We take a look at Saturday’s (13/07/2019) NRL 2019 Week 17 match is between Melbourne Storm and Cronulla Sharks. The Melbourne Storm go into the match as the short priced favourites in betting and have been heavily backed.
When: Saturday July 13, 7:35pm
Where: AAMI Park
Bet: Bet On This Match HERE
Preview:
Storm captain Cameron Smith places his 400th NRL game against the Sharks on Saturday night in what is sure to be a big occasion in Melbourne. The Storm come into the match riding high, winning their past 7 games, with their last loss coming in round eight against Cronulla.
In that game the Sharks starved the Storm of possession, with the home side having 57 per cent of the ball and completing at 84 per cent. That far exceeds their season average completion rate of 73 per cent, which ranks third last in the competition. They also pressured Melbourne into committing 9 errors and 9 penalties, leading both counts.
The Origin brigade all return for the Storm, with six players in all returning. For the Sharks, there are changes in the forwards, with Andrew Fifita back from suspension and Wade Graham starting. Paul Gallen is out injured and Shaun Johnson keeps his spot in the halves.
This rivalry has had it all in recent years and all of their matches have been close contests, with six of their past seven decided by 10 points or less. In their 2018 match at AAMI Park, the Storm stormed home to win by 16 points. There is plenty separating the two sides statistically and the Sharks have been in bad form, losing their past three, but matches between these two usually mean you can throw the form guide out. But The Wolf is still backing the Storm to win. They don’t often lose milestone games.
Wolf Facts
- In their last three games, the Sharks have scored more tries than their opponents in each of those games (12 v 9). But have lost all three of those games.
- Cameron Smith notches up his 400th NRL game this weekend. He has scored 2,494 points from 43 tries and 1,159 goals from 1,550 attempts. With 284 games won, he has a winning percentage of 71.2%.
- The Storm are eight wins from the last ten matches at AAMI Park against the Sharks.
Odds:
Tip: Melbourne Storm at $1.33
Value Tip: First Try Scorer: Josh Addo-Carr at $6.50
Teams:
Storm: 1. Jahrome Hughes 2. Suliasi Vunivalu 3. Will Chambers 4. Marion Seve 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Cameron Munster 7. Brodie Croft 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Cameron Smith 10. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Kenneath Bromwich 13. Dale Finucane 14. Brandon Smith 15. Christian Welch 16. Joe Stimson 17. Ryan Papenhuyzen 18. Justin Olam 19. Tino Faasuamaleaui 20. Tui Kamikamica 21. Sandor Earl 22. Tom Eisenhuth 23. Solomone Kata
Sharks: 1. Matt Moylan 2. Sosaia Feki 3. Bronson Xerri 4. Josh Dugan 5. Josh Morris 6. Shaun Johnson 7. Chad Townsend 8. Andrew Fifita 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Matt Prior 11. Briton Nikora 12. Wade Graham 13. Jack Williams 14. Kurt Capewell 15. Jayson Bukuya 16. Aaron Woods 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele 18. Billy Magoulias 19. Kyle Flanagan 20. Aaron Gray 21. Blayke Brailey
*Odds correct at time of posting. Subject to change
