Saturday has three NRL matches with the first game for Round 13 is between Gold Coast Titans and Penrith Panthers with the opening kick to commence at 17:35 local time. The game is to be played at Cbus Super Stadium with the favourite for the match being Penrith Panthers. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Gold Coast Titans and Penrith Panthers.
Where and when : 17:35 | Saturday 07/06/2014 @ Cbus Super Stadium
Odds Comparison:
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| Gold Coast Titans | 2.12 | 2.20 | 2.25 | 2.20 | 2.12 | 2.15 |
| Penrith Panthers | 1.75 | 1.70 | 1.67 | 1.70 | 1.75 | 1.70 |
All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.
Preview :
TITANS
The Gold Coast Titans suffered their third loss in a row, and their fourth from the past five weeks, when defeated by the Warriors in round 11, 24 – 16.
It was another gutsy performance by the Titans who though who were hit hard with injuries and suspension in the past month, but still managed to hold a slender lead (16 – 14) at the half-time break.
Big Dave Taylor bagged three tries and produced one of his best performances of the year against the Warriors. Has he pushes for inclusion in the second State Of Origin for Queensland, expect him to have another big game here and be targeting the smaller Penrith halves on the edges.
The Titans, although not winning, have made both the Broncos and Warriors work for the wins in the past two rounds and the final score-line in each game, hasn’t been a true reflection of their performances.
This week, Greg Bird, Nate Myles, Kevin Gordon and Brad Takairangi all return to the starting line-up for this clash, giving the home-side a much more familiar look.
This is the second in a run of four straight home-games for the Titans and whilst their record at CBUS only reads 2 – 3 this year, they’ll be keen to the most of the home-ground advantage and consolidate their good start to the season.
PANTHERS
The Panthers shot to second on the ladder with an easy 38 – 12 win over Parramatta last week. It was the Panthers third win in a row and their fourth from the past five weeks.
The Panthers were professional in their disposal of Parramatta, utilising their possession and territory advantages to apply pressure on the Eels for extended periods of time before piling on the points.
Only two tries to the Eels inside of the last ten minutes, one an intercept, prevented a shut-out by the Panthers.
It is the sixth time in the past seven matches that the Panthers defence has held their opponents to 20 points or less. With the Titans only surpassing that mark once in their past six games, the Panthers looked well place.
HEAD TO HEAD
Penrith recorded a hard-earned 14 – 12 win when this two sides last met in round 7 of this year. It was the third win over the Titans for the Panthers from the past four matches and their first consecutive wins since 2008/2009.
Parramatta were poor last week and the Panthers took full advantage. They may not get the same opportunities here against the Titans who as mentioned above, have been gritty of late and points here, as they were earlier in the year, hard to come by for both sides.
GOLD COAST 1 – 12
Teams:
Titans: William Zillman, Kevin Gordon, Brad Tighe, Brad Takairangi, David Mead, Maurice Blair, Albert Kelly, Luke Douglas, Matt Srama, Nate Myles (c), Greg Bird (c), David Taylor, Ben Ridge. Interchange: Matthew White, Luke Bailey, Mark Minichiello, Paul Carter, James Roberts
Panthers: Matt Moylan, Josh Mansour, Dean Whare, Isaah Yeo, David Simmons, Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace, Sam McKendry, James Segeyaro, Brent Kite, Sika Manu, Tyrone Peachey, Elijah Taylor. Interchange: Lewis Brown, Jeremy Latimore, Nigel Plum, Bryce Cartwright
News :
Canberra won’t want to hear it just yet, but the James Tedesco backflip could serve as a NRL blessing in disguise according to his manager Sam Ayoub.
The Wests Tigers’ fullback reneged on an estimated $600,000-a-year deal with the Raiders on Wednesday just days before the round-13 deadline to remain with his mates.
“I was sick in the guts, I was churning, my head was spinning, because I’ve got a lot of time for (coach) Ricky Stuart,” Ayoub told AAP.
But when asked if it could serve as a blessing in disguise as the Raiders are freed up to target several promising younger players elsewhere, Ayoub replied “there’s a lot of merit in that”.
One of those players could be Roosters youngster Tautau Moga.
“Look at the Tigers. The last few years, they’d gone backwards and struggled to attract players,” Ayoub said.
“Last year, they bought some good second-tier players.
“A lot of clubs don’t go and look at those blokes because they want instant results and they think they’re a lottery.”
It’s no secret the Raiders have had enormous difficulty in signing NRL stars in recent weeks.
Melbourne’s Kevin Proctor decided to stay at the Storm, Canterbury skipper Michael Ennis is leaning towards Cronulla, Penrith winger Josh Mansour is staying put, while star fullback Anthony Milford is off to Brisbane next year.
Tedesco’s backflip has tongues wagging as to why NRL players are avoiding Canberra like the plague – be it the chilly weather, the dull location, the lack of Nine Network exposure, the team’s ladder position, the organisation or fiery Stuart himself.
The culture of the playing group also took a big hit last year after Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson were sacked following numerous off-field discretions.
However, Ayoub said none of his players had mentioned any of the above to him – it was just a run of bad luck.
Regardless, Canberra great Alan Tongue says the spate of turned down offers will hurt the club’s reputation in the short term.
But he said they’d bounce back as long as they kept the faith in their juniors and remained focused on their next recruitment drive.
Tongue added the round-13 contract deadline needed to be scrapped – even though it enabled the Raiders to keep Josh Papalii last year.
“It’s not a great look for the game. Football teams are built on guys who are honest and tough,” he said.
Fellow Canberra great Gary Belcher said it was the publicity surrounding the Mansour and Tedesco signings, triggered by an airport sighting, that most hurt the Raiders.
“There’s other clubs doing the same thing without the fanfare,” he said.
“By announcing (Tedesco’s) signing a week out, they were trying to help attract other players, but it hasn’t worked.
“That’s just the nature of the beast.”
Fullback Brett Mullins, who spent 11 years at Canberra, said having now lived on the coast, he understood why some Sydney players would be deterred from heading inland.
“It’s a big jump, but they’ve got to realise it’s only short term,” he said.
“They’ll be questioning it when they retire; they’ll be wishing they took those extra bucks.”