Round 11 of the NRL kicks off tonight and we have a shortened version this week due to State of Origin on Wednesday night with 6 teams having the bye. We’ll preview Origin 1 in a couple of days so keep an eye out for that one. In the meantime check out our preview of round 11 of the NRL below and be sure to let us know your thoughts on this week in the comments.

Wests Tigers vs Warriors – 2012 NRL Round 11
Leichhardt Oval, Friday 18 May, 7.45pm (EST)

This round 11 clash has all the earmarks of a classic knowing the styles of both sides usually give us an entertaining brand of football. The Tigers on a Friday night usually throw up some interesting performances and the Warriors are a team that you don’t see much of on Friday night football these days.

The Tigers are coming off a bye last week while the Warriors are coming off a 30-26 win over the Roosters across the Tasman. Before the bye though, the Tigers escaped with a 15-14 win over the Titans in golden point thanks to a Robbie Farah field goal. They will be without their skipper for this one as he lines up for the Maroons on Wednesday night, for the first time since 2009. He is replaced, in a somewhat bold move by Tim Sheens, with Tom Humble.

The Warriors were fortunate to come away with a victory in that match against the Roosters with the lead changing several times before the Warriors looked to have put the game to bed. The Roosters didn’t give up though and scored with about 5 minutes remaining to set up an exciting finish. They held on for the win but that was soured by a season ending knee injury to Jerome Ropati. He was dropped in a shoulder charge by Boyd Cordner which was put on report, in the process Ropati did his ACL while falling to the ground. A massive blow to the Warriors and they’ll need someone to step up in his place for the rest of the season.

This should be a cracker if previous matchups are anything to go by, most notably last season’s semi final where the Warriors scored a last minute try through Krisnan Inu in controversial circumstances. The Tigers will be looking for revenge after that disappointment and will be looking to continue on their winning ways tonight. The home crowd at Leichardt should be enough to get the Tigers over the line.

Sports Banter Tip – Tigers

North Queensland Cowboys vs Penrith Panthers – 2012 NRL Round 11
Dairy Farmers Stadium, Saturday 19 May, 7.30pm (EST)

This match has been hit quite hard by Origin with Thurston, Tamou, Scott and Tate missing for the Cowboys, while the Panthers are without Luke Lewis and Michael Jennings (who probably would have been missing anyway). The Cowboys can count themselves lucky that they still have the services of Tariq Sims though as he was somehow left out of the Blues side for game 1.

The Cowboys are in the top 4 and are coming off the back of a solid 32-12 win over the Knights last weekend. That win was basically set up by some individual brilliance from captain Jonathan Thurston so they will be needing Ray Thompson and Matty Bowen to step up in the creative department this week. In a bit of a reshuffle, Neil Henry has promoted Michael Morgan from the bench to wear Thurston’s No.6 jersey, with Antonio Winterstein moving from wing to centre to cover for Tate. Faifai Loa takes Winterstein’s wing position.

The Panthers will miss the experience of Luke Lewis who was superb in their 13-12 golden point win over the Dragons on Monday night. They’ll need that same intensity if they are thinking of coming back from Townsville with the 2 points.On the plus side, the Panthers have won 9 from 14 matches played at Dairy Farmers Stadium, a good record and one they will rather focus on then the 30-18 in the corresponding fixture last season.

This should be an entertaining game and the Cowboys actually have a fair amount of depth now to cope with the loss of their superstars, something that could not be said of previous seasons. For this reason I think the Cowboys will have too much for the Panthers, I feel the loss of Lewis will outweigh the loss of Thurston here.

Sports Banter Tip – Cowboys

Manly Sea Eagles v Sydney Roosters

Brookvale Oval, Sunday 2.00pm

Sunday afternoon sees to classic all-Sydney clashes, the first of which is the Sea Eagles taking on the Sydney Roosters.

The Sea Eagles come into this clash with the team starting to click. Its been a slow start to the year for Manly, however recently they have fought hard to get some wins on the board. Their challenge here is how well they adapt to the origin period, with the Stewart brothers, Buhrer and Williams all called into the New South Wales side. Cherry-Evans is also in the extended Queensland squad, however he will play here.

The Roosters are only missing Mitchell Pearce, coming off fairly lightly as far as origin disruptions go. Their recruit of Daniel Mortimer will pay dividends here, slotting into the halfback role. However the issue I see it is not that Mortimer is a poor replacement, it is that Braith Anasta is likely to play an increased role for the Chooks. This can only be bad.

I see this game as a battle between the halves, and I think the combination of Cherry-Evans, Foran and Balling will be too strong. I expect Manly to come away with the points, and I’m very tempted to take them 13+.

