Saturday second NRL Round 12 match is between Nth Queensland Cowboys and Melbourne Storm with the opening kick to commence at 19:35  local time. The game is to be played at 1300SMILES Stadium which see’s home team Nth Queensland Cowboys hold favouritism in the market. View our NRL live scores, odds and results for the game between Nth Queensland Cowboys and Melbourne Storm.

Where and when: 1300SMILES Stadium , 19:35 | Saturday 31/05/2014

Odds Comparison:

Nth Queensland Cowboys	1.15	1.14	1.17	1.14	1.55	1.15
Melbourne Storm	5.75	5.85	5.25	5.85	5.75	5.75

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

Previews :

COWBOYS
The Cowboys will be out to record their fifth consecutive win at home this weekend when they host the Melbourne Storm.

The Cowboys travelled to Canberra in round 11 minus Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, Brent Tate and James Tamou who were in Origin camps, and suffered their first lost in four weeks to the Raiders 42 – 12.

The Cowboys continued their recent run of good starts by scoring first through Ethan Lowe in the eighteenth minute and a try early in the second half kept them in the hunt but as the game went on, the absence of the Origin players became more noticeable as the Cowboys searched for direction in attack.

Each of the Origin players have been named in the starting line up to back-up from Wednesday night and returning to Townsville, where they’ve won their last four home games by margins of 13+ , should see them bounce back to their best.

STORM
From rounds 4 to 8, the Storm only managed one win and the sequence had many questioning if the Storm’s reign of dominance was starting to wane however, like all good sides do, they responded to the pressure and in the past two rounds, have recorded victories over premiership favourites, Manly and South Sydney.

The victories were built on a return to the structured play that Melbourne are renowned for and have been directed by half-back Cooper Cronk who is in good form.

Cronk, along with Slater, Smith and Hoffman, will all participate in Wednesday night’s Origin but all have been named in the starting line-up for Melbourne, along with the return of Ben Roberts at Five-eight.

Billy Slater is a prolific try-scorer and has bagged a double in each of Melbourne’s recent victories but surprisingly, has never registered a four-pointer in Townsville.

If Cowboys continue to keep him quiet, they’ll go a long way to winning this game.

HEAD TO HEAD
The Cowboys have evened the ledger slightly in the past two seasons, winning two of the four games between the two sides.

The Storm enjoy playing in Townsville and have won six of their past seven at the venue but they’ve had to work extremely hard for each of their victories this year and on more than one occasion, have left it to the last play of the game to escape with the win.

The Cowboys have shut teams out in their recent homes victories, winning by big margins and if they start well again here, Melbourne might not get the chance to produce a match-winning play.

As always, the Storm will be competitive and Wednesday night could have a significant bearing should any of the Origin players not be able to take their respective spots in this match, but if all are present and accounted for, stick with the Cowboys with JT back and at home.

TIP: COWBOYS 1 – 12.

Teams:

Cowboys: Michael Morgan, Matthew Wright, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston, Ray Thompson, Matthew Scott, Rory Kostjasyn, James Tamou, Ethan Lowe, Jason Taumalolo, Scott Bolton. Interchange: Robert Lui, Glenn Hall, Ashton Sims, Joel Riethmuller, Anthony Mitchell

Storm: Billy Slater, Sisa Waqa, Will Chambers, Kurt Mann, Young Tonumaipea, Ben Roberts, Cooper Cronk, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith, Bryan Norrie, Kevin Proctor, Ryan Hoffman, Ryan Hinchcliffe. Interchange: Kenneath Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Dayne Weston, George Rose, Mitch Garbutt

News : 

Will Hopoate is set to make a stunning return to the State of Origin arena for game two of the interstate series with NSW coach Laurie Daley forced to reshuffle his successful side due to a swag of injuries.

Three years after making his Blues debut Hopoate, who was a reserve for NSW’s 12-8 win in Brisbane on Wednesday, will likely replace Josh Morris for game two in Sydney on June 18, with the Canterbury centre struck down by a knee injury.

Morris and Anthony Watmough (bicep) are the key injury worries for Daley, as the Blues seek to break Queensland’s eight-year stranglehold on the interstate series.

Paul Gallen (neck) Brett Morris (shoulder), also suffered injuries in a torrid series opener but are likely to be back on deck in three weeks time.

Easing Daley’s concerns is the return of Greg Bird, who will be available for the return match after serving a two-game suspension.

But Hopoate’s return is set to be the big talking point, after the Parramatta’s centre impressive comeback in the NRL this season after two years out on a Mormon mission.

With no access to newspapers or the internet, Hopoate was oblivious to the Blues’ continuing Origin heartache over the past two seasons.

But the Manly premiership winner showed in his only Origin outing in Game II in 2011, when he scored a decisive try in NSW’s win, he can cut it at that level.

Morris suffered a suspected posterior cruciate ligament tear and will know the extent of scans on Friday.

“I’ve done my PCL, I’ve done it in my right knee before and that felt a lot worse than what this was so hopefully we can get some good news on that,” he said.

His twin Brett played the entire match despite suffering a partial shoulder dislocation when scoring a first half try and said he was confident he would be fit for the game in less than three weeks.

“It was pretty sore, I just got it moving again, the staff talked me through it and I did what I had to do,” Morris said.

“I just didn’t want to let the team down, there weren’t many troops left on the bench.

“I think I will be there for Origin II, the belief is there, I just have to get the body right.”

Gallen was inspirational in making a game-high 22 runs and 33 tackles and said he was hopeful he would miss just two weeks.

“I wouldn’t think I’ll miss Origin (II),” he said.

“There is just an intense burning pain for about a minute and then it goes away. It is a bit of a worry but I’ll get it checked out and hopefully I will be right.”