The Roar’s NRL expert tips and predictions: Round 7

Hey Roarers!

How great was five days of footy?! And amongst all the seafood and chocolate, we witnessed our own Easter miracle over the long weekend. Round 6 had it all!

Let’s recap….

The Raiders came out of the blocks fast on Thursday night to take a 12-0 lead by the 15^th minute against the Cowboys. They played a great first half to only once again forget that the game goes for 80 minutes. The Cowboys did everything right in the second half, scoring 18 unanswered points to take the win 18-12. And as you can imagine, Ricky Stuart was delighted. 

The Dogs started off well in their match against the Bunnies on Friday. But a questionable sin binning to Jeremey Marshall-King saw Souths take advantage of the one man overlap and score three quick tries. The momentum stayed with the Bunnies, and the Dogs couldn’t get back into the game, going down 36-16.

The second Friday night match saw the Panthers do what they do best, with this week’s victim being the Broncos. A strong 40-16 win in front of their home crowd saw the Premiers go 6-0, and left everyone wondering if these guys be beaten? Nathan Cleary escaped with only a fine for a dangerous tackle on Brisbane’s Billy Walters – what did you make of that one Roarers? 

Manly have put their poor start to the season behind them, beating the Titans 26-18 for their fourth straight win. The Titans have got into a bad habit of giving teams a head start and having to claw their way back, and once again fell short of the target.  

The much-anticipated Saturday night clash between the Storm and the Sharks wasn’t as close or exciting as fans thought it would be, but it was still a solid, hard-fought match between two of the competition’s frontrunners, with the Storm proving too good in the end beating Cronulla 34-18.

The Warriors found themselves on the wrong end of some refereeing decisions in their match against the Roosters on Sunday. Fans felt James Tedesco was lucky not to be sin binned for a professional foul, and that the Warriors were hard done by from the Bunker. Nonetheless, the Roosters scored more points and won the match 22-14.

The Dragons and the Knights faced off on Sunday afternoon in Wollongong. I have no record of what happened and can’t find the result anywhere, so let’s just assume that match didn’t happen. 

And then, we all watched what no one knew was going to be the match of the round. A back-and-forth game that went down to the wire, with the Tigers claiming a 21-20 victory in the dying seconds thanks to a Jackson Hastings field goal. They finally got their first win of the season, putting on a dominant performance full of effort. Sorry Parra fans, but this was one of the most entertaining and exciting matches so far this season, and I’m sure most of us were happy to see Michael Maguire so elated. 

Mike and you champions out there in The Crowd tipped a solid 6/8, with AJ, Mary, Paul, and I tipping 5/8. Paul and The Crowd share the overall lead with 33, AJ and Mary just behind on 32, Mike is on 31 and I’m still on the golf course on 29.  

Ok, onto round 7, with another glorious five days of footy…..

Cronulla and Manly kick off the round tonight at Shark Park. The home side will be hoping to bounce back from last weekend’s loss against the Storm, and the Sea Eagles will be looking to keep their hot streak going with another win. 

We only have one game on Friday night, with the Broncos hosting the Bulldogs at 8pm. 14^th v 16^th so who knows – could be a debacle or an absolute cracker!

The Titans travel to Townsville to take on the Cowboys on Saturday at 5.30pm. The Gold Coast are quickly becoming their own worst enemy on the field, and the Cowboys are travelling along nicely with Jason Taumalolo close to being back to his best.

At 7.30pm we head to Commbank Stadium to see the Tigers play the Bunnies. Can the Tigers cause another upset? Will this match have another exciting finish like last April when Burgess and Brooks both ‘scored’? 

Sunday at 2pm we will see the Knights clash with the Eels at McDonald Jones Stadium. Parramatta will have finished licking their wounds and will be wanting to make amends for their shock loss last round, and the Knights (and their fans) will be desperately hoping to get back into the winner’s circle. 

Then Panthers host the Raiders at 4pm and will be looking to make it seven from seven. Will this be a walk in the park for the premiers against an out of form Canberra, or will the spite between these two teams be enough to fire up the Raiders? 

And on Monday after we have paid our respects at our local service, had a BBQ brekkie and played some two-up, we can watch the annual ANZAC day matches. The Roosters and the Dragons kick off at 4pm at the SCG, and then the Storm and the Warriors at the later than usual time of 7pm down in Melbourne.

If you would like to see how you go up against the Experts this round, just remember to get your tips in below by 5pm tonight to be counted in The Crowd’s tips.

To try and make her feel better after Parramatta’s loss on Monday, I’m going to let Mary lead us off this week.

Good luck with your tipping everyone and have another great long weekend!

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Mary Konstantopoulos

Sharks, Broncos, Cowboys, Souths, Eels, Panthers, Roosters, Storm. 

The Sea Eagles have been impressive without Tom Trbojevic, but in my view the Sharks have proven that they are a top-four contender with their performances so far this year.  Dale Finucane and Braden Hamlin-Uele are big outs for this game, but the loss of Josh Aloiai for this game will be bigger for Manly.  Sharks to win with another solid performance from Nicho Hynes.

The Broncos side continues to confuse me with Kevin Walters just making constant change. Despite that, the Broncos will beat the Bulldogs this week.  Payne Haas will make a significant impact to the Broncos attack and I’m looking forward to Te Maire Martin’s return after a hard road back to the NRL.

