NRL Round 25 Preview and Prediction - Gold Coast Titans v Canterbury Bulldogs @ CBUS Super Stadium
Gold Coast Titans (14th) v Canterbury Bulldogs (12th) @ CBUS Super Stadium
Preview - Both the Titans and Bulldogs will be playing for pride when they clash at CBUS Super Stadium on the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon. With Coach Neil Henry having been sacked from his post this week, the Titans players will have nowhere to hide now for the final two rounds, after rumblings of discontent had sailed for weeks under Henry. The Titans tried hard against the Eels, but were never really in the contest, as they slumped to another large defeat going down 28-4 at ANZ Stadium. The Bulldogs finally gave their fans something to cheer about with their first win in 8 games, with a dominant 30-10 victory over the Sea Eagles at ANZ Stadium. It was the first time the Bulldogs had scored over 20 points in a game since their Round 7 win over the Rabbitohs.
History - The Bulldogs will be gunning for 3 three straight wins over the Titans. These 2 sides have not clashed since Round 8 last season when the Bulldogs pulled out a tense 21-20 victory. The Bulldogs record on the Gold Coast however is not so impressive having only won 1 from the past 5 matches at CBUS Super Stadium. Overall these is nothing between these 2 teams with be Bulldogs and Titans both sitting on 7 wins apiece in head to head matches.
Gold Coast Titans’ Scouting Report - Both Jarryd Hayne and Jarrod Wallace are fit to return and bolster a Titans’ line up which is staggering towards the end of the season. Phillip Sami retains his place in the team, with John Olive sidelined. It will be interesting to see how the Titans react, with Neil Henry sacked and Hayne returning to the side at fullback.
Canterbury Bulldogs’ Scouting Report - Josh Reynolds will be desperate for a farewell appearance or two for his beloved Bulldogs and he is named on an extended bench in his quest to come back from a calf injury. Sam Kasiano is also some chance to return, being named on an extended bench.
Verdict - Bulldogs by 1-8 in a high scoring game
Anything could really happen in this game, with the Bulldogs coming off a big win, and the Titans having sacked Neil Henry during the week. Sometimes, the week after a coach is sacked, you get some sort of action from a side. However the Titans look a bit of a mess right now. The Bulldogs suddenly found some life after 7 straight weeks of horrendous football, so its desperately hard to get a read on them heading into this round. That win would have given them a shot of confidence and energy just to finally score a host of tries and play some nice attacking football. It’s really hard to pick a winner in this game, however given the Titans are at home, I’m going to back them to rebound with a victory against a Bulldogs team that might be relieved they finally got their breakthrough victory.