Cowboys vs Dragons NRL Round 2 betting tips – March 20, 2021

Cowboys vs Dragons betting preview

North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten didn’t mix his words when talking about his best player in Jason Taumalolo after a horror 24-0 loss against Penrith in round one. Payten’s tough love approach worked with the Warriors in 2020, and it’s easy to see he has a long-term outlook for the club, which is rare for a coach to have in the cut-throat NRL world. His media appearance on Tuesday had him speak confidently that his team would aim up for their first home game in 2021, and this feel like a great matchup for them to notch a win.

For a brief moment in the second half, the St George Illawarra Dragons actually made a game of it against Cronulla. In the end they were too sloppy on their own goal line, whereas the Cowboys actually defended their goal line reasonably well. That might seem strange given the 24 points that North Queensland gave up, but they made so many handling errors they ended up spending the whole game there, so context matters.

North Queensland Cowboys betting info

Both margin bets are paying $2.88 at Sportsbet, just to make life that little bit more difficult. The 1-12 does feel the safer way to go when you consider just how poorly the Cowboys handled the footy in round one. A team doesn’t become clinical overnight. As they scored zero against Penrith, we don’t even have any tryscoring form to review. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to cross first at $15 is a figure everyone can easily get around and Jason Taumalolo at $4 to score anytime is also worth a look after being publicly put on notice.

North Queensland Cowboys

1. Scott Drinkwater
2. Kyle Feldt
3. Esan Marsters
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
5. Valentine Holmes
6. Michael Morgan
7. Jake Clifford
8. Francis Molo
9. Reece Robson
10. Jordan McLean
11. Mitchell Dunn
12. Coen Hess
13. Jason Taumalolo
14. Jake Granville
15. Josh McGuire
16. Corey Jensen
17. Reuben Cotter

St George Illawarra Dragons betting info

Matt Dufty’s sensational second half try showed his 2020 form reversal wasn’t a flash in the pan. He looks primed for another big season and he is good value at $14 to score first and we also like Zac Lomax to score at anytime at $2.70. The pair struck up a nice combination in 2020 and will continue to use it in 2021. A roughie to cross at anytime is Paul Vaughan at $9. He was the Saints best in round one and hasn’t scored since 2019, but prior to that had a reputation as a dangerous big man close to the line. The 1-12 win at $4 is awesome value if you like this game to be the upset of the round and they appear the most likely underdog in round two.

St George Illawarra Dragons

1. Matthew Dufty
2. Cody Ramsay
3. Jack Bird
4. Zac Lomax
5. Mikaele Ravalawa
6. Corey Norman
7. Ben Hunt
8. Blake Lawrie
9. Andrew McCullough
10. Paul Vaughan
11. Josh Kerr
12. Tariq Sims
13. Tyrrell Fuimaono
14. Poasa Faamausili
15. Trent Merrin
16. Daniel Alvaro
17. Brayden Wiliame

Cowboys vs Dragons betting predictions

North Queensland have been disappointing for three years. After Todd Payten put his team and best player on notice following round one, they’ll produce a strong performance and back their coach. They’ll hold the Dragons off, and we will celebrate the $2.88 return on the small margin.

Cowboys vs Dragons same game multi

We like the Cowboys -6.5 with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Zac Lomax to both score at $15.25 to cap off Super Saturday.