The Sharks and Cowboys kick off the NRL semi finals on Friday night at Allianz Stadium. At the same venue on Saturday night, the Roosters will take on the Sea Eagles. Let’s get into a preview for each game.<\/p>\n
The Sharks got hammered by the minor premiers Melbourne and need to bounce back fast if they want to avoid an eighth straight finals loss since 2018. Centre Jesse Ramien is rushing to get fit after missing the game at AAMI Park due to an ankle injury. They\u2019ve got to get back to their tough tackling game that made them the second-best defense in the regular season, right behind Penrith. On the bright side, they\u2019ve won 11 of their last 13 games against the Cowboys, and Ronaldo Mulitalo has bagged 10 tries in 11 games against them. But, they\u2019re coming off seven straight finals losses, so it\u2019s crunch time.<\/p>\n
The Townsville boys left it till the last minute to take down a tough Knights team, but they’re on a roll with four straight wins. They\u2019re heading into their first final at Allianz Stadium since 2017, when they knocked out the Roosters 29-16 to reach the big game. With Tom Dearden, Scott Drinkwater, and Val Holmes all in great form, the Cowboys are looking pretty dangerous. They\u2019ve also had the upper hand in recent finals against the Sharks, winning three of the last four. Oh, and Kyle Feldt has been on fire, scoring 12 tries in his last seven games.<\/p>\n
The Sharks have now gone Over in their last 4 games and the Cowboys don’t have the best record defensively either. So I like the chances of a high scoring clash.<\/p>\n
Stadium Record<\/strong><\/p>\n Cronulla are 0-1 at this venue since 2018. North Queensland are 1-0 at this venue since 2018.<\/p>\n