Sports Banter Tip – Sea Eagles

St George-Illawarra Dragons v South Sydney Rabbitohs

WIN Jubilee Oval, Sunday 3.00pm

For an in-depth review of this game, check out the preview our friends at Reading The Play have done here.

Sports Banter Tip – Rabbitohs

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Cronulla Sharks

ANZ Stadium, Monday 7.00pm

Monday Night Football features the high flying Sharks taking on the Bulldogs, and with the Sharks proving the surprise packet of the year, this game should be a cracker.

The biggest issue here though will be how well Cronulla go without Gallen and Carney. Last week they showed they can win without their inspirational captain, over Melbourne no less, however the loss of both him and Carney could well be a different matter. Robson has re-invigorated his career, moving to the Sharks – this though is going be a test for him, leading the team around on his own. Graham will slot into 5/8, however he wont bring the same spark Carney has.

The Bulldogs last week suffered an embarrassing loss to the Titans, and will want to make amends here this week. No wonder Dessie needed a hair cut during the week, he probably pulled half of it out at Suncorp last Friday. With Morris called up to State of Origin, they lose a bit of strike power out wide.

However the strength of the Bulldogs is their forward pack, a group of hard workers that win the battle up the middle. This should be a great clash against the Sharkies pack, however I think in the end, the dogs will be able to capitalize on an understrength Sharks.

Sports Banter Tip – Bulldogs

Round 10 of the NRL kicks off this week, and with the last chance for players to impress State of Origin selectors, players will be keen for a big one. Here is Sports Banters 2012 NRL Preview for round 10, complete with tips!

Brisbane Broncos v Manly Sea Eagles
Suncorp Stadium, Friday 7.00pm

This round is always a cracker, with a double header featured at Suncorp Stadium. The first game on the menu sees the highflying Broncos taking on defending premiers the Sea Eagles.

The Broncos are sitting in second place on the ladder, and although they come into this game after a loss last round, they have generally impressed this year. Their young blokes have really fired this year, and although they come into this game missing Peter Wallace, and with Justin Hodges suffering a mild injury at training during the week, they will fancy their chances here at home.

The Sea Eagles last week narrowly got up over the Canberra Raiders. It was a solid performance, but not the awe-inspiring feats of seasons gone by. They will need to continue their recent improvement if they want to knock the Broncos off.  They will also miss the services of Foran once again, he failed a late fitness test on his dodgy hamstring. While his brother has proved an able replacement, particularly with his big hits in defence, he doesn’t have the same flair in attack. This may just tip the scales in favour of the Broncos.

All in all, this should be a cracking game, in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium. Both teams have big match experience, and I think this one will go down to the wire, with the Broncos getting up in a close one.

Sports Banter Tip – Broncos

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs v Gold Coast Titans
Suncorp Stadium, Friday 8.45pm

Round 2 in the Friday night double header at Suncorp sees the Bulldogs taking their home game north, up against the Gold Coast Titans.

Des Hasler’s Bulldogs have had a solid start to the season, sitting 5^th on the table with 5 wins and 4 losses. One of those wins came last week, when the Bulldogs trounced the Eels. The game started out looking as if the Eels had turned up to play, but in the 10 minutes either side of half time, the doggies put the Eels to the sword, and scored 42 unanswered points.

The Titans are having another year to forget, languishing towards the bottom of the table. In saying that though, they were very unlucky last week against the Tigers, with the Wests boys coming away with one of their trademarks wins against the grain.

Somehow, I don’t think the Titans have another game like that in them this week, and I think the Bulldogs will be way too strong. 13+ on the dogs will be where the smart money is.

Sports Banter Tip – Bulldogs

New Zealand Warriors v Sydney Roosters
Mt Smart Stadium, Saturday 5.30pm

With a few byes this weekend, there are only two games on Super Saturday, with the first kicking off in New Zealand, the Warriors taking on the Sydney Roosters.

The Warriors scored a good win last week over the Brisbane Broncos, who are sitting high on the NRL Ladder. They’ll be keen to build on that momentum this week against the chooks. I love watching the Warriors play, you never know what you are going to get. They have so many exciting players all over the park, including Maloney and Johnson in the halves.

Maloney will also be playing his new club, and I’m sure he’ll be keen to put on a good show to impress his future team mates and coach.

The Roosters last week scored a good win over the Knights. After a stack of possession early in the game without points, the flood gates opened in the second half. The chooks have been a bit of surprise packet this year, with such a young squad I thought this might be a consolidation year for them, before giving finals football a full crack next year. However they have got the points on the board, and are sitting in the 8. Consistancy though is still a problem, and Brian Smith has no tougher challenge here than a NZ trip to test that out.

Mitchell Pearce will be one player to keep an eye on – he has been hitting good form leading up to Origin, and will be keen to put the final stamp on his selection for this years series.

