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The Sydney Roosters will be looking to pull off a big upset when they host the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Allianz Stadium on Thursday night. Join us on The Roar from 7:50pm (AEST) Thursday night to follow all of the action.
2016 has been one to forget for the Sydney Roosters with the big name club sitting in 15th on the ladder with just three wins for the season after 16 rounds.
Coming off their second bye in five rounds the Roosters should be fresh for this big contest against the red-hot Bulldogs.
Having had to deal with a number of injuries and suspensions to key players in the first half of the season, the Roosters side is slowly getting some of the big names back that made them a dominant force in recent years.
After an inconsistent start to the season, the Bulldogs seem to have found some of their best form with back-to-back wins including a 26-point win over the one of last year’s grand finalists the Brisbane Broncos.
With nine wins and six losses to their name, Canterbury-Bankstown find themselves in sixth place on the ladder which means they are well and truly in contention for a top-four spot at the end of the season. With this in mind, the Bulldogs will be looking to score a big win in this game.
The Roosters have made a number of changes at the selection table with Mitchell Pearce returning from injury at halfback and Ryan Matterson dropping to 18th man. They also welcome back Blake Ferguson and Aidan Guerra from Origin duties which means Sam Moa drops back to the bench and Chris Smith and Joseph Manu drop out of the team.
For the Bulldogs Greg Eastwood returns from injury and will start in the back-row which pushes Asipeli Fine to 19th man alongside Raymond Faitala-Mariner who has been named in the No.18 jersey in the extended squad.
With both teams possessing plenty of attacking weapons in their back lines, the battle of the forwards will determine who will claim the win in this game.
Coming off a dominant performance against the Broncos, the Bulldogs forwards including Aiden Tolman, James Graham and Tony Williams are all in good form.
The Roosters big men Dylan Napa, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Aidan Guerra will need to have big games in attack and defence for the Roosters to have a chance.
Prediction
It’s hard to go past the Bulldogs in this one with the current form they are in being at a level that will be too much for the Roosters to handle.
Bulldogs by 14 points.
Will the Roosters pull off a big upset or will the Bulldogs chalk up another win? Join us on The Roar from 7:50pm (AEST) Thursday night to find out.
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