2021 NRL season: Round 13 preview

With State of Origin just around the corner, several teams will be decimated this weekend – none more so than the Penrith Panthers, who will be without several star players, including both halves in Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary, for their clash against the Wests Tigers this Friday night.

With both the New South Wales and Queensland squads announced for the first Origin game, which has been relocated to Townsville due to the COVID outbreak in Melbourne, it means up to eight teams will have to make do with spare parts sides this weekend, while the other eight will enjoy a week off.

The Broncos will attempt to end a 23-year hoodoo against the Dragons, having not won at Kogarah Oval since 1998 – the first year of the unified National Rugby League competition that we know today.

Elsewhere, the Storm will play their home match against the Gold Coast Titans on the Sunshine Coast, while the Knights will celebrate 20 years since their stunning upset win over the Eels in the 2001 grand final when the present-day sides clash in Newcastle on Sunday.

Here is your preview of Round 13.

Dragons vs Broncos
After a horrid few weeks, there is nothing St George Illawarra would more love to do than to hit back against the Brisbane Broncos at Kogarah Oval to kick off Round 13.

The Dragons suffered more disappointment last Friday night, beaten by the Wests Tigers for the second time this season, this time by 34-18 at Bankwest Stadium.

It marked their sixth loss in their past seven games, their only win in that period being against the bottom-placed Bulldogs, 32-12 at Kogarah Oval in Round 9.

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

However, this weekend they should get several key players back, including the long-awaited return of forward Jack de Belin, who last week had several rape charges dismissed against him, as well as centre Zac Lomax, whose absence has been severely felt.

They’ll be facing a Brisbane Broncos side that has performed reasonably well in recent weeks, upsetting the Titans and Roosters on either side of a heavy loss to the Sea Eagles in Magic Round, as well as a heartbreaking loss to the Cowboys in Townsville in Round 11.

Like the Dragons, the Broncos are also coming off a heavy defeat, beaten 40-12 by the Storm at home, the loss marking their tenth consecutive against a side they defeated to win their most recent premiership, in 2006.

Anthony Milford, who has been dropped twice this year, endured another error-ridden performance, which has shortened his chances of remaining at Red Hill beyond this season, while Payne Haas suffered a knee injury that could rule him out of Origin I (though he has been named in the NSW squad).

History is against Kevin Walters’ side, which has not won at Kogarah Oval since 1998, have lost their past four matches against the Dragons, and haven’t beaten them in New South Wales since 2016.

At home, and with several key players to return to the side, the Dragons should put an end to their losing run with a win on Thursday night.

Prediction: Dragons by six points.

Wests Tigers vs Panthers
Another masterclass from much-maligned halfback Luke Brooks saw the Tigers record their fourth win for the season, a strong first half seeing them defeat the Dragons by 34-18 at Bankwest Stadium last Friday night.

Not only was it their fourth win of the season, it also marked the second time that they’d defeated the same team twice this season, after also defeating the Dragons in round eight as well as defeating the Newcastle Knights in rounds 3 and 10.

The aim for Michael Maguire’s men will be to back it up against a Penrith Panthers side which will be without up to seven regulars, including both co-captains Isaah Yeo and Nathan Cleary, as well as Jarome Luai and Kurt Capewell, among others.

The Panthers continued their undefeated start to the season, defeating the Bulldogs by 30-4 to register their 12th win in succession as well as their 27th straight regular season victory, dating back to July last year.

Ivan Cleary’s side remain two games clear at the top of the ladder and even though they will be without their Origin contingent this week, they’ll still start hot favourites to defeat a Tigers side which has been mildly inconsistent this season.

But this is not to say that the Tigers have no reason to believe they can cause what would be a boilover in front of their Balmain-based fans at Leichhardt Oval this Friday night.

In fact, they need not look as far back as mid-2006, when a struggling Rabbitohs side upset the Origin-ravaged Brisbane Broncos by 34-14 at Stadium Australia.

On that occasion, the Bunnies were winless going into that match, and in a case of reverse psychology, the half-strength Panthers are undefeated and it will be hard to see when their first defeat of season 2021 will come.

While they may be without half of their starting 13, Ivan Cleary’s side should still get the job done.

Prediction: Panthers by 10 points.

Storm vs Titans
Originally fixtured to be played at AAMI Park, the Storm’s clash against the Titans has been shifted to Sunshine Coast Stadium, the club’s home-away-from-home last year, due to the state of Victoria being locked down for the fourth time since the start of the pandemic.

Craig Bellamy’s side had been in the region on a camp, which coincided with Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium, as well as their clash against the Brisbane Broncos at the ground, on either side of a trip south to Canberra where they defeated the Raiders 34-10.

Now, instead of returning to a locked-down Melbourne, the Storm will remain on the Sunshine Coast where they went undefeated in the second half of last season after being forced out of Victoria.

Last week, the Storm continued their dominance of the Brisbane Broncos, winning 40-12 at Suncorp, the result ensuring they remained undefeated against their 2006 premiership nemesis in Brisbane since 2009, and anywhere since late 2016.

They’ll be without several players, including Maroons stars Cameron Munster, Felise Kaufusi, Christian Welch and Harry Grant for their clash against the Titans, who will also be missing several players of their own due to Origin commitments.

Justin Holbrook’s side will be smarting after being thrashed 38-10 by the Cronulla Sharks, where they fell victim to a masterclass from Shaun Johnson.

The Titans started brightly, scoring the first try inside five minutes, but didn’t score again until the death, during which they conceded 38 unanswered points.

It marked the fourth time in 12 matches this season that they have conceded 36 points or more in a match, and their defence is something Holbrook will want to address during the week.

But against the Storm, they can expect no mercy as Craig Bellamy’s side-eye a tenth straight win.

Prediction: Storm by 18 points.

Knights vs Eels
It is two decades ago since the Newcastle Knights famously upset the Parramatta Eels to win the 2001 NRL premiership, and all these years on, the present-day Knights will look to draw on that momentous occasion to bring down the high-flying Eels at home this Sunday.

Many of the older rugby league fans will remember that it was the Eels that dominated the regular season in 2001, breaking all sorts of records, including the most points ever scored in a season and losing just four of their 26 regular season matches.

But it was the Knights, whose captain Andrew Johns had established himself as the best halfback in the competition, who ran riot on grand final night, leading 24-0 at halftime before withstanding a furious Eels comeback to eventually win 30-24.

To this day, the defeat continues to haunt Eels fans, who are currently enduring the longest active premiership drought of any club (excluding the Warriors and Titans, both of whom have not yet won a title since entering the competition in 1995 and 2007, respectively).

Fast forward to Sunday, where the present-day Eels, who are coming off back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, will attempt to get things back on track when they travel up the highway to face a Knights side brimming full of confidence after upsetting the Sea Eagles.

Brad Arthur’s side were made to look second rate against the Rabbitohs at Stadium Australia, as they bore the brunt of an angry Souths side that were out to make a statement after being hammered 56-12 by the Panthers the previous week.

Meantime, without Kalyn Ponga, the Knights upset the Sea Eagles 18-10 but the win came at a cost, with Tyson Frizell suffering an ankle injury that has ruled him out of the opening State of Origin match in Townsville.

With both sides set to be without key players due to Origin, this match could go either way – and I have the Eels winning on the road.

Prediction: Eels by six points.

Byes: Bulldogs, Cowboys, Rabbitohs, Raiders, Roosters, Sea Eagles, Sharks, Warriors.