Match Preview

If coach Kevin Walters' post-match comments are anything to go by, some hard truths will have been shared at Broncos HQ following the club's 18-12 loss to a Titans side who were missing their captain and had only days earlier fired their coach. 

The Dolphins have plenty of their own problems to work through this week after being hammered 48-20 by the Eels on the Sunshine Coast in Round 17, which leaves them without a win in the past month. 

Even without skipper Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, who was rested after Origin II, the Titans forwards took the game up to the highly touted Broncos pack, laying the foundation for their classy backline to lay on some scintillating tries.

At the end of a tumultuous week in which the club parted ways with coach Justin Holbrook, the players dug deep to register their best win of the season, holding the Broncos to half their season average of 23 points per game.

The Dragons find themselves in danger of collecting the first wooden spoon in the history of the joint venture and need a huge lift in defensive intensity if they hope to contain a potent Sharks unit that averages 26.3 points per game.

After showing signs of improvement in wins over the Roosters and Rabbitohs and a close loss to Penrith, the Red V gave up their biggest score of the season on Friday night and will be doing plenty of soul-searching ahead of a clash against a side that put 40 points on them in Round 4.

Both sides will be sweating on the availability of their Origin stars, who will have three days to rest and recover from Game Two in Brisbane on Wednesday night.

Melbourne's depth was on show at Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday night with Jonah Pezet doing a fine job alongside Jahrome Hughes in the halves and winger George Jennings running for 198 metres in his first game of the season.

Despite coming off a recent loss to premiership leaders Souths Logan last weekend, the Hunters will bring plenty of confidence into this weekend’s fixture following a promising block of games over the last month.  
 
A stretch of four straight home games at the Santos National Football Stadium gave the Hunters a great opportunity to build into the season. Two big wins over the Tweed Seagulls and Western Clydesdales backed up a narrow loss to finals bound club the Northern Pride and followed by a tough blow against the Magpies.  
 

After playing out a golden point thriller two months ago, the Panthers and Knights meet again after both suffering narrow losses in Round 16. 

The Panthers on the other hand were the competition's hottest team prior to suffering defeat at the hands of the Cowboys in golden point last Friday, in what was their first loss since the end of April. 

Penrith have had it all over the Knights in recent times and haven't lost to them in their past seven meetings, while stretching back to 2014 Newcastle have tasted victory over this week's opponent just twice in 16 meetings. 

Wayne Bennett's men have found themselves languishing outside the eight after being blown off 4 Pines Park by Manly in Round 15 but will be desperate to turn the screws and finish the season the way it started as they hope to welcome back several troops this week. 

Putting his side's disappointing performance in Manly simply down to a "bad day", Bennett will be hoping last week's bye is enough for his Dolphins to regroup and get back to their winning ways at Sunshine Coast Stadium. 

Both sides are coming off big wins in Round 15 before recharging their batteries with a bye last week and while the Warriors go in as clear favourites, the Dragons should have every confidence they can produce an upset after overcoming both the Roosters and Rabbitohs in recent weeks.

With Shaun Johnson back to career-best form and leading the Warriors' charge up the NRL ladder, Andrew Webster's side has been a revelation this season, with fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak capitalising on the form of their veteran halfback.

Moses was superb in Monday's win over the Bulldogs, nailing his audition for an Origin recall, and he will watch on from Blues camp as his Parra teammates chase a fourth straight victory.

The Sea Eagles are riding high after putting a half-century on the Dolphins but they head into Round 16 without their dynamic duo of Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic, who go head-to-head at Suncorp Stadium next Wednesday in Origin II.

When the sides met at 4 Pines Park in Round 3 it was Manly prevailing 34-30 to consign the Eels to a 0-3 start.

Wests Tigers have shown significant improvement during the past six weeks but still find themselves equal last on the ladder with the Dragons and staring at a 12th consecutive season out of the finals.

The Storm are coming off a huge win over the Sharks but find themselves in the middle of the testing Origin period when their dynamic duo Cameron Munster and Harry Grant are in camp with Queensland, leaving Kiwi halfback Jahrome Hughes to call the shots and rally the troops.