The highly anticipated match between the Brisbane Broncos and the New Zealand Warriors has been scheduled for Round 17 of the 2024 NRL season. This thrilling encounter will take place at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday, kicking off at 3:00 PM AEST【6†source】【9†source】.

The Warriors are set to play without their star player Shaun Johnson, along with Bunty Afoa and Edward Kosi, who are also sidelined【6†source】. Meanwhile, the Broncos will miss key players including Israel Leota, Payne Haas, and Jordan Riki【7†source】. Despite these absences, both teams will have significant talent on the field, promising an exciting contest.

Predictive analytics from Stats Insider suggest that the Warriors have a 62% chance of winning this match. The betting odds reflect this, with the Warriors listed at $1.70 compared to the Broncos at $2.15【9†source】. The game is expected to be closely contested, with the Warriors slightly favored to cover a -2.5 point spread【9†source】.

Fans can look forward to an intense showdown as the Warriors aim to leverage their home advantage, while the Broncos seek to secure a vital away win. For those unable to attend, the match will be available for live streaming and broadcast on various platforms, including Kayo and Foxtel in Australia, and Sky in New Zealand

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It’s evident that Slater gets along well with Pat Carrigan, Ezra Mam, and Reece Walsh. He also seems to be friendly with Selwyn Cobbo and has strong opinions about Brendan Piakura.

The Broncos must make the most of their abundance of skill surrounding halfback Adam Reynolds, the winner of a premiership, while they still have it, which is likely to be until the conclusion of the next season.

To be honest, there will be a lot of pressure on Kevvie Walters to stay in his position if the Broncos fail to make the playoffs this season.

Although Kevvie is one of the lovable guys in the industry, Brisbane are  being too big a club to allow itself to only play in the finals once every five years.

Saying that Walters’ position is in jeopardy less than nine months after leading the team to the grand final might sound harsh, but consider Parramatta.

The Eels were led by Brad Arthur to the 2022 grand final, but he left after just 11 rounds of this season, and they failed to make it to the finals in 2023.

The Broncos should give Kevvie an offer he can’t refuse because Slater is one of the very few coaches they should think about moving Kevvie along for.

BULLDOGS FIND THEIR BITE: I wrote earlier this year that the Bulldogs were a mess and that I couldn’t see the direction they were trying to head in this season. But I have to admit, Cameron Ciraldo and his team sure have implemented an identity at the club and they seem to be moving forward. Slater has a great work-life balance at the moment between coaching the Maroons, breeding horses, commentating on NRL games, and hosting a podcast. It would almost be crazy to give it up and enter the highly stressful world of NRL coaching, but the Broncos are about the one club you can’t knock back

appear to be playing in the finals for the first time in many years.

The Bulldogs are adopting Ciraldo’s mantra and style of play, and the players seem to be buying into it.

Although I think they sign huge names every year, this season I’ve been most impressed with their middle-tier players.

Every player that has left, and they had a significant roster turnover under Ciraldo, has become better.

The likes of Jayman Salmon, Kurt Mann, and Connor Tracey have all elevated their game.

Making mediocre players great and good players great is a mark of a competent coach, and Ciraldo has been able to accomplish that and enable his team to play reliable football.

I was mentioned in a piece from the summer stating that the NRL is the world’s toughest rugby league environment, thus you need tough players because it’s a long season.

Tags: Bulldogs, Ciraldo, Ciraldo's, Shaun Johnson