Newcastle Knights vs Cronulla Sharks
5th September 0900hrs
Rugby League – Australia – NRL
Pick Sharks To Win
Bookmaker Bet365
Odds: 21/10 odds taken 02:37 GMT, Thursday 3rd September
Even though the Newcastle Knights slipped up against the New Zealand Warriors last weekend they have been carrying decent form recently.
They need to get a bounce-back performance under their belt on Friday when they host the Cronulla Sharks.
There has been patchy form by the Sharks recently, so it will be interesting to how they handle this trip to Newcastle.
Table of Contents
Newcastle Knights Preview – Can the Knights respond to surprise defeat?
The Newcastle Knights went down heavily in a 6-36 loss against the New Zealand Warriors last weekend.
That was an upset as Newcastle had been on a three-match winnings streak before that.
But there were signs that they were just starting to struggle a little, as their last two wins in the league have been by a margin of no more than 12 points.
The Knights have scored fewer points than Friday’s opponents the Cronulla Sharks have done this season.
It has been an average of 21 points scored by Newcastle per game this season in the NRL, which is three-per-match-fewer than the average of the Sharks.
But when it comes to defence, then Newcastle come up trumps as they have been very good in that area.
They have conceded an average of 16 points per game this season and in contrast, the Sharks have shipped an average of 22 per game.
The last time that the Knights and Sharks met was in March last year when the Knights collected a 14-8 win.
Interestingly that snapped a poor run of form that the Knights were on against the Sharks.
That win in March snapped a huge eight-match losing streak that they had been on against Cronulla.
Despite their loss last week, Newcastle are the 8/11 odds-on favourites to win this match on Friday* (odds taken 02:37 GMT, Thursday 3rd September).
Cronulla Sharks Preview – Sharks can compete at Newcastle
The Sharks are going to bring an interesting challenge to the table in this one.
Last weekend Cronulla picked up a 28-12 win over the Cowboys which leaves them with a W3 L2 record in their last five games.
The knights and Sharks are 7th and 8th in the ladder respectively, so this is a big game in the context of securing a finishing place in that top-eight.
The Sharks are W9 L7 for the season.
An interesting thing about their recent form is that they have won five of their last six away fixtures.
The only loss in that away sequence happened at the current league leaders Penrith Panthers.
Given the fact that they have such a strong recent head to head form against the Knights, there is appeal on the Cronulla Sharks at 21/20* (odds taken 02:37 GMT, Thursday 3rd September).
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Cronulla Sharks have taken an average of 27 points per game over the last seven rounds of action, which is an excellent return.
It is certainly enough there to throw down a serious challenge to Newcastle on the weekend.
Only one team this season in the NRL has produced more tries than the Sharks have done, and that is the Roosters.
If you are looking for a try-scorer option, Sione Katoa has touched down 14 times in his last 16 matches for the Sharks.
Newcastle Knights vs Cronulla Sharks Betting Advice
We see a really tight contest in this one and it looks a toss up at this point.
You have the very powerful attacking side of Cronulla taking on the more defensively sound Knights.
So which is going to swing the balance to our NRL betting favour?
Key Facts – Newcastle Knights vs Cronulla Sharks Betting Tip
- Newcastle Knights have won three of their last four games
- Newcastle Knights have won 1 of their last 9 against Cronulla
- Cronulla Sharks are the second-highest try scorers in the NRL
The Sharks bounced back to a bit of form last weekend and we are just going to go with their extra scoring power to take this.
There is value in them in the match outright and it is just worth taking that as a +2 handicap on them is at 10/11 so that’s too thin of a line to consider in terms of value against the match outright* (odds taken 02:37 GMT, Thursday 3rd September).
So it may just be worth looking at an option of a Cronulla Sharks 1-10 winning margin at 11/5* (odds taken 02:37 GMT, Thursday 3rd September).
The best betting odds for Newcastle Knights vs Cronulla Sharks
Newcastle Knights to win: 4/5 at Bet365
Draw: 16/1 at Bet365
Cronulla Sharks to win: 6/5 at Bet365