Canterbury again failed to flatter in Round 1 and look cannon fodder for a Sharks team that have made a habit of winning games they should.
Best Bet
It is hard to see anything but a comfortable Cronulla win here when they host Canterbury in the early Friday game.
The Sharks caused a minor upset in the opener when they came from an early 12-0 deficit to overrun the Warriors in Auckland. The Bulldogs were embarrassingly bad against the Eels, struggling to stop the Parramatta onslaught and then doing nothing with the ball when they got it.
While the Sharks and Bulldogs are both relatively unchanged – Cronulla have the same 17 while Connor Tracey replaces the injured Josh Addo-Carr for the Bulldogs – it is Cameron Ciraldo’s refusal to make the necessary changes that is the key storyline heading into this. Stephen Crichton continues to get wasted at centre while Blake Taafe stays at fullback while Jaeman Salmon was remarkably not dropped after his horror Round 1 showing.
The numbers hold up remarkably well for the Sharks.
Cronulla have won 11 of 13 against Canterbury with the last five all by 12 or more points. The Sharks have covered seven of nine at Shark Park including a 7-4 cover record at the ground when favoured by more than eight points.
The Bulldogs have covered just 9 of 26 getting a start of six or more points.
Cronulla should cover this.
Same Game Multi
Ronaldo Mulitalo has five tries in five games against the Bulldogs.
Siosifa Talakai moved very well in Week 1 and can benefit from likely numbers that are always there against Canterbury.
Value Bet
Teig Wilton is an exceptionally tough proposition to tackle on the edge with a big body and a strong power game. The Bulldogs are extraordinarily vulnerable on the edges. Wilton has 12 tries in 38 games when starting in the backrow including scoring when the teams last met.
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