2020 NRL – North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks Preview & Prediction
When is North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks taking place? Saturday 6th June, 2020 – 10:35 (UK)
Where is North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks taking place? Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
What is the expected weather for North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks? 21c, partly cloudy
What channel is North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks on? Sky Sports Arena will be televising selected NRL games in the UK and you can find their schedule here. For Australian broadcasters, you can find a list here
Where can I stream North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks? If televised on Sky Sports, then subscribers will be able to stream the match live via Sky Go. Alternatively, the match will be available to subscribers of Watch NRL
Where can I get tickets for North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks? No tickets are available as NRL matches are currently taking place behind closed doors
THE TEAM NEWS
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
Starting 13: Holmes, Feldt, O’Neill, Marsters, Hampton, Drinkwater, Clifford, Molo, Granville, McLean, Dunn, Hess, McGuire – Interchanges: Robson, Asiata, Gilbert, Cooper – Reserves: Wright, Opacic
Unavailable: Michael Morgan (Injured), Jason Taumalolo (Injured)
- North Queensland Cowboys earned a comfortable victory in their Queensland derby with Gold Coast Titans on their return to action last week as they scored 30 unanswered points to claim a 36-6 win.
- The Cowboys’ weight of possession proved decisive having spent just over 37 minutes with the ball which was 18 minutes more than the Titans managed with the home side completing at an impressive 85% while also amassing over 2,000 run metres.
- Jason Taumalolo was responsible for 290 of those metres as he put in another superb display but the rampaging Tongan suffered bone bruising on his knee which will force him to sit this contest out while Shane Wright is also left out with Gavin Cooper and Tom Gilbert coming into the 17.
CRONULLA SHARKS
Starting 13: Kennedy, Katoa, Dugan, Ramien, Mulitalo, Moylan, Johnson, Rudolf, Brailey, Woods, Nikora, Graham, Williams – Interchanges: Tracey, Hamlin-Uele, Talakai, Sorensen – Reserves: Hunt, Wilton
Unavailable: Cameron King (Injured), Bronson Xerri (Disciplinary), Andrew Fifita (Injured), Chad Townsend (Injured)
- Cronulla Sharks suffered a disappointing loss against Wests Tigers last week as they surrendered a half-time lead which came on the back of failing to score a single point in the second half.
- The Sharks put in some poor defensive efforts which saw them end with 54 missed tackles in the contest, more than double than the Tigers missed and that will be a major area for improvement this week.
- They also struggled with the ball as they could not add to the 16 points they amassed in the opening half and those issues could extend into this contest with Matt Moylan forced into the five-eighth role due to Chad Townsend suffering a hamstring injury.
THE PREDICTION
North Queensland Cowboys did what was required to see off a poor Gold Coast outfit last week and will be confident of building on that despite the loss of Jason Taumalolo. The influential loss will miss out through injury but they will feel they have enough to defeat a Cronulla Sharks outfit that were poor on both sides of the ball last week. The Sharks conceded some soft tries in defence and if the Cowboys can shift the ball as effectively as they did last week, they should be able to make it three consecutive victories and back-to-back wins on home soil.
