Cowboys Favored to Bounce Back
The North Queensland Cowboys are favored with NRL lines to bounce back against the Gold Coast Titans after consecutive losses.
Suffering a loss to the New Zealand Warriors isn’t ideal form coming into this Round 4 game, especially after the Titans defeated the Storm last week.
There has been some specking for the Titans to win outright at the sportsbook, so it’s an intriguing contest on Saturday.
Titans Finding Groove
The Titans have made a positive start to the year with two wins from three games.
We weren’t impressed with their loss to the Dragons, but they bounced back in fine style to beat the Storm as +7½ underdogs with online gambling markets.
They face the same line against the Cowboys, so they are comfortable playing as the underdog. However, playing on the road against a hostile North Queensland crowd won’t make it as easy.
Winning on the road has always been tough for the Titans, who have only one win from four attempts at this stadium in their history. They need to turn that form around to have any chance of keeping it close against the hurting Cowboys.
NRL news reported the addition of Toby Sexton and Klese Haas, which bolsters up the reserves. They have no injuries to report, so the Titans are healthy and ready to put their best foot forward.
We’re not sure why the coach pulled Kieran Foran after 32 minutes in last week’s win, but Corey Parker shed some light.
“It was a really interesting turn of events, Kieran Foran was actually pulled from the field, he was very unhappy and you could see some expletives thrown towards the trainers way when he was told to come off,” Corey Parker said on Fox League.
“Kieran Foran was brought to the club to bring his experience and all of those things that he knows a winner and competitor can do.”
Cowboys Needing Answers
The Cowboys were a top pick to win the NRL title this year, but after losing consecutive games to the Broncos and Warriors, we have our concerns.
They were comfortably beaten 28-16 by the Broncos, and expected to roll through the Warriors at home. However, after getting beaten 26-12 last week, we’re not sure what to make of them.
Las Vegas NRL odds have the Cowboys at -250 to win outright, which is getting into skinny territory. We’re not sure if they deserve to be that short, but recent success over the Titans has a big part to play.
They won the most recent meeting 32-6, so the Titans have struggled to keep up with the high-scoring rate of the Cowboys.
After a dour performance, the likes of Valentine Holmes, Chad Townsend and Jason Taumalolo need to step up. However, Reuben Cotter is out and there are some holes in the Cowboys roster.
Until they start showing their best form, they could be tough to bet on with confidence.
Cowboys vs Titans Head-to-Head
The Cowboys have an 18-11 advantage over the Titans, including scoring the last two wins with ease.
They had a combined score of 62-10, so the Cowboys have had the Titans’ number.
Cowboys vs Titans Game Information
- Game: Cowboys (1-3) vs Titans (2-1)
- Day/Time: Saturday, March 25, 2:30 a.m. ET
- Location: Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, QLD
- Cowboys vs Titans Live Stream: RugbyPass
Cowboys vs Titans Betting Lines
Cowboys vs Titans Picks and Prediction
Our NRL picks have the Titans covering the +7½ spread, which primarily has to do with the Cowboys lack of winning form.
We expect the Cowboys to be better than they were last week, but the Titans are doing enough to keep their head above water.
Take them to cover the number and keep it close throughout.
Cowboys is listed at -250 in our Vegas NRL lines. This means that if you wager $100 on the Cowboys, there’s a chance to win $40. Titans is +175, offering a chance to win 175 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives Cowboys a 71.43% chance to win, with the Titans at 36.36%.
