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The Roar’s NRL expert tips and predictions: Round 11

22nd May, 2019
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(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Expert
22nd May, 2019
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15489 Reads

Upsets were the name of the game last weekend, and upset is exactly what The Roar’s NRL expert tipping panel – and most tipsters – will be with their tips.

It was something of a rough week for everyone. The Dragons, the Panthers, and our tipsters.

In fact, it was The Barry with the top score, registering a grand total of five tips from the eight games. It was slim pickings right across the board. I somehow managed to get four (at least, I think that’s what I can see through my horror at the Dragons performance), and everyone else – Crowd included – got just three out of eight.

But, when the Warriors win on the road, the Broncos beat the Roosters and the Sea Eagles beat the Sharks in the Shire despite having literally millions of dollars worth of talent on the bench, maybe the scores aren’t quite as bad as you’d think.

Round 11 begins at Parramatta with one derby between the Eels and Panthers, and finishes with another as the Sharks host the Dragons in Cronulla.

Between Thursday and Sunday, the Titans will get another chance to turn things around against Manly, the Roosters look to avoid back to back defeats as they make a trip north to play the Knights, and the Broncos head across the ditch to play the Warriors.

The other two Saturday games feature the Raiders up against the Cowboys in chilly Canberra – a climate shock for the Townsville men – and the Rabbitohs facing the Tigers.

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The remaining game will be back at Belmore on Sunday afternoon, as the Bulldogs look to push the Storm for the second time this year.

Stuart McLennan

Tips: Eels, Manly, Roosters, Raiders, Warriors, Rabbitohs, Storm, Dragons

A poor week for my tipping last weekend. There is plenty of improvement left in me. The only saviour was it seemed to be a bad week for most people.

Parramatta have been inconsistent so far, while Penrith have been plain terrible. The Eels seem to like playing at BankWest. Parra to win in the western derby.

I have been impressed with Manly this season even with some key injuries. The Titans have been less impressive. Sea Eagles at Lottoland.

Reuben Garrick

The Sea Eagles continue to surprise. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

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The Knights are at home and have been very good lately and the defending premiers are coming off a loss. Trent Robinson will have them focussed on not going two losses in a row. Easts to win in a close one.

The Raiders went down narrowly against Souths last week but should be good enough to knock off the Cowboys on a cool Saturday arvo in Canberra. Raiders.

Both the Broncos and Warriors have found some form with wins last week. I am going for the Warriors because it is in New Zealand, but it will be close.

The Wests Tigers gave their all and came up short last week while Souths won a tough away match in Canberra. The Rabbitohs look classier on paper and I can’t go past them.

Melbourne should be way too strong for Canterbury. Storm to win by a large margin and spoil the back to Belmore vibe.

The local derby between the Dragons and Sharks is shaping up to be a close one. Neither team is where they want to be at the moment but this fixture is always a season highlight. St George Illawarra at home.

The Barry

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Tips: Eels, Sea Eagles, Roosters, Raiders, Warriors, Souths, Storm, Sharks

The battle for Westeros is over but the battle of the West resumes on Friday. Thank goodness for the Panthers. One of the few clubs making the Dogs look good. Well, not good.

The Eels have hit a bit of a (self-inflicted) speed bump lately but should be too good for the Penrith.

I’m super impressed with Manly. Unfortunately, I keep tipping against them and they keep winning. This week they have an ‘easy’ game against the Titans and I’m tipping them, which means they’ll probably get dusted.

Really looking forward to the Knights versus Roosters clash. Newcastle’s recent form is yet to be franked as their opponents haven’t been great. We should get a true idea of where they stand as they meet a Roosters team stinging from their worst performance of the season. Roosters.

Like the Wildlings, Ricky Stuart’s team come raiding from a freezing wasteland. While they’ve lost two in a row, they haven’t lost too many fans with their efforts.

They still need to prove they can beat the best teams, but they should be too strong at home for the Cowboys.

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I’ve still got queries on the Broncos form. They were scratchy against an injury-ravaged Manly. They were far better against the Roosters who had their own injury woes and were coming off a five day, double travel turnaround.