The Roosters don’t have a particularly good record travelling to NZ however, and with this in mind, I can’t go past the Warriors. It’ll definitely be a high scoring affair, so get on the overs if you can, otherwise the Kiwi’s are specials for a 13+ win.

Sports Banter Tip – Warriors

Newcastle Knights v North Queensland Cowboys
Hunter Stadium, Saturday 7.30pm

Game two on Saturday comes to us from Hunter Stadium, with the Newcastle Knights taking on the North Queensland Cowboys.

The 2012 season for the Knights has not gone to expectation, with the side struggling and failing to make an impact in the premiership. Coach Wayne Bennett does not yet have the squad he wants up there, and with a few injuries in crucial positions, this is a danger period in the season for them. They need some wins on the board, otherwise they may as well book the end of season trip.

The loss of Gidley and Buderus is a big blow, and with Darius Boyd crying his way through the season at fullback, the pressure falls on Mullen to take control of the team. Their forward pack has also struggled, and you need look no further than last week’s loss to the Roosters as proof of that. New signing Willie Mason was meant to add a bit of muscle, but after having his lights punched twice by Boyd Cordner, you can see there is still a bit of rust in the old boys legs.

The Cowboys have been in red hot form lately, with their attack clicking into gear, and their big men hitting hard. Matt Bowen looks to be playing as well as he ever has, and Thurston is his usual self, although his goal kicking boots must have some lead weights in them. Thurston is under a bit of an injury cloud however, and that could skew this game if he is out.

An area of strength for the Cows this year has been their roll forward – their forwards are making good metres and are getting fast play-the-balls. This allows Thurston and the like time and space to run amok.

The Cowboys will be too strong in this one I think, although I think the Knights will come out firing early. Get on the Knights/Cowboys half-time/full-time double for some value.

Sports Banter Tip – Cowboys

Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels
Canberra Stadium, Sunday 2.00pm

This match-up looms as do-or-die for both clubs if finals football is on the agenda. The Eels sit in last place after 9 rounds, and although the Raiders have flirted with the Top 8 at various stages, three losses in a row means that a win is now essential to stay in touch with the pack.

Although they suffered an unlucky loss against the Sea Eagles last week, the Green Machine looked good for the majority of the match. The Eels are in crisis, but have played better recently, a win here is a must for the club as they look to rebuild from a horror start to 2012.

The Raiders are about as close to full strength as they can get with the return of Bronson Harrison from injury. The promising comebacks of Josh Dugan and Shaun Fensom have added plenty of spark in attack and defence, as the Canberra men look to bounce back in front of their home fans.

The Eels welcome Chris Sandow back into the starting side as they look for some more punch in their attacking raids. If the unpredictable halfback can combine well with Jarryd Hayne, it could spell trouble for the Raiders who have struggled against teams going wide.

How Hayne performs in this clash will go a long way in determining the Eels chances. There’s no doubt the fullback can win games on his own, and with many experts leaving him out of their possible Origin squads, he’s going to have a lot to prove on Sunday.

In other Eels news, live-wire Ben Roberts has been dropped with Casey McGuire moving to five-eighth. Cheyse Blair will also shift to the centres from the wing to cover for the injured Willie Tonga.

This match is the Raiders to lose, they should be too strong going off their performance last week, but never discount the Eels, they’ve got plenty of upset victories in them this year.

Sports Banter Tip – Raiders

Cronulla Sharks v Melbourne Storm
Toyota Stadium, Sunday 3.00pm

This is the clash that all NRL fans have been looking forward to. Both sides have been excellent this year, and many feel that the Cronulla men are the only team that can bother the undefeated Storm.

It has been a terrific start thus far for the Sharkies, but after a surprise 34-28 loss to the Rabbitohs last week, they will be out for redemption against a Storm side that has destroyed everything in its path.

In fantastic news for Cronulla and NSW, captain Paul Gallen has been cleared of a dangerous contact charge and a serious knee injury. Gallen picked up the injury against Souths last weekend, and whist he’s not a certain starter against the Storm, it will take a lot to keep the superstar from playing this key game in some way, shape or form.

The Storm have named the same side that pummelled the Panthers last week, and with the likes of Cronk, Slater and and Smith all at the top of their game, the Sharks will need to be at their best to come close to the competition heavyweights.

The Storm have shown a tendency to throw the ball wide early in recent weeks, scoring plenty of tries from within their own half. With speed to burn out wide, any defensive lapse will cost the Sharks dearly.

This is certainly the match to watch in Round 10. Both sides will come out firing, and with the Sharks determined to be the first to knock the Storm over this season – expect an early taste of the Origin vibe on Sunday afternoon.

Sports Banter Tip – Storm

More to come…