NRL Round 17 Tips & Preview

NRL Round 17 Tips & Preview

Just four weeks remain in the regular season and we’ll be treated to some crucial footy in Round 17 of the NRL.

Thursday night’s Broncos vs Panthers game is not one of those, but it is sure to be a flurry of points and laughs regardless.

The real stuff begins on Friday, when the Knights and Sharks go toe-to-toe, before the Rabbitohs and Storm square off in Sydney.

You can find a preview of every game and all of my NRL Round 17 tips below.

Brisbane Broncos vs Penrith Panthers
Panthers (-22.5)

We could be set for the season’s first eighty-point hiding when the Broncos host the competition-leading Panthers on Thursday night.

In all seriousness, it is impossible to make a case for the down-and-out Broncos against literally any other team at the moment and once again, they’ll start this game as double-figure outsiders.

The Panthers meanwhile can hardly do anything wrong.

They’ve lost only one game in 2020, and this is merely another step on the path towards the minor premiership for them.

Newcastle Knights vs Cronulla Sharks
Sharks to Win ($1.95)

One of Round 17’s better contests looks likely to take place between the Knights and the Sharks on Friday evening.

These two clubs currently occupy positions seven and eight on the NRL ladder and should the Sharks win, it will be almost impossible for any other club to fight their way into a finals berth.

The Knights have well and truly fallen out of form recently.

They just struggled to get the result over a few lowly clubs, and were well and truly blown off the park by a resurgent Warriors side in Round 16, 36-6.

I personally think that they are no chance of winning the Premiership, and this game will likely consolidate it.

The Sharks, on the other hand, have been pretty good.

It’s tough to line up a laststart win over the Cowboys, because everyone is beating the Cowboys, but they have returned some tough performances against other top eight sides, and I think they’ll be winning this.

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Melbourne Storm
Storm (-5.5)

Friday night’s primetime game promises to be a truly outstanding contest, should the South Sydney Rabbitohs decide to show up.

Souths have been rocks or diamonds for much of the 2020 NRL season. They have returned some truly diabolical performances, but they have also produced some of the league’s best footy.

Case in point, last week’s thrashing win over the Eels.

The Storm welcomed back many of their stars for last week’s easy win over Manly, and so long as they continue being the Melbourne Storm for the next few weeks, they’ll finish the regular season either first or second.

The line is just 5.5 points and given the disparity between these two clubs in match betting this week, I’m going to side with the Storm.

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Gold Coast Titans
Titans (-1.5)

Fresh off yet another impressive win, the might and glory of the Neds Gold Coast Titans will be in action against the last-placed Canterbury Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

Their slow start to the season is unfortunately going to cost the Titans a finals berth, but that hasn’t stopped our boys from putting in week in, week out, clearly with a view and hunger towards a big 2021 campaign.

The Round 16 win over the Dragons was as tough as performances come, and other than the Broncos or the Cowboys, there simply isn’t a better opportunity to win a game of footy than this one.

To their credit, the Dogs were also as tough as nails in Round 16, and simply ran out of fire power against a far stronger Raiders outfit.

Betting suggests that this will be a terrific contest, but I can’t look past the Titans!

Manly Sea Eagles vs Wests Tigers
Tigers to Win ($2.45)

An interesting contest looms between the out of form Sea Eagles and Tigers at Brookvale Oval.

The Sea Eagles could not buy a win at the moment.

Mathematically they can still make the eight, but a single loss would all but end their season, they’d need several other results to go their way, and they’d definitely need Turbo back in the sheds.

Given he won’t be back for at least another fortnight, planning for this year’s Mad Monday celebrations are almost certainly in full swing.

As much as we love them, it has also been a torrid couple of weeks for Wests.

To be fair though, they have run into a couple of competition heavyweights, and this is a big drop in class for them.

I simply don’t understand the disparity in match betting, and I am more than happy to back the Tigers as outsiders.

Canberra Raiders vs Sydney Roosters
Raiders (+6.5)

A Grand Final rematch will be played between the Raiders and the Roosters in the nation’s capital on Saturday night, and I can’t wait.

The Raiders were taken almost all the way by the last-placed Bulldogs last week, but that was a blip on what has otherwise been a good recent record.

They still won and they’ll still be confident in doing it again.

The Roosters had the equivalent of a week off in Round 16, putting 58 on the Broncos.

They’ll enter this full of confidence, but still without plenty of their top-line stars.

Let’s not forget that the Raiders were hardly given a chance when they last played the Roosters a couple of months ago, and comfortably won.

On a cold night in the nation’s capital, I’m happy to have the home side at the line.

New Zealand Warriors vs Parramatta Eels
Warriors (+6.5)

An acid test awaits the resurgent Warriors on Sunday afternoon.

I’ve said it a few times now, but the Warriors have well and truly overachieved in 2020.

They have relocated, spent the campaign away from their families, lost a coach and a whole lot more, yet still find themselves on the edge of the eight, and in the best shape of any side trying to battle in.

The Eels have clearly done enough to hold a spot in the top four all season, but they certainly haven’t been convincing recently, and enter this off the back of an absolute hiding at the hands of Souths.

Important to note that was also the first time since 2014 that they’ve been kept scoreless in a game of footy.

The overall season dictates that the Eels have to start favourites, but I couldn’t get around the Warriors at the line fast enough.

North Queensland Cowboys vs St George Illawarra Dragons
Dragons (-3.5)

Hardly the kind of match that will keep everyone holding their breath until Sunday night, but a good opportunity for the Dragons to keep the pressure on the top eight, perhaps.

The Broncos’ season has hogged the limelight in Queensland this season, and probably a good thing for the Cows, but they have also lost the ability to win.

The club should be buoyed by this week’s confirmation that Todd Payten will coach from 2021, but there’s obviously nothing to gain from the remainder of this season, and it’s tough to know who they will possibly beat from here on in.

The Dragons’ finals chances did take a hit with last weekend’s loss to the Titans, but this is a great opportunity to bounce back.