NRL Round 14 Tips & Preview

NRL Round 14 Tips & Preview

By the time that Round 14 of the NRL begins, Origin 1 will be in the history books, and everyone’s focus will be back on the Premiership.

In stark contrast to last week, all sixteen clubs will see action from Friday night, and we’ll be treated to a rare Monday afternoon game between the Bulldogs and the Dragons.

You can find my full preview and complete NRL Round 14 Tips below.

Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys
Sea Eagles (-8.5)

Assuming that Turbo backs up from Origin, the Sea Eagles are offered another great opportunity to win when they host the North Queensland Cowboys on Friday evening.

The Sea Eagles have been nothing short of outstanding since the Northern Beaches’ prodigal son has returned to the fray, though they did return a particularly flat effort against the Knights at their most recent appearance and suffered a shock loss.

Fresh from a week off, this looks an ideal opportunity for them to bounce back.

The Cowboys have well and truly fought above their weight this season, so much so that they now look like a genuine top eight contender.

They too enter this match fresh from a week off, but they will take plenty of confidence into this match following their single-point win over the Warriors in Round 12.

If the Sea Eagles are serious about their title aspirations, they’ll be winning this.

Cronulla Sharks vs Penrith Panthers
Panthers (-8.5)

The Cronulla Sharks have the unenviable task of lining up opposite the Penrith Panthers in Round 14 of the NRL season.

The Sharks have been largely awful in 2021, but they do look to have bounced back somewhat in recent weeks, and they are seeking their third win in success on Friday night.

Round 12’s win over the Titans was a particularly slick effort, but they’d need to go to a whole new level to compete for the full eighty this week.

The Panthers suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Wests Tigers (proudly sponsored by Neds), but given they were missing most of their team to Origin duties, it’s not really hard to see why that would have happened.

Their performance this week hinges on how many players back up, but I’m confident that most will, and they’ll be returning to winning form.

Gold Coast Titans vs Sydney Roosters
Titans (+11.5)

The Neds Gold Coast Titans return home to take on the Sydney Roosters on Saturday afternoon.

Granted, it has been tough to know what we’re going to get from the Titans week in, week out in 2021, but they have shown glimpses of brilliance and have returned plenty of impressive efforts that have resulted in wins.

They did plenty wrong in Round 13, but they were in the contest with the Melbourne Storm the entire way, and a few less unforced errors probably would have resulted in another two points.

The Roosters are another team whose potency really does hinge on whether or not blokes like James Tedesco step out this week, but they are fresh off the bye regardless, and destroyed the Raiders the week prior.

The line is set at 11.5 points (at publish), and I’m confident that the Titans can finish closer than that.

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Newcastle Knights
Souths (-16.5)

Betting suggests that the most one-sided match of the round will come up on Saturday evening when the Rabbitohs host the Knights.

The Bunnies have been found out by a couple of the league’s better sides recently, but they’ve made light work of almost every other side that they have faced, and they remain firmly entrenched in the Top 4.

This can and will be said of almost every side this week, but they’ll welcome back several key players from Origin, and that is well and truly echoed in their match quote.

The Knights returned their best performance of the season to halt the high-flying Sea Eagles in Round 12, but subsequently went to water against the Eels last week.

Realistically, off the back of last week’s effort, the Knights won’t be winning this week either.

Canberra Raiders vs Brisbane Broncos
Broncos to Win ($3.25)

One of the more intriguing matches of the round will see the Raiders host the Broncos in the nation’s capital, in what is sure to be a chilly Saturday night.

The Raiders’ fall from grace doesn’t look like ending, and they were handed another devastating loss by the Roosters in Round 12.

This should be an ideal opportunity for them to bounce back, but they’ve shown virtually nothing for a long period of time now, and they are under the odds as resounding favourites.

The Broncos have also been mostly terrible this season, and there wasn’t much to like about last week’s effort and loss to the Dragons.

That being said, they actually have shown more glimpses of competitive footy than the Raiders have recently, and while I still can’t completely come to terms with it, I’m actually going to back them to win at current odds.

New Zealand Warriors vs Melbourne Storm
Storm (-14.5)

The Warriors host the Storm in the first of two Sunday fixtures in Round 14 of the NRL season.

Alongside the Knights, the Warriors have been the toughest club to trust from a betting perspective in 2021, and they look to be on the straight and narrow towards another ninth-place finish.

The Storm will have some players returning from Origin, but their talent and depth has been on show throughout the last few weeks, and they have proven that they are still more than capable of competing with any side, without several stars.

The Warriors have actually been one of the few clubs that the Storm have struggled with on and off during their long reign at the top, but this is two completely different classes of side in 2021, and I’m happy to stick with Bellamy’s boys until they give me a reason not to.

Parramatta Eels vs Wests Tigers
Tigers (+10.5)

The Sunday afternoon slot will see the Parramatta Eels take on Wests Tigers, who enter this match off the back of an enormous performance and win over Penrith!

Sure, the Panthers were heavily depleted by Origin, but it was still extremely hard to fault what the Tigers (proudly sponsored by Neds) produced, and they recorded a dominant win.

The confidence that comes hand in hand with being the first team to topple the league leaders this season simply cannot be understated, and they are a live chance of delivering the Eels and upset too.

Having only lost one match prior to Round 10, the Eels were handed consecutive defeats by the Sea Eagles and Souths, but bounced back with a bullish trashing of the Knights last week.

They deserve their favouritism, but I think that this will be close, so I’m going to take the Tigers at the line as outsiders.

Canterbury Bulldogs vs St George Illawarra Dragons
Dragons (-14)

The Dragons can record another win and hold their position at the top eight, at the expense of the last-placed Bulldogs on Monday night.

St George stormed back into winning form at the expense of the Broncos in Round 13, having previously been amidst a steady decline down the ladder.

A win this week to go along with a likely Round 15 win over the Raiders would breathe plenty of life into their chances of making the finals.

The Bulldogs have won one match all season, and it’s impossible to tip any side with that record, this far into the campaign.