NRL 2020: Sydney Roosters v Melbourne Storm Preview

The NRL season is just a week away from reaching the midway point of the round-robin and this week there’s an absolute blockbuster in store with the fourth-placed Sydney Roosters taking on the second-placed Melbourne Storm. 

The last game between these two sides produced absolute fireworks with extra time needed in order to separate them. Could we be in for another blockbuster this Thursday?

Sydney Roosters v Melbourne Storm 
Thursday 13 August

Sydney Cricket Ground


To Win Match (80 Mins)

Roosters 9/20

Draw 18/1
Storm 18/10

Roosters

The Roosters have been in decent if not spectacular form since losing to the Canberra Raiders in Round 10. Since that defeat, they have gone onto the New Zealand Warriors (10-18), the Gold Coast Titans (18-12) and most recently, the St George Illawarra Dragons (16-24).

The Storm will pose a much bigger threat than the aforementioned sides as while the Warriors, Dragons and Titans all reside below 10th-place, the Melbourne Storm are flying high in second position.

As touched upon earlier, these two sides saw their last encounter end in a 25-25 regular time draw, with the Roosters going down 27-25 as the Storm were the first side to score in extra time. This was actually the second draw in the past five meetings between the sides with the previous draw coming during the 2019 season. 

Storm
The Storm have enjoyed a fantastic season to date winning 11 of their 13 matches. This terrific record has left them just a point off the first-placed Penrith Panthers, who should retain top spot this week as they have a rather easy encounter against the Warriors.

In terms of recent results, the Storm have won three of their last five fixtures by more than 30 points and head into this one having hammered the Canterbury Bulldogs 41-10.

While two of the last five head-to-head encounters between the sides have seen two draws, the Storm have only won one of the other three fixtures in regular time, with the victory coming at the SCG in 2019. 

Verdict: Storm 18/10
I rather fancy the away side here. While the Roosters are a force to be reckoned with at home, they have not impressed me in recent weeks. 

Round 14 Tips
Panthers 1/11
Parramatta Eels 1/9
Cronulla Sharks 3/10
Rabbitohs 4/10
Raiders Minus
Newcastle Knights 7/20
Wests Tigers 4/10