NRL Round 17 Preview and Prediction - Sydney Roosters v Cronulla Sharks @ Central Coast Stadium

Sydney Roosters v Cronulla Sharks @ Central Coast Stadium
 
Preview - Two sides with Premiership credentials collide here as the 2nd placed Roosters take a home game to the Central Coast to take on the 5th placed Sharks. The Roosters moved to within a game of the competition-leading Storm last week as they knocked them over 25-24 in a Golden Point thriller in Adelaide. Rooster’s Coach, Trent Robinson, was critical of his side’s performance as they stuttered and bumbled their way through large parts of the game against a Storm side missing their four best Origin players. The Sharks finally got their tails whipped for a sub-standard display as Manly belted them 25-18 at Shark Park on Sunday. The Sharks have made a habit of winning ugly this season, however their high error rate was eventually going to see them come undone and the Sea Eagles’ attack exposed them in a ruthless and clinical attacking display. 
 
History - The Roosters used to be a bogey team for the Sharks, however that is not the case anymore with the Sharks having won the past 5 encounters. Last season, the Sharks were dominant winning 32-20 at Allianz Stadium, before belting the Roosters 39-12 at Shark Park later in the season. The Roosters have a horrible record on the Central Coast having, remarkably, lost all of their last 8 games there. Overall,  the Roosters hold a significant record, with 56 victories to just 33 defeats and 2 draws against the Sharks. 
 
Sydney Roosters’ Scouting Report - The Roosters are unchanged from the side that was below their best but got the victory in Adelaide against the Storm. Latrell Mitchell has retuned to form since being dropped a month ago, whilst Michael Gordon is proving as reliable as ever as a goal kicking forward. Despite James Tedesco signing for next season, the Roosters have seen value in Gordon and decided to re-sign the veteran for another season. Co-Captain, Boyd Cordner, is out once again with a calf injury as he looks to get fit for Origin Three. 
 
Cronulla Sharks’ Scouting Report - The Sharks have all sorts of problems at hooker this week with Jayden Brailey out with a broken jaw, and Daniel Mortimer having left the Club to go to the English Super League. With James Segeyaro not yet fit to return Fa’amanu Brown is thrown into the starting Number 9 role for this crunch clash, with Joseph Paulo expected to play some time at dummy half off the bench. Matt Prior is back in the starting front row, with Jason Bukuya dropping back to the interchange bench. 
 
Verdict - Roosters by 6-14 in a high scoring game

I like the Roosters here as I think the Sharks have hit a bit of a wall and are not playing great football at the moment. The Sharks have mastered winning ugly a lot of late, however their form was exposed last week by a rampant Sea Eagles’ side and the Roosters have a similar amount of firepower and will expose a similar mistake rate from the Sharks. While you would expect the Sharks to come breathing fire after their below par performance last week, I think Trent Robinson would have been equally disappointed in his men despite winning against a Storm side missing its four best players, so I expect a reaction from the Roosters in terms of the quality of their play and defence for 80 minutes. I think afternoon football means this will be a very entertaining game and potentially high scoring, with both sides having plenty of potential match winners. I just think the Roosters are going better right now and I think they can win this game by more than 4 points.