Welcome to our NRL preview for the upcoming Easter weekend round of matches! Last week brought surprises and upsets, and we're here to dissect the upcoming games, offering insights and predictions. Let's dive in!
Thursday night kicks off with the red hot Sydney Roosters taking on the defending premiers Penrith Panthers at Allianz Stadium. Both sides are playing some cracking football at the moment, and look to be the teams to beat. Even being down a starting halfback, the Roosters could do no wrong last week against Souths. On the other side of the coin, Penrith will be without Nathan Cleary as well as potentially a couple of others sitting out through injury this week, as such I’d expect the Chooks to take this one in a close game. Roosters by 12 points.
The annual Easter Friday afternoon clash between the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and South Sydney Rabbitohs is set to be a fascinating game. The Dogs looked like a completely different side in their dominant shut-out win against the Titans, and South Sydney looked as if they had never played football before. The Bunnies have more than just their pride to play for this week, with the media bringing head coach Jason Demetriou’s job into question. There seem to be some major cohesion issues within the side right now, and having won just 4 from their last 16 games, I’m not sure that can be fixed in a week. For that reason, I’ll be tipping an upset this Friday and am going with the Bulldogs by 8 points.
Friday night’s main event is an all Queensland clash between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys. Beating an undefeated side whilst missing Payne Haas, Reece Walsh and Adam Reynolds is going to be a tremendous ask for the Broncs. North Queensland let the Dragons get out to an early lead last week, but seemed to peg it back with relative ease, and I’d expect this Friday to be a very similar scoreline. North Queensland by 18+ points.
Super Saturday kicks off with the Manly Sea Eagles making the trip down to Wollongong to take on a struggling St George Illawarra Dragons side. I’d expect the Sea Eagles to come out with a rocket up them after their controversial loss to Parramatta, and the Dragons to do equally the same after forgoing a lead to the Cowboys last week. The Red V will put up a fight in front of their home crowd but I suspect they won’t quite be strong enough for the Cherry-Evans/Brooks combo that is taking the NRL by storm. Manly by 14 points.
Saturday night will see our second all Queensland clash of the round, with the Dolphins taking on the Gold Coast Titans at CBUS Super Stadium. The Des Hasler Era hasn’t started well for the Titans, after having their pants pulled down by the Bulldogs last week, and the Dragons in Round 1. With no Tino Fa'asuamaleaui it's hard to see that changing quickly. The Dolphins boast an unbeaten record against the Gold Coast, granted both games they’ve won by a combined total of 5 points. Keiran Foran’s return didn’t impress last week, and Tanah Boyd looks to be struggling as well. I’ve got the Dolphins by 14 points.
Easter Sunday has the Newcastle Knights making the trek over to Go Media Stadium to take on the New Zealand Warriors. The Wahs proved to be too strong against Canberra last week, and the Knights held on for a surprising win against the Storm as well. This game could be set to be much closer than initially anticipated. It seems to be very hard to beat the Warriors on their home turf right now though, and because of that I’ll be going New Zealand by 6 points.
The Canberra Raiders make the journey to the Shire on Sunday night to take on the Cronulla Sharks and after being embarrassed by the Tigers last week, the Sharks will have a point to prove in front of their home fans. The Raiders came out of the gates strong to start the season, and only narrowly went down in New Zealand last week, and I’m hopeful they can rediscover the form that saw them upset Newcastle. Raiders by 8 points.
Closing out the round on Monday afternoon will be the Parramatta Eels taking on the Wests Tigers at Commbank Stadium. Despite an impressive showing against Cronulla last week, Parramatta are a genuine top 4 contender this year and I’d be shocked to see the Tiges replicate last week’s miracle. Parramatta managed to take down the high flying Sea Eagles last week, and a performance remotely akin to that should see the Eels win by 18+ points.
We look set for a great Easter weekend of Footy, with wins expected for the Roosters, Bulldogs, Cowboys, Sea Eagles, Dolphins, Warriors and Eels. Stay safe this long weekend, and remember to head into Jersey’s Megastore for your supporter gear and All Things Footy.
