NRL Round 20 Sydney Roosters v Gold Coast Titans Preview

OK...is their someone out at Channel 9 receiving extra money for placing the Roosters in the free-to-air time slot? The fact that the Roosters have again been given a game this week is a joke. Not just as a supporter of rugby league but Roosters fans have every right to be annoyed with the teams short turn around from Sunday footy. They currently sit in 14th place and have just about lost all hope of playing finals football. The Titans on the other hand will be desperate to continue on their winning ways and grab another victory here that still keeps them in contention for the Top 8. A loss could almost have them planning their holidays along with the Roosters. They certainly have the players to get them over the line and are seemingly peaking at the right end of the season. The only problem is they are now playing sudden death football well before they should be. They have under performed and missing the 8 will definitely have people asking questions of their season. But this should be a game that they would look to move through with relative ease. Interestingly, the Titans actually have a lot of former players and coaches up playing for them this season. The Titans are in 10th place and will play desperate footy, footy that sometimes brings out the best in them. While this is probably going to be a dour clash, fans of some teams will be hoping for a certain result so their own team is either safe in the 8 or their hopes for the 8 are still well and truly, alive. 

Sydney Roosters

Suffering a very short turn around from Sundays clash, the Rooster have straight away named rookie Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to make his NRL debut on the wing. This will be a great opportunity for a very talented player who has made his way across to the Roosters after playing Toyota Cup for the Warriors. His move to the wing was made as Mitchell Aubusson was shifted from the centres back to the bench. BJ Leilua has moved from the wing to the centres to cover for Aubusson's move. Martin Kennedy, another player involved in some judiciary controversy after being on the receiving end of a Travis Burns tackle, is named on the bench. No surprise there as his nose was broken in the tackle and Frank Paul Nuuausala has moved from lock to the front row and Tinirau Arona is promoted from the bench to start at lock. The Roosters have named an extended bench so be sure to pay attention to my twitter feed for team news just before kickoff. They need a dynamic bench to keep pace with the quality of forward that the Titans possess. 

Gold Coast Titans

First and foremost, the Titans will be extremely happy to have Greg Bird return to their side after an extensive rest through injury since the end of SOO. He will give them a good level of agression and skill in their forwards that should see them aim to dominate the Roosters in the forwards. The Titans however have lost Ashley Harrison through injury but Nate Myles shifts back to lock for them. Ben Ridge has disappeared from the bench for this game but still have named an extended bench which features Michael Henderson. One player will drop off prior to kickoff and there is no hint to who that will be. The Titans have enjoyed giving Srama a rest in the middle part of the game and bringing of Beau Falloon, for Srama to then come back on in the final few 20-30 minutes and be at his dynamic best. The Titans will certainly want to play this game in the forwards because that is where they can dominate the Roosters, but be aware, they have some real speedsters out wide who can easily finish a back line movement. In saying that, the Titans always play well when Scott Prince fires up, so hopefully he is on in this clash.


Recent History
Overall = Roosters 4 - Titans 5
Last 5 games = Roosters 3 - Titans 2
At Allianz Stadium = Roosters 1 - Titans 2

Odds
TAB Sportsbet = Roosters $2.20 Titans $1.70
Centrebet = Roosters $2.20 Titans $1.70
Sportsbet = Roosters $2.20 Titans $1.70
Betfair = Roosters $2.34 Titans $1.71

Verdict
The Roosters are looking like a very tired team that is running out of ideas. Now it is beginning to surface that all is not well within the dressing room and coach Brian Smith is beginning to lose his dressing shed. This does not look good for the Roosters fans. They're a young team that is going through a very tough learning experience right at the present time. The Titans should dominate all across the park with a better forward pack and a halves pairing that is looking more creative than their opponents. This won't come easy to the Titans but if they were to get out to a decent lead early, this game could get ugly as the Roosters switch off. There is little motivation for them staying in the contest if they're down by a few points. But the Titans will have to work hard to get to that point and then keep their foot on the gas.

Suggested Bet
Titans @ $1.70


Margin of value = Titans 13+ @ $3.50 - It was tempting to make this bet the "suggested" one, but I am going to put it down as another option. It's mentioned above why this game could get ugly and there is plenty of value offered here.


Tri bet = Titans Over 6.5 points @ $2.65 - It's the exact same as the margin bet but perhaps leaving the door open to a 1-12 margin. This option still provide you will a decent bit of value. 


Good luck!
Scooby
@scoobystips