I’m going to tip the Cowboys in an upset against the Titans. The Cowboys just seem to chip away, doing the little things right and wear teams down. I think that strategy will work against the Titans who just are an erratic and confusing footy team. 

Despite a magical victory against the Eels last week, I think the Tigers luck will run out against a strong South Sydney team this year. What I’ll be interested in seeing is whether Jackson Hastings continues to lead this Tigers team around; the Tigers attack looked far stronger with Hastings at seven and Luke Brooks playing a more supportive role.  

The Eels injury woes continue, but after an embarrassing performance against the Wests Tigers, the Eels should bounce back against the Knights. The return of Junior Paulo is significant for Parramatta and will help the Eels down the field.

The Panthers will beat a Raiders team that has been so disappointing this year and I expect the Roosters to win the annual ANZAC-day clash.

The Warriors have been plucky this year but aren’t good enough to beat the Storm at home.

AJ Mithen

Sharks, Broncos, Cowboys, Rabbitohs, Eels, Raiders, Roosters, Storm

As I continue my excellent tipping form, we encounter a week where there’s some genuine questions around who might get the job done. Here we go…

Sharks to get Manly, but it’ll be a scrubby old game. 

Brisbane to beat the Dogs because they’ve got a Reynolds and the Bulldogs do not.

I think the Cowboys will get the Titans, but I would not be surprised at all if the Titans light them up. It’s a tricky one.

Souths over the buoyant Tigers in an early wrestle. 

Parra over Newcastle in a similar one. Big game for the Knights.

Your presumptive champions, the people’s team, the Canberra Raiders will put 56 on a doddering Penrith.

I’m on the Roosters over the Dragons but it’ll be closer than suspected, with the chooks still working out a few things and Hook’s boys desperate for more points.

I thought about the Warriors taking the ANZAC Day game over the Storm but not for long. Storm, by plenty enough. Why isn’t this game being played in New Zealand?

Paul Suttor

Sharks, Broncos, Cowboys, Rabbitohs, Eels, Panthers, Roosters, Storm 

Cronulla will get the better of Manly in a tight one – good to see Cameron McInnes back at lock, Cameron Munster showed he doesn’t have the speed to defend on an edge

Brisbane should be too strong for Canterbury with the Dogs struggling to form a team due to the spicy cough

The Cowboys have shown more than the Titans over the first six rounds and will be better at home

Wests Tigers will probably give Souths a run for their money, but the Bunnies will win a tight one, probably not via a George Burgess try with a Luke Brooks 100m try being denied this time around

Parramatta were embarrassed on Monday while the Knights were embarrassing on Sunday so the Eels should win in Newcastle

Penrith could put a big score on Canberra – surely Xavier Savage will be fullback and Jordan Rapana will revert to the wing despite where they’ve been named

The Roosters are in a funk and the occasion of the Anzac Day game will get them back on track against the Dragons

Melbourne are Melbourne. The Warriors are the Warriors. The game is in Melbourne. Nuff said.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Mike Meehall Wood

Sharks, Broncos, Titans, Rabbitohs, Eels, Panthers, Roosters, Storm

The Sharks are impossible to ignore at home, so I’m going to go for them ahead of my Sea Eagles.

I don’t rate the Broncos but if there’s one team they can turn over, it’s the Dogs. Home win there.

Normally I’d be all over the Cowboys in Townsville, but something in me says that this is the week where the Titans put something together. I’m on the Gold Coast.

One swallow does not make a summer, so I’m on the Bunnies to bring the Tigers back to earth this Saturday night.

I can’t see Parra being that bad two weeks in a row, either so I’ll go for them over Newcastle.

Penrith are good and the Raiders aren’t, so an easy choice there.

The Dragons and Warriors have shown improvement of late, but you don’t tip against the Roosters and Storm on their own turf. Easy choices there.

(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Danielle Smith

Sharks, Broncos, Cowboys, Tigers, Knights, Panthers, Roosters, Storm

I think this game will be one of the closest results from the weekend. Tough one to pick, but I’m going the Sharks at home. 

The Dogs are obviously not playing well at the moment, and the Covid disruption to their preparation will only add more points on the scoreboard for the Broncos. 

I was the only one to tip the Cowboys last week and they didn’t let me down! I was also the only one to tip the Titans and we all know how well that went. Cowboys all the way. 

Call me crazy, but I’m tipping the Tigers. I know, I’m getting carried away, it was only one win have played some poor footy this year. But they just played soooo well on Monday. Hastings and Brooks gelled together so nicely, and everyone in that team did their part. 

Unless you are AJ, you can’t tip the against the Panthers. While may would love to see them finally get handed a loss, I can’t see it coming from the Green Machine. 

Roosters weren’t overly great against the Warriors last weekend, but I think they will play a lot better against a Dragons side that I can’t remember what happened to last weekend. Roosters but not by much. 

Storm will win this one comfortably, but the Warriors will put up a good fight. Shaun Johnson is doing some great things back at his old club, and they have been unlucky not to get the two points a few times this season. 

(Checks notes – sigh). You know the drill; we could only have one player take the field – many call us a one-man team anyway, thankfully he finally put pen to paper yesterday – but as always, I’m tipping my Knights. 

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