NRL Round 23 Preview

Round 23 is underway in Brisbane on Thursday night when the desperate Broncos attempt to maintain their position in the eight by beating competition leaders South Sydney.

Its been an inconsistent campaign for the Broncos, who have been almost impossible to trust from a betting perspective. Their recent form does not read well and they enter this game off the back of a disappointing loss to the lowly Cowboys in Townsville. They are a club that tends to play better at home, but all of their well-publicised off field dramas are sure to have some impact and they will have their hands full with a live premiership threat here.

On the other side of the coin, its been an extremely promising campaign for the time-honoured Rabbitohs and they really do look like they could go all the way in 2018. An impressive win over the Storm two weeks ago was followed by another gutsy performance against fellow competition leaders the Roosters last weekend, albeit ending in a loss.

The Rabbitohs can take another step towards winning a minor premiership by taking this game and they can cover a miniscule line currently set at only 1.5 points.

There isn’t a lot in this one for the neutrals, but the Sea Eagles and Titans will square off in Friday’s first fixture, in what could prove to be one of the better contests of Round 23.

Trent Barrett simply has not been the right fit for the Northern Beaches club and his decision to leave his contract one year early is likely to prove beneficial for all parties. The end of the season cannot come quickly enough for the Sea Eagles, but they are faced with another good opportunity to win and stay away from the dreaded spoon this weekend.

The Titans have failed to maintain anything of a consistent run of form this season and that has ultimately been to their undoing. Their roster is actually quite strong and they have managed a number of credible performances against good clubs this season, but have completely fallen over the following week. They looked to have secured an impressive win over the Panthers at home last weekend but gave up too early and were beaten on the line.

The Sea Eagles have never finished last in their 60-odds year existence and they can take a big step away from breaking that record by winning here.

The Storm will host the Eels in Melbourne on Friday night, in what looks to be the biggest mismatch in Round 23 of the NRL.

After doing plenty of work to find themselves at the top of the table after Origin, the Storm have actually lost their two most recent games with the Rabbitohs and Sharks respectively. While those results are somewhat worrying leading into the finals, both performances still would have seen them comfortable winners against a team of the Eels’ calibre in 2018.

The Eels produced easily their best performance of the season to flog the Dragons 40-4 last weekend, but it’s tough lining that result up with anything else given the apparent fall from grace that their opponent is amidst. Their performance against the Storm will be a far better indicator of their current capabilities.

The Storm have made a habit of tiring teams and running away with the result in the final ten minutes of their games, and they can cover a 12.5-point line here.

Penrith will be hoping to keep their title chances alive with a confidence-boosting and comfortable win over the Knights on home soil.

The Panthers were extremely lucky to get out of jail on the Gold Coast last weekend and it really wasn’t a performance that a live premiership threat should be producing at this point of the season. The club’s decision to part ways with coach Anthony Griffin last week will ultimately be their undoing this season and every game from here on in will be an uncertainty, with so many question marks hovering overhead.

The Knights’ finals chances are all but gone, but they are a club that plays with plenty of heart and they can continue to make things difficult for those around them. They were easily account for by the Warriors in New Zealand last week but this game looms as a far better chance to compete.

The line in this game is massive, particularly given the state of the Panthers and Newcastle are good enough to finish within range.

The Dragons will attempt to stem their awful run of form again when they meet the Tigers on Saturday evening.

This time last month the Dragons would have been resounding favourites to defeat the Tigers, but a dreadful run of results has seen their premiership challenge slip further away and ultimately, they will begin this game as comfortable outsiders. They put up literally no challenge for the last-placed Eels last weekend and finished on the wrong end of an atrocious 40-4 score line. You’d have to assume that at this point of the season and given the form of the other top eight clubs, they’re no chance of winning the premiership.

The Tigers have continued to improve since Robbie Farah’s return to the club and they are now a solitary win behind the eighth-placed Broncos. This therefore looms as an ideal opportunity to step into finals contention and they’ll be full of confidence after a couple of gutsy wins over the Knights and Raiders.

They have been awful since Origin, but I’m wary of the Dragons in this contest and I’m going to stay out of it from a betting perspective.

Paul Gallen and the Sharks will square off with a Johnathan Thurston-led Cowboys side for the final time in the Shire on Saturday. These two clubs have produced some terrific battles in recent seasons and will each take plenty of confidence into this match after gutsy wins in Round 22.

The Sharks are peaking in form and the perfect time for a big finals campaign and they wore down the Storm in Melbourne last week; holding on to win 17-14. They boast one of the league’s best rosters across the paddock and barring injuries, they could find themselves alive on the final Sunday of the season.

It’s been a disappointing year for JT and the Cowboys, but they did manage a consolation win over the old enemy last weekend and are the kind of team that will take benefit from that result. Finals are long gone, but they can make it difficult for teams like the Sharks to secure a top-four berth.

The Sharks should be winning this, but on their performance last week the Cowboys can cover a line currently set at 8.5 points.

One of the more interesting fixtures in Round 23 could materialise when the Bulldogs and Warriors lock horns in the weekend’s penultimate.

For a club that has not looked like playing finals football for the entire season, the Dogs have not been terrible of late and have posted several positives results, including a comfortable win over the Broncos two weeks ago. They didn’t have the answers against Manly last weekend but will be confident of making life difficult for the inconsistent Warriors.

Last week was a good one for the New Zealand club and they overcame a gutsy Knights side with relative ease. They are another club that has been tough to trust from a betting perspective but look capable of anything when they put it all together.

It’s tough imagining how this one might play out and given how short the Warriors are in betting, it’s another that I’ll be happy to sit back and watch.

The final game of the round comes way of the nation’s capital and what should be a decent contest between the Raiders and Roosters.

The Raiders’ finals chances have all but evaporated and they do enter this game off the back of four-consecutive losses, but they’ve still managed several good passages of football in recent weeks and are capable in front of their parochial home crowd.

The Roosters have quickly become the league’s benchmark and stamped themselves as the club to beat by overcoming Souths in last weekend’s top of the table clash. The Cronk/Tedesco combination is really starting to fire and can because of the Roosters’ big and mobile forward pack.

This does seem a pretty small line for the Roosters to cover and they can continue their run to the finals with a win.