Check out the match preview and prediction for the round 16 clash between the Sydney Roosters and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
MATCHDAY NEWS
MATCHDAY SCHEDULE
Sydney Roosters Vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Venue: Industree Group Stadium, Gosford
Date: Saturday June 22, 5:30pm
MATCHDAY TEAM NEWS
Roosters: 1. James Tedesco, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Fetalaiga Pauga, 4. Joseph Manu, 5. Dominic Young, 6. Luke Keary, 7. Sam Walker, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Brandon Smith, 10. Terrell May, 11. Nat Butcher, 12. Victor Radley, 13. Naufahu Whyte, 14. Sandon Smith, 15. Blake Steep, 16. Sitili Tupouniua, 17. Siua Wong, 18. Ethan King, 19. Dylan Napa, 20. Tyler Moriarty, 21. Hugo Savala, 22. Salesi Foketi
Bulldogs: 1. Connor Tracey, 2. Jeral Skelton, 3. Bronson Xerri, 4. Jacob Kiraz, 5. Blake Wilson, 6. Matt Burton, 7. Toby Sexton, 8. Max King, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Samuel Hughes, 11. Josh Curran, 12. Jaeman Salmon, 13. Bailey Hayward, 14. Jake Turpin, 15. Poasa Faamausili, 16. Kurtis Morrin, 17. Lipoi Hopoi, 19. Drew Hutchison, 20. Blake Taaffe, 21. Eli Clark, 22. Harry Hayes, 23. Viliame Kikau
Referee: Grant Atkins
Embed from Getty ImagesMATCHDAY PREVIEW
The red-hot Bulldogs will travel to Gosford to clash with the Roosters as they look to consolidate their spot in the top six.
Canterbury are on a three-game winning streak while the Roosters are coming off a strong win over the Eels. The Bulldogs enjoyed a round 15 bye after beating Parramatta in a King’s Birthday Monday thriller, coming back from 18-10 to win 22-18. The Roosters also beat the Eels 28-18 last Saturday night, kicking on after the Eels overcame a 16-0 deficit to lead 18-16 early in the second half.
Both sides will be missing several players, but the non-selection in State of Origin of Matt Burton and James Tedesco means the two stars will line up on Saturday.
The Roosters are hardest hit and will be without Lindsay Collins, Spencer Leniu, Connor Watson, Angus Crichton (all Origin), Joseph Sua’ali’i (suspension) and possibly Brandon Smith (club suspension).
Canterbury will be without captain Stephen Crichton, Kurt Mann (suspension) and possibly Jacob Preston (foot injury).
The Bulldogs are officially the best defensive team in the NRL and the Roosters are the best in attack. It means it should be a real scintillating game of football if the conditions are kind.
Sam Walker has had the ball on a string while James Tedesco and Joey Manu are playing fantastic football from the back. Canterbury’s resilience and defence has been lovely to watch but they’ll need to take it up yet another level to defeat the Tri-colours.
The last clash between these two in round 5 was a thriller: Canterbury led 26-0 at half-time and survived a Roosters fightback to win 30-26. Burton had arguably his best game for the Bulldogs, scoring 22 points (three tries and five goals). Egan Butcher scored two tries for the Roosters.
Head-to-head stats can be found at Number Crunch Stats.
MATCHDAY PREDICTION
Check out all the NRL Predictions here.
Roosters by 8 points.
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