Titans v Broncos betting tips & best value bets – NRL Rd 18

The return leg of the South East Queensland derby will take place on Saturday evening when the Titans host the Broncos.

The Gold Coast couldn’t be going worse in 2022 and they are battling to avoid the wooden spoon, so will a home game against their biggest rival bring out any fight that remains in the squad?

Coach Justin Holbrook has made some changes in a bid to bring some spark to the squad, handing Sosefo Fifita a debut on the wing in place of Greg Marzhew.

Tanah Boyd will start at five-eighth and Aaron Booth will make just his seventh NRL appearance at hooker, demoting Erin Clark to the interchange bench.

Before they had their bye last weekend, the Titans had lost 11 of their previous 12 games and were belted by Newcastle in their last showing.

When South Sydney defeated the Knights handsomely last week, many fans were left to ponder, “how bad are the Titans?”

They’ve had another assistant coach bite the dust with Jim Dymock told to move on, which comes just a few weeks after their strength and conditioning coach was given the flick.

Considering their record and the persistent rumours around Justin Holbrook’s position, for them to be only $2.80 with NRL betting sites is almost unbelievable.

There isn’t much to get excited about for this team currently, so why not get on David Fifita at $3.25 to get a try at any stage of the contest. There’s no player with the physical gifts he has, so he might just pull something out special in what will no doubt be a loss for the Titans.

The Broncos were without a host of Origin stars last week and they ran away with a big win over the Dragons at home in their last start.

It keeps the possibility of sneaking into the top four a reality and they’ll need to rely on the ‘Baby Broncos’ to get the job done again. Patrick Carrigan and Corey Oates are named in the extended squad and could take their place in the team pending Origin injuries, while Selwyn Cobbo isn’t named and will be rested after he plays for Queensland. Payne Haas will be missing again as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury, but Brisbane got great performances from some emerging players in the forward pack, particularly Zac Hosking.

The Newcastle junior had a tremendous debut on the left-edge racking up 150 running metres, and he presents some sneaky good value at $4.50 with Australian bookmakers to score a maiden NRL try. A player who has toiled as hard as he has quite often has a knack of scoring a try early in the career at the top level.

Brisbane should win at the 13 plus margin, so take the $2.65 on offer and run. The Broncos have shown this year when they hold onto the football they score a lot of points, and the Titans have no desire to defend. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Key matchup: Tino Fa’asuamaleaui vs Kobe Hetherington

Tino Fa’asuamaleaui will need to recover well from State of Origin honours, but an exciting matchup with Kobe Hetherington awaits. Hetherington might not be the regular starting lock, but he plays with excellent physicality and would start in plenty of NRL packs. He will want to continue to build his reputation and against a one-man wrecking crew he can certainly do that.

Titans v Broncos betting predictions

Brisbane win by 14 points at least. The Titans are a wooden spoon team and they have given their fans nothing over the last three months to be happy about.

Titans v Broncos same-game multi tips

Brisbane 13+ with David Fifita and Kotoni Staggs to score a try pays $18.67 at Ladbrokes.

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