NRL Round 17 ‘Pick of the Week’

The Bet King’s NRL betting ‘Pick of the Week’ for Round 17 is St George Illawarra Dragons head-to-head against the North Queensland Cowboys.

From 25 starts the North Queensland Cowboys have won 13 games. This week we’re looking to see the Dragons even it up. Statistically the Cowboys score on average four more points per game, but they also concede six points more than the Dragons.

Last week the Cowboys suffered a tragic loss to the Cronulla sharks. Their entire game plan is built on Johnathon Thurston, and it works for them.

This week JT is out with Origin duties. They will once again struggle without his leadership and competitiveness on the field. Origin regulars Matt Scott and James Tamou are also unavailable.

The Cowboys have named Rob Lui, Ben Hannant and Sam Hoare as replacements.

As mentioned, last week’s loss was truly tragic. They had an 18-0 lead at halftime and from there the Cowboys failed to both cross and defend their line conceding 24-0 in the first 25 minutes of the second half.

The Dragons also lost, Parramatta was unstoppable on their left side.

Defence hasn’t been an issue for the Dragons this season, and the offence has been crushing due to the fantastic form of Benji Marshall. Origin has taken its toll with the Dragons as well both Josh Dugan and Trent Merrin. Josh Dugan’s kicking game will be missed at full back. Peter Mata’utia looks like the choice for replacement fullback. Jason Nightingale returns to the right wing this week, Jack DeBelin replaces suspended Will Matthews on the bench.

This one’s all over the place. We feel Johnathan Thurston missing impact will affect the Cowboys scoring ability. Though the Dragons don’t fare much better with Josh Dugan out.

Benji Marshall is still a shining light for the Dragons and with his ball movement they will hit the scoreboard. This one will be close, we’re predicting the Dragons to win by under 6 points.

Taking all this into account and we are happy to get the extra value on the Dragons using the Ladbrokes special, but we do think the game will be closer than some punters think.

Bet – Dragons Head-to-Head – Ladbrokes $2
+ the Dragons by 1-12 points – $2.80