Roar Guru
The Newcastle Knights will be looking to revive their 2013 campaign with a win at Hunter Stadium, but will have to do so against a Gold Coast Titans side pushing for a top four spot. Join us for live scores and commentary from 2.00pm AEST.
There is no two ways about it, Newcastle has been dismal of late. The side is struggling to find any sort of confidence and has won one of their last seven games, scoring an average of 14.3 points per game in each of those losses.
While the Knights shot out to an early 14-4 lead against Melbourne a fortnight ago, Newcastle were unable to hold onto the lead, failing to trouble the scorer after the 30 minute mark.
The Gold Coast on the other hand will bring a lot of confidence into the game, having won three of their last four games.
The Titans were too strong against an understrength Melbourne side at Skilled Park last Monday night, with young halfback Albert Kelly looking dangerous every time he had the ball in his hands.
Despite the fact that the Titans sit just one point shy of the top four, the bookmakers still have them at $34 to win the premiership.
Prediction
The Titans have one of the best home records in the competition, winning six of eight at Skilled Park. Their record on the road however is a completely different story, where they have struggled to a 2-4 record.
If Albert Kelly is able to replicate the game that he had against Melbourne just six days ago, it will go a long way to securing a rare away win for the Gold Coast.
The withdrawal of David Taylor is a big loss to their back line, but the return of Greg Bird and Nate Myles from Origin duty will certainly help the visitor’s chances.
While I expect Newcastle to put in a much-improved performance in front of the home crowd, the task of trying to knock off a Titans side that are gunning for that top four spot will certainly be a tough one.
I have flipped and changed my mind about this one more times than the Labour Party, but I think with Queensland’s win on Wednesday night and Kevin Rudd back in power, the Gold Coast will look to make it a 1-2-3 for Sunshine State.
I’ll take the Gold Coast by four points.