Dragons vs Sharks NRL Round 1 betting tips – 14/3/2021

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks Betting Preview

A local derby in Sydney’s south is an absolutely sensational way to finish round one of the 2021 NRL Premiership, and this game feels closer to a coin toss than the Cronulla Sharks being favourites.

Without Shaun Johnson to start the season, the Sharkies will have to find a way to score points. While the St George Illawarra Dragons defence hasn’t been much chop in recent seasons, it is still a big question mark when we aren’t quite sure what we will get from Matt Moylan.

Cronulla have won three of the last four derby games, but the $1.70 head-to-head price quoted at most NRL bookmakers still feels a little short.

St George Illawarra Dragons betting info

Fans of the Red V won’t have much to get excited about in 2021, so they might as well get pumped up for round one. The Dragons should feel like this is a game they can genuinely win. Cody Ramsey is one youngster who is poised for a huge year, and the $12 on offer at Sportsbet.com.au for him to score first should be taken up. He is a whippet who doesn’t need much space to get the ball down.

St George Illawarra Dragons

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

Cronulla Sharks betting info

Shaun Johnson led the league in try assists before he tore his achilles and had the Sharks averaging 26 points per game in 2020. Until he is back, they may not have the same fluency in attack and could find themselves in some close games. They have gone over the total points line in 16 of their last 19 games, but at 43.5 it might be the week to look towards unders for a Sharks game. Braden Hamlin-Uele showed a knack of scoring the first try in 2020, doing it three times, which is an obscene strike rate for a prop. At $34 for the big fella to open the scoring, we might just end the weekend on a high.

Cronulla Sutherland Sharks

1. William Kennedy
2. Sione Katoa
3. Josh Dugan
4. Jesse Ramien
5. Ronaldo Mulitalo
6. Matt Moylan
7. Chad Townsend
8. Braden Hamlin-Uele
9. Blayke Brailey
10. Aaron Woods
11. Briton Nikora
12. Wade Graham
13. Toby Rudolf
14. Conor Tracey
15. Aiden Tolman
16. Jack Williams
17. Billy Magoulias

Dragons vs Sharks betting predictions

The Dragons have covered the line in seven of their last nine games against the Sharks. The +3.5 at $1.90 is very much in play, as a two-point loss to the home side feels like the way this one will turn out. The Dragons will be valiant, but the Sharks found ways to win close games against teams below them in 2020. Cronulla had to come home late to win games against the Bulldogs, Dragons, Broncos and Warriors, and they were all teams who finished 10th or worse.

Dragons vs Sharks same game multi

The Dragons +3.5 into Ronaldo Mulitalo to score the first try at $23.50 is sensational value. Mulitalo proved to be a great finisher in 2020, and the Sharks love going left.

1 Comment

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

michael freeman

3 years ago

Great review , game summary. Enjoyed reading it!

0