Sharks vs Bulldogs Prediction: KL to be Cronulla’s Iro at Magic Weekend
Two struggling giants get the NRL Premiership’s Magic Weekend underway on Friday when the Cronulla Sharks meet the Canterbury Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium (18:00 local, 09:00 BST, Sky Sports Action).
The Bulldogs have lost their last four, while the Sharks have collected only one win over the same span. Here are my Sharks vs Bulldogs predictions, with latest match odds from Betfred and team news.
Sharks vs Bulldogs Betting Tips
*odds correct at time of publishing
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Given the Dogs’ poor form, there’s little surprise in Cronulla being handed favourite status. The Sharks are 4/7 to win in 80 minutes at an implied probability of 63.6%.
Canterbury are 8/5, while the draw can be backed at 14/1. KL Iro and Ronaldo Mulitalo are both 8/1 to open the tryscoring.
Team News
There’s good news and bad for Sharks boss Craig Fitzgibbon, with Mulitalo and Jesse Ramien both returning from lengthy spells out with injury but Blayke Brailey and Cameron McInnes now missing.
Brailey’s concussion means he’s sidelined for the first time in six years, with Jayden Berrell coming in at hooker.
Jesse Colquhoun steps up to loose forward, while Mawene Hiroti and Siosifa Talakai drop to the extended bench for the returning Mulitalo and Ramien.
Dogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has some big names returning, with Matt Burton back at stand-off, Max King in after a jaw injury and Kurt Mann included among the subs following concussion.
Josh Curran and Sean O’Sullivan drop out in two of the changes, while Sam Hughes is relegated to the bench.
Handicap 3-way: Sharks -6 @ 11/10
On the back of six defeats in seven, there’s just no backing the Bulldogs in my mind right now.
The fact that their one win in that period came against the otherwise-perfect Panthers remains baffling, because they’ve just not been anywhere near a result in the other games.
Their last four games have resulted in losses to the Eels, Broncos, Cowboys and Dolphins, all by margins of 16-plus.
The Sharks might have been relatively poor in recent times too, but they showed in the 52-10 win against the Tigers a fortnight ago that they’re never too far away from the accelerator pedal.
I think they have at least two more scores in them than the Dogs do, so I take the 11/10 here to be overpriced.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
KL Iro Anytime Tryscorer @ 4/5
The short explanation behind this pick is that Iro has seven tries in three games.
The longer reasoning matches that stat with the Bulldogs’ defensive woes of late. The Belmore side have conceded 142 points in those four straight reverses, and they don’t look like a team with a battleplan for somebody of Iro’s quality and form just now.
With recent hat-tricks against the Cowboys and Tigers under his belt, he’ll come into this one with confidence sky high.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
You can read all our latest Rugby League Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights Rugby League content hub.
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