Eighth spot on the NRL table is up for grabs when Canberra travel to WIN Stadium for a clash against St George Illawarra.
The best bets for head to head, first goal scorer and total points scored are offloaded and ready to be nailed.
head to head
June 19th 5:30pm
St George host Canberra in what is a must win game for both teams if it considers itself a genuine finals chance this season.
The Dragons stumbled to their worst performance of the year after being smashed by Canterbury 28-6 in Round 14 to leave its spot inside the top eight in grave danger.
Canberra, however, relieved the pressure on coach Ricky Stuart with a big 38-16 win over Brisbane as it continues to chase down a spot in the finals.
Sam Williams did it all in the 16-point triumph converting five tries and scoring a try for himself to tally up 14 points for the game.
Not only will the form of Williams favour the Raiders, but recent history suggests ‘The Green Machine’ are the valid favourite given the last three fixtures against the Dragons have resulted in wins.
It would take a brave man to tip St George after it stunk it up against the Bulldogs last week.
Raiders look the way to go here.
Suggested Bet: Canberra Raiders head to head at $1.75
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Canberra head to head
Leg 2: Total points scored under 49.5
Leg 3: S. Valemei anytime tryscorer
Combined odds = $5.75
first try scorer
Matthew Dufty/Semi Valemei
St George Illwarra fullback Matthew Dufty is the lead try scorer for his team having crossed the line 10 times this season.
He will be the man looking to receive the early passes from halfback Ben Hunt.
Expect a response from Dufty after a quiet week on the try front in the Round 14 loss to Canterbury.
Semi Valemei looks the likely threat from a Canberra perspective.
He carried for 199 metres in the big win over Brisbane last week and hit the scoresheet with a try, albeit late after half time.
If there is a weakness in the Dragons side that was exploited by the Bulldogs last week it was the flanks out wide.
Valemei will occupy the wide areas of WIN Stadium and expect him to be up and about early.
Suggested Bets:
Matthew Dufty first tryscorer at $11
Semi Valemei first tryscorer at $10
total points scored
under 49.5
Only two games in the last nine meetings between St George and Canberra have gone into the 50-point or over range.
The most recent line we can draw upon is the Round 18 clash at this very venue last season where the score reached a combined 45 points.
St George will have a clearly focus on offence at training this week given its inability to break down Canterbury last week.
Canberra showed its point scoring ability last week by nailing seven tries but this game looks like a tight contest.
Suggested Bet: Total points scored under 49.5 at $1.90
