The highlight of Magic Round is unquestionably the Sharks and Roosters with the top-of-the-table Cronulla underdogs for the second straight week.
Best Bet
Cronulla are the most disrespected team in the NRL and they can absolutely stop the run of the red-hot Roosters.
The Sharks are top of the table and come off a super win in Melbourne without Nicho Hynes.
Hynes returns for the Sharks while the Roosters lost Joey Manu out of their dominant win over the Warriors. The impact of Manu cannot be underestimated. His creativity opens up so may options on the right.
The Roosters have dominated this matchup but this is a nice spot for the Sharks.
Cronulla have covered five of six interstate and 19 of their last 31 as an underdog.
The Roosters have covered just five of 14 off a win and just 11 of 28 off scoring 22-plus.
Happy to take the Sharks getting a try.
Insights
🏈 Sydney Roosters vs Cronulla Dominance: Sydney Roosters have a strong record against Cronulla, winning 8 out of their last 9 encounters.
📈 Cronulla’s Recent Winning Streak: Cronulla has been performing well recently, securing wins in 12 out of the last 15 games,
🔄 Post-Victory Scoring Trends: Following a win, both teams tend to be involved in low-scoring games. Cronulla’s games went under the total in 7 out of the last 9 instances, while Sydney Roosters’ games also leaned heavily towards ‘under’, with 17 unders achieved in the last 20 post-win games.
Same Game Multi
Teig Wilton is a nice play this week. The Sharks skew to their left when scoring and Wilton has 15 tries in 46 games when starting on an edge so is over the odds at $4.50.
Dom Young is one of the elite tryscorers in the NRL, scoring 49 tries in 58 games, scoring six tries in seven games since joining the Tricolours.
Value Bet
Tom Hazelton has been arguably the best prop threat close to the line outside of Addin Fonua-Blake and is huge odds again to score. Hazelton scored in three straight and then had a try assist last week. He is brilliant close to the line and is a great bet here.
Follow Betseeker for weekly expert NRL tips and predictions for the 2024 NRL season.
