The best of what Queensland has to offer will be on display in the Suncorp Stadium double-header this Saturday night.
For the second year running, the ladder-leading Melbourne Storm will give up a home game in their city to take part in the double-header, which should attract a large crowd with no rival matches on that evening.
They kick things off when they play the Gold Coast Titans, starting at 5:30pm.
Craig Bellamy’s men have lost just one match for the season, an 11-2 defeat to the Sharks in Round 6, and fullback Billy Slater is nearing a return to his best after a shoulder injury ruined his last two seasons.
The Storm’s last outing saw them dominate from start to finish to defeat the Dragons by 34-22, notching up their first win in Wollongong since 2005.
In that match, Slater scored his first try for nearly two years, and finished with a double to surge back into contention for the Maroons’ number one guernsey, which will be decided over the course of the next two weeks.
Darius Boyd is the incumbent Maroons fullback, but if Slater, who turns 34 next month, can continue on his impressive form of recent, then there is every chance he may reclaim the number one guernsey.
(AAP image/David Crosling)
That would push Darius Boyd onto the wing, which he won’t mind that much given he did play in the position numerous times for the Maroons. These days, however, Boyd is more of a fullback.
Another win for the Storm, who are undefeated at Suncorp Stadium since 2009, would further enhance their status as premiership favourites and there is no doubt they would love to win another title before Cooper Cronk leaves the club for personal reasons at the end of this year.
They’ll be facing a Gold Coast Titans side which, after six losses in their opening seven games, have enjoyed a resurgence in the fortnight leading up to last week’s representative weekend.
Jarryd Hayne returned from injury in time to inspire his side to an upset win over the Sharks at Southern Cross Group Stadium, before they enjoyed a regulation 38-8 win over the Knights at home.
They’ll be hoping to leave Suncorp Stadium with better memories after their last visit there, just last month, ended in heartbreak when they lost a thriller to the Brisbane Broncos on Good Friday.
In that match, they led 22-20 with three minutes to go before ex-Titan James Roberts broke hearts once again with his third try of the night to give the Broncos a 24-22 win.
It denied them what would have been their first win at the ground in more than a decade, but they’ll get the chance again to break their hoodoo at the cauldron of Queensland rugby league this Saturday night.
The second match of the double-header will see the Sea Eagles again storm the Broncos’ cauldron, ‘hosting’ the Queensland powerhouses in their own backyard.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Trent Barrett’s men have emerged as one of the sides to watch in 2017. After starting the season with two straight losses, the Sea Eagles have won five of their last seven matches with the most impressive wins being those against the Cowboys and Bulldogs in rounds three and four respectively.
But no win was more impressive than their last-start, 46-8 win over the Rabbitohs at Allianz Stadium, which reversed their Round 2 defeat to the same opponents at Lottoland.
They now have the chance to shoot up to as high as second on the ladder, depending on how other results unfold, but overcoming the fourth-placed Broncos at ‘home’ will be a very tough assignment.
Wayne Bennett’s men have won six of their nine matches, including the last four in a row since a narrow 10-7 loss to the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium in Round 5.
Five-eighth Anthony Milford has recently recommitted to the club for another long-term deal, but will have a new halves partner from 2018 onwards, with Ben Hunt to leave Red Hill at season’s end.
He is in contention to debut for Queensland in the Origin series opener at the end of this month, with incumbent standoff Johnathan Thurston set to miss a significant period of football due to a shoulder injury picked up in last Friday night’s Test match in Canberra.
Milford, along with Hunt and a few others, could have debuted for the Maroons last year but a boozy night out during the Emerging Origin camp proved very costly as far as their chances were concerned.
Both the Sea Eagles and Broncos will essentially be playing for second place in the second match of the Suncorp Stadium double-header, with the Storm, win or lose, to remain in top spot on the ladder as they are four points ahead of the second-placed Dragons.
The Titans, should they beat the Storm in the first match, can rise up to as high as tenth on the ladder after a poor start to the season, and while their percentage is in the red it isn’t that bad, conceding just 16 points more than they have scored.
With no AFL matches in south-east Queensland this Saturday night, there is realistically no excuse for Brisbane sporting fans not to pack Suncorp Stadium for what should be up to three hours of pure rugby league entertainment, especially with the Origin series just around the corner.
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