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globalrugbyleague - Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:00:00 GMT
The NRL is back on Friday night with an explosive double-header in Sydney to begin a round in which teams will either consolidate or commiserate. Adam Flier previews round 2.

SYDNEY Sydney Roosters">Sydney Roosters v BRISBANE Brisbane Broncos">Brisbane Broncos
Sydney Football Stadium, 7.30pm
Referee: Jared Maxwell
Head To Head: Played 29, Brisbane Broncos">Brisbane Broncos 18, Sydney Roosters">Sydney Roosters 11
Last Clash: Brisbane Broncos">Brisbane Broncos 32 d Sydney Roosters">Sydney Roosters 10 at SFS.

This could very well end up winning the ‘Game of the Week’ award particularly in the battle of the forwards. Freddie’s boys are wanting to get on with the season after a “prowling” week (who comes up with these names?) following their win over South Sydney last week. The Brisbane Broncos">Brisbane Broncos with Lockyer back are a team to be taken seriously. They are on top of the competition ladder and want to stay there. Their backs and forwards are very mobile and in this new interchange rule of 10 only the fit will survive. A down to the wire game this one with a field goal possibly coming into play to decide the outcome.
SOUTH SYDNEY South Sydney Rabbitohs">South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs">Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Telstra Stadium, 7.30pm
Referee: Sean Hampstead
Head To Head: Played 29, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs">Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 69, South Sydney Rabbitohs">South Sydney Rabbitohs 61, Drawn 4
Last Clash: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs">Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 34 d South Sydney Rabbitohs">South Sydney Rabbitohs 10

This will be a tough game for fans of both clubs. The Bunnies will be at a loss without Craig wing against the fast thinking dogs BUT in saying that if the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs">Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs play like they did last week for the second half against the Parramatta Eels">Parramatta Eels they will lose against most of the clubs in the competition. Canterbury are not letting the cat out of the bag on Sonny “I want to play State of Origin” Bill Williams yet but most reports are telling us he should be out for at least three weeks. The number 7 and 9 for the South Sydney Rabbitohs">South Sydney Rabbitohs offer some dangerous creativity in attack.
PENRITH Penrith Panthers">Penrith Panthers v CANBERRA Canberra Raiders">Canberra Raiders
CUA Stadium, 5.30pm
Referee: Jason Robinson
Head To Head: Played 51, Penrith Panthers">Penrith Panthers 25, Canberra Raiders">Canberra Raiders 25, drawn 1.
Last Clash: Canberra Raiders">Canberra Raiders 34 d Penrith 30 at Penrith Football Stadium.

This is a must watch game. Penrith have a new half back this week in Jarrod Sammut and are hoping he can pull off more then just intercept tries this week. The Canberra Raiders">Canberra Raiders have a pretty poor away record but did win 2 away games last season – one of which was against Penrith. Canberra will dig deep for a win on the road and have the ability to grind games out to the end.

NEWCASTLE Newcastle Knights">Newcastle Knights v Manly Warringah Sea Eagles">Manly Warringah Sea Eagles">Manly Warringah Manly Warringah Sea Eagles">Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
EnergyAustralia Stadium, 7.30pm
Referee: Ben Cummins
Head To Head: Played 32, Manly 19, Newcastle Knights">Newcastle Knights 13
Last Clash: Manly 50 d Newcastle Knights">Newcastle Knights 16 at BlueTongue Stadium
The Newcastle Knights">Newcastle Knights played really well last week even with the loss of Steve Simpson whereas the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles">Manly Warringah Sea Eagles struggled without Monaghan around the play the ball area. In a close contest, the Newcastle Knights">Newcastle Knights are good odds of getting up. There is pressure on the Manly halves to create a lot more chances this week. It will be Interesting to see if Josh Perry can have same impact on his former teammates as he did on against Cronulla last week.
NORTH QUEENSLAND North Queensland Cowboys">North Queensland Cowboys v Wests Tigers
DairyFarmers Stadium, 9.30pm
Referee: Tony De Las Heras
Head To Head: Played 17, North Queensland Cowboys">North Queensland Cowboys 10, Tigers 7
Last Clash: Tigers 54 d North Queensland Cowboys">North Queensland Cowboys 10
This should be a great game around the ruck area with Tigers hooker Robbie Farah up against North Queensland Cowboys">North Queensland Cowboys halfback Jonathan “speed hump” Thurston. Thurston will be out to disprove Matt Rogers comment this week that he (Thurston) came back from two should reconstructions too soon and was now a defensive liability. Farah will try to repeat last weeks performance particularly out on the fringes.
NEW ZEALAND New Zealand Warriors">New Zealand Warriors v PARRAMATTA Parramatta Eels">Parramatta Eels
Mt Smart Stadium, 2pm
Referee: Shayne Hayne
Head To Head: Played 22, Parramatta Eels">Parramatta Eels 15, New Zealand Warriors">New Zealand Warriors 7
Last Clash: Parramatta Eels">Parramatta Eels 12 d New Zealand Warriors">New Zealand Warriors 10
The New Zealand Warriors">New Zealand Warriors without Steve Price who will be hoping Rubin Wiki can step up and guide the club to it’s first home win for the year. The high flying Parramatta Eels">Parramatta Eels on the other hand will welcome back Jarryd Hayne with Krisnan Inu out with an ankle injury for up to 5-6 weeks. Hagan’s boys cant afford to play like they did in the first half of last week other wise the New Zealand Warriors">New Zealand Warriors will run away with it and will not be caught napping like the Dogs. This will be a tougher war of physical attrition for the Parramatta Eels">Parramatta Eels and the new interchange rule forcing players to stay out on the field longer will really put the visitors to the test.
MELBOURNE Melbourne Storm">Melbourne Storm v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks" title="Cronulla-Sutherland Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Olympic Park, 3pm
Referee: Tony Archer
Head To Head: Played 17, Melbourne Storm">Melbourne Storm 10, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 7
Last Clash: Melbourne Storm">Melbourne Storm 17 d Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16 at Toyota Park.
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks will be asked more questions in attack this week when they play the reigning premiers for the first time in 2008. They beat the Grand Final runners-up last week, now they want to finish the other half of the job. The Melbourne Storm">Melbourne Storm towards the back of their game on Monday let the New Zealand Warriors">New Zealand Warriors get within four-points of them before the half-time break and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks">Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks showed they are particularly good at snatching half-time leads and then building on them. Cronulla have won three of their last five games in Melbourne and should not be underestimated.
MONDAY

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA St. George Illawarra Dragons">St. George Illawarra Dragons v GOLD COAST Gold Coast Titans">Gold Coast Titans
WIN Stadium, 7pm
Referee: Gavin Badger
Head To Head: Played 2, St. George Illawarra Dragons">St. George Illawarra Dragons 2, Gold Coast Titans">Gold Coast Titans 0
Last Clash: St. George Illawarra Dragons">St. George Illawarra Dragons 28 d Gold Coast Titans">Gold Coast Titans 10 at WIN Stadium.
If the Dragon players want to alleviate some of the pressure on coach Brown, they need to turn their form around in this game. They are playing to keep themselves in first grade and that should see them come out and produce some of their best football. The Gold Coast Titans">Gold Coast Titans won’t need to make too many adjustments for this game but they need to improve their record away from home. How much ball Mark Gasnier gets will determine the outcome of this game to an extent. - Read More, Here