NRL Thursday: Cowboys v Newcastle betting tips, prediction & odds, round 11, 2021

Welcome to our North Queensland Cowboys v Newcastle Knights match preview, prediction and odds update for their NRL clash at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, on Thursday, May 20.

The Knights are in a form slump and struggling for direction without halfback Mitchell Pearce and fullback Kalyn Ponga and are sitting in 11th spot on the table.

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The Cowboys are sitting in 12th with an identical 4-6 record for the season, thought the Knights went into this season with far greater expectations than the North Queenslanders did.

In any case, the losers of this clash can pretty much forget about competing for one of the sports in the bottom half of the eight..

The Cowboys, who are favourites for this contest, have lost two of their past three matches against the Knights, with both losses coming in Newcastle. The teams clashed twice in 2020, with the Cowboys winning in round seven 32-20 and the Knights winning 12-0 in round 15 in the return bout.

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Cowboys v Knights team news for round 11

The Cowboys will lose powerful forward Coen Hess, who suffered a head knock in the disappointing loss last week to the Roosters.

Hess’s spot in the starting side is taken by Tom Gilbert, while 20-year-old back-rower Heilum Luki comes on to the bench to make his NRL debut.

The Knights were badly exposed by the Wests Tigers in last week’s Magic Round, and have lost winger Hymel Hunt (hamstring) and centre Bradman Best  (hamstring) for this clash. Maitland-born winger Brayden Musgrove comes in to replace Hunt, with Kurt Mann shifting to centre to cover for Best

Veteran halfback Blake Green returns after recovering from a rib injury.

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Cowboys v Knights

Kick-off: 7.50pm local time
Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
Head to head odds: North Queensland $1.48, Newcastle Knights $2.70
Line: North Queensland (-6.5 points) $2, Newcastle Knights (+6.5 points) $1.80
Match total: 47.5 points: over $1.90, under $1.90

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Roosters v Cowboys free betting tips

Below our NRL betting expert has highlighted free Cowboys-Knights tips for Thursday night’s game.

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Nth Qld Cowboys v Newcastle Knights prediction 20-5-2021

There has been little between these teams in recent years with most matches following the pattern of the home team winning. The Knights have not won in Townsville since 2015 and on last week’s display you could not be confident of them doing so this time, especially with Ponga still on the sidelines. We will stick with the Cowboys to win a tight on. Our Cowboys v Knights prediction: Cowboys to win by 6 points.

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