season. But that is something that should be sorted out by next season when the broadcasting rights are renegotiated. It good news for the Broncos, Sam Thaiday, Petero  Civoniceva and Justin Hodges come back into the team after being rested after SOO 1. It is a great idea that coach Griffin does every season in giving his players extra time to recover and ensures that they are given every chance to play finals footy. As a result, Matt Gillett moves back to the bench.

Newcastle Knights
The Knights are in big trouble of having their season go the wrong way. They are certainly not given any favours with their squad suffering a horror injury run of late. But regardless of who has played, last weeks performance was terrible to say the least. They were guilty of playing without application and enthusiasm and to say that their fans were disappointed would be an understatement. Bennett has made only two changes to the team that played last week with Matt Hilder and Zeb Taia being omitted from the bench and Chris Adams and Richie Fa'aoso coming into the team. Jarred Mullen will be cleared to play after being under an injury cloud. They certainly do not want him missing from this clash.


Recent History

Overall = Broncos 26 - Knights 12
Last 5 = Broncos 3 - Knights 2
At Suncorp Stadium = Broncos 7 - Knights 3

Odds
TAB Sportsbet = Broncos $1.18 Knights $4.00
Centrebet = Broncos $1.22 Knights $4.10
Sportsbet = Broncos $1.20 Knights $4.10

Verdict
There isn't much else to say about this one other than the Broncos should do this easily. The Knights will be out to play better footy than last week and that could lead them into this one if the Broncos have any sort of complacency. Hopefully they don't. If they don't, this one could get ugly for the Knights

Suggested Bet
Broncos 13+ @ $1.90


Just a thought... = Brisbane 19+ @ $2.20 - If they can get away early and the Knights play like they did last week , then this one could get ugly.


Good luck!
Scooby