Wests Tigers vs Cronulla Sharks Prediction: Sharks will take advantage of weak Tigers

In the first game of NRL Week 19, the struggling Wests Tigers will host the Cronulla Sharks, who are currently in third place, at CommBank Stadium. The Sharks continue to strengthen their position as a postseason team, and as a result, there are high expectations for their performance in this match. On the other hand, the Wests Tigers hope to break their streak of poor play when playing at home.

Things have taken a turn for the worse for the Wests Tigers, even if we didn't think it was possible. The Wests Tigers' loss to the Cowboys in Round 18 by a score of 74-0 is now the NRL record for the largest scoreline in a game in which one team achieves a score of 0 for the whole match. During a match that could not have gone any further away from being competitive, the Wests Tigers missed 54 tackles and completed only 18 sets. Isaiah Papali'i and Shawn Blore were bright spots for the Wests Tigers, as they combined for 85 tackles over the course of the game. Aitasi James has been named the replacement for Alex Twal, who was punished for trying to score an illegal try. Asu Kepaoa and Tommy Talau have been added to the defensive unit in lieu of Brent Naden and David Nofoaluma, respectively. Stefano Utoikamanu played his final game in the State of Origin competition last week, so he will be playing for the Tigers this week.

The Sharks once again racked up a large score, this time 52 points, in their matchup against the St. George Illawarra Dragons, who appeared to lack any motivation. The Cronulla Sharks currently lead the league in points scored, averaging 28.07 points per game and 29.6 points over their most recent five games. In their most recent two games, they scored a combined total of 100 points, giving them the lead. It is essential to take into account the fact that they have competed in the second-easiest schedule for opposing defenses and that the majority of their points have been earned against teams ranked in the bottom eight. In their match against the St. George Illawarra Dragons, the Cronulla Sharks were able to break through 35 Dragons' tackles while also maintaining a perfect record for set restarts and committing only four penalties overall. Cam McInnes will start at lock, taking the place of Dale Finucane, who was suspended. Since Toby Rudolf emerged unhurt from his return to the NSW Cup the previous weekend, he will be starting in the front row in place of Braden Hamlin-Uele, who is unable to play due to an injury. Jesse Colquhoun is brought off the bench to fill the space that McInnes' departure has created.

In previous years, the Wests Tigers have had difficulty defeating the Cronulla Sharks either at home or on the road. According to the results of head-to-head competition, the Tigers have only one victory to their name in the last five contests. In three of the last five games, the total number of points scored was exceeded. This season, the Cronulla Sharks had a perfect record against teams ranked in the bottom eight, winning all eight of their games by an average of 24 points. The margin of victory for the Cronulla Sharks in their last four victories over Wests Tigers was between 17 and 30 points each time. The Wests Tigers have failed to cover the spread in two of their most recent three games despite suffering losses of 40 points or more in each of those games. In their previous two matches, the Wests Tigers conceded a total of 13 tries to opposing teams' outside backs.

This is a difficult circumstance due to the fact that the Cronulla Sharks do not have any numbers that are even remotely credible in terms of their value. I am going to take the opposite approach and hope that the Sharks' recent pattern of being flat-track bullies takes a small break and that the Tigers can conjure some type of miracle to at least keep the game within three converted tries of being tied. Aside from that, if the Sharks are going to be victorious, Will Kennedy will almost certainly score a goal. A wager on "over" should also be considered in this situation, as I anticipate that both teams will be successful in attack here.