RUGBY LEAGUE BETTING PREVIEW - ST GEORGE DRAGONS VS GOLD COAST TITANS

Rugby League

2024-08-18 - St George Dragons vs Gold Coast Titans

A Sports Betting Preview by Stu

St George Dragons v Gold Coast Titans
Rugby League : Australia : NRL
Sunday 18th August 2024 - KO 1600 AEST

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St George Dragons

St George were brought back to earth quickly after a heavy loss to the Bulldogs last round which not only put a dent in their finals hopes it also dropped the Dragons outside the top 8 after they fought very hard to get back in over recent weeks. This places St George in 9th with a record of 10-10 as we start round 24, meaning 4 more matches to decide the teams in the finals series for this season.

Playing at hoe the Dragons were hopeful of a victory to solidify the position in the top 8, however a lacklustre performance where the Bulldogs dominated from the outset, put a big question mark over the Dragons playing in the finals series.

At HT it was clear the Bulldogs were a superior team, leading 10-20, 2 tries to 3 the Dragons needed a big second half to keep the post season alive. The second half was far more subdued by both teams, Canterbury the only team to score in the second half, final score 10-28.

St George Dragons Team News - Jack Bird, Mat Feagai, Francis Molo and Toby Couchman return to the starting side.

Gold Coast Titans

Gold Coast are in 13th place and went into last weekends match off the back of 2 huge local victories over their Queensland rivals, Redcliffe by 7 points and a massive record performance over big brother, the Brisbane Broncos 46-18, thus keeping their finals hopes alive.

Those 2 victories made their season record 8-11 but sadly the hype of the 2 local derby’s came to a crashing halt, the Titans putting in probably the worst showing all season, losing 0-44 to the Sharks.

Cronulla visited Gold Coast fresh of the 2 excellent victories against their fellow Queensland clubs. Gold Coast looked like they had put everything into the previous weeks matches and appeared way out of sorts, with errors galore and by HT 5 tries had been scored by Cronulla, all converted to trail by a massive margin, 0-30.

Three further tries to Cronulla worsened the scoreline to 44 points and in the end, Gold Coast did not score a single point at home. That loss to the Sharks now means the Titans will again miss the finals series, once again looking towards ”next year”

Gold Coast Titans Team News - Brian Kelly to the starting side meaning AJ Brimson reverts to the bench, Erin Clark is the only other change.

Odds

St George are the favoured team to start this one, $1.56 to $2.45, the line 4.5 points and total points is 51.5

The Betting Verdict

These clubs have met a total of 30 matches prior to this meeting, Dragons lead the H2H 19-11 and the Dragons have won three of their past four games against the Titans. At the ground St George are at 61% win rate while the Titans have lost five from five at WIN Stadium making for poor reading for the Titans fans in this fixture.

Gold Coast are now only playing for pride after another season with mixed results. There are some good signs going forward for the Queensland team but making the finals appears to be just out of reach again in 2024. Winning at WIN stadium has eluded the club and it will take a special performance to topple a slightly more consistent team like the Dragons on their home soil who are 5-4 this season.

St George managed a solid over the Titans with victory in round one by 24 points. The match was played on the gold Coast and after a tight where both teams scored just the one try each and score 4-6 at the break. The second half opened up after fatigue appeared to settle in with the Titans, allowing the Dragons to run in 4 tries to none and easily win, 4-28.

St George have shown they are capable of taking down top teams when they managed a huge upset against the Storm just 2 weeks ago, so playing at home against a side that don’t have the same skills or as much to play for, the Dragons should come out on top in this fixture.

Although I see this match with a number of tries, I doubt we will see a blow out in this one and if it is a tighter/close fixture as predicted, good options here are for the Dragons to win 1-12 and combined points under the 51.5 set.

St George to win by 8

The Pick :

St George Dragons 26-18 Gold Coast Titans

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take St George to win by 1-12 points returning $3.60 Bet365