NRL Friday: Storm v Roosters betting tips, prediction & odds, round 6, 2021

Read on for our Melbourne Storm v Sydney Roosters match preview, prediction and odds update for their NRL clash at AAMI Park, Melbourne, on Friday, April 16.

This is the match of the round and certainly the pick of the two matches on Friday, though the earlier match between Newcastle and Cronulla has taken on great interest with the departure of Sharks coach John Morris.

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Morris announced his departure after the Sharks’ strange decision to appoint Roosters assistant Craig Fitzgibbon as head coach for three years starting in 2022, with Sharks assistant Josh Hannay to take on the senior role for the rest of the 2021 season.

The old adage says to back the team that has changed coaches during the week, but we urge caution on this one as the Sharks were already hot favourites to beat the Knights.

Back to the main fare, the Storm have won the past two meetings between these teams, both in 2020. In round eight they beat the Roosters 27-25 in a classic in Brisbane and they backed it up with a 24-6 win at the SCG in round 14.

The big question around the game is can the young Roosters halves Sam Walker and Drew Hutchison stand up again against top-quality opposition in hostile territory.

It’s one thing to orchestrate a comeback against the Sharks on home soil; quite another to upstage to defending premiers at AAMI Park.

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Storm v Roosters team news for round 6

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has stuck with the same 17 players who prevailed against the Bulldogs in easy fashion last weekend.

Centre Brenko Lee (hamstring) is ready to play again but has been named outside the 17 in the reserves. He may have to wait his turn with the Storm roster in good shape.

The Roosters have lost another hooker with Freddy Lussick suffering a broken arm last round and expected to miss up to eight weeks. His loss comes after co-captain and hooker Jake Friend retired last week after repeated concussions and his heir apparent Sam Verrills had a setback in his comeback push from a long-term knee injury.

Ben Marschke is the new starting No.9 for the Roosters after beating a crusher tackle charge at the judiciary.

Roosters regain prop Lindsay Collins, who has missed a couple of matches with an ankle injury and head knock, while utility Adam Keighran also joins the 17.

Read on for our Storm v Roosters tips and winner prediction for their NRL clash on Friday, April 16.

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Storm v Roosters

Kick-off: 7.55pm local time
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Head to head odds: Melbourne Storm $1.35, Sydney Roosters $3.15
Line betting: Melbourne Storm (-8.5 points) $1.95, Sydney Roosters (+8.5 points) $1.85
Match total: 39.5 points: over $1.90, under $1.90

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Storm v Roosters free betting tips

Below our NRL betting expert has highlighted his free Melbourne-Sydney betting tips for Friday’s game.

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Melbourne Storm v Sydney Roosters prediction 16-4-2021

The Roosters have won their past two games since a bad loss against the Rabbitohs in which star playmaker Luke Keary suffered a season-ending knee injury. But there were worrying signs in the come-from-behind victory against the Sharks last week. Yes, the Roosters halfback Sam Walker was outstanding but they cannot afford to drop that far behind a team like the Storm and expect to mount a late surge against a team as professional as the Storm. This should be a great contest between the teams which have won the past four premierships between them. We expect the Storm to win this big match-up comfortably. Our Storm v Roosters prediction: Storm to win by 18 points.

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