For that reason, I’m tipping the Warriors.

I’m tipping Souths but not with a huge amount of confidence. The Tigers seem to save their best for the teams at the top and struggle against the battlers. $3.30 seems generous.

Like the Hound, the Bulldogs once seemed like irredeemable villains but now everyone just feels a little sorry for them. On Sunday, they take on a cold, ruthless, brutal, killing machine that unquestioningly obeys orders. Clegane-bowl 2!

Like the Hound, I can’t see the Dogs getting out of this one alive.

It’s been a tough week for Dragons and I expect it to continue on Sunday.

AJ Mithen

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Tips: Eels, Manly, Roosters, Raiders, Warriors, Souths, Storm, Dragons

The champ is starting to drop back a bit but that all changes this week. Take careful note of the following!

Parra will decimate the Panthers at their new home. They won’t lose at Bankwest Stadium for the rest of the season.

Manly will beat the Titans in a sneaky good one. The Roosters will pip the Knights in a really good one.

My beautiful Raiders will put 46 on the Cowboys to reset themselves in the top four.

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Warriors will do over Brisbane, who are feeling themselves a bit too much for my liking.

Souths and the Tigers should be a beauty, Souths will win barely but the Tigers are due a bit of fortune in close ones.

On a mediocre Sunday afternoon, the Storm will win at Belmore and the Dragons will account for the Sharks. Sharks in a bit of strife.

Scott Pryde

Tips: Eels, Sea Eagles, Roosters, Raiders, Warriors, Rabbitohs, Storm, Sharks

As I fill these tips in on holidays, I can’t help but wonder what happened to my Dragons last week. They have been ordinary, but, from the sounds of it (I still haven’t watched the game and have no intentions of doing so at any point), they were just abysmal.

Cronulla are still undermanned and both teams normally get up for the local derby, but the men from the Shire should come away with the win in the huge game to finish the round.

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There is another derby worth talking about at the start of Round 11, with Parramatta set to play Penrith.

The Panthers are in the ‘just don’t tip them at any point’ category for the moment, and that’s exactly the way I’ll go against the Eels, who have been pretty strong in 2019.

Also in the category of avoiding them at all costs on the tipping sheet are the Titans. They take on a Manly side who just continue to surprise, so it should be fairly obvious which way that one is going to go.

The top three sides – the Roosters, Rabbitohs and Storm – all have games they should be able to win this weekend, but all three will go in feeling a little apprehensive.

Latrell Mitchell

Can the Roosters get back on track? (Matt King/Getty Images)

It’s never an easy trip to the Hunter, and even less of one once the Knights have found their mojo – as they have in the past few weeks – but it’s hard to see them getting the better of the Roosters, who just won’t drop two in a row.

The Rabbitohs face the Tigers, who have been inconsistently decent. But probably not decent enough to knock off the Bunnies, who were worse last week, but have started to click.

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The Storm were back to their old ways last week as well, so I have less confidence, but they will have learnt plenty from their last clash against the blue and white of Belmore.

The remaining games should be easy enough to tip for mine.

While Ricky Stuart’s Green Machine have players out, they should beat the Cowboys at home, while the Warriors at home always seem to go up a level. Taking on the Broncos, who somehow beat the Roosters last Friday, they should pick up a critical win.

Be sure to get your tips in on the form below by 5:30pm (AEST) on Thursday, and we will have the results in the table and comments section below.

Round 11 AJ Stuart The Barry Scott The Crowd
EEL vs PAN EEL EEL EEL EEL EEL
SEA vs TIT SEA SEA SEA SEA SEA
KNI vs ROO ROO ROO ROO ROO ROO
RAI vs COW RAI RAI RAI RAI RA
WAR vs BRO WAR WAR WAR WAR BRO
RAB vs TIG RAB RAB RAB RAB RAB
BUL vs STO STO STO STO STO STO
DRA vs SHA DRA DRA SHA SHA DRA
Last week 3 3 5 4 3
Total 48 49 52 47 53
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