By the time that Round 18 of the NRL begins, Origin will be over for another season, and it is full steam ahead towards the finals!
All sixteen clubs are back in action from Friday night and while venues have changed, plenty of stars will be rested and half the league returns from a freshen-up, there’s still countless opportunities to back a winner.
Check out complete preview and NRL Round 18 Tips below!
Round 18 begins with our boys, the Gold Coast Titans, taking on the Parramatta Eels at Fortress Cbus.
They’ve returned plenty of good efforts in 2021 and have just been let down by their inconsistency, but the Titans were arguably at their best in Round 16 when they destroyed the Canberra Raiders, and they enter this match refreshed from a week off.
The Eels were unlucky to be beaten by a single point by the Panthers in Round 16 and they too had the luxury of last week off.
Both sides have plenty of players out on Origin duty and who does line up on Friday will play a key role in the result.
Friday night’s primetime game will see the Manly Sea Eagles ‘host’ the St George Illawarra Dragons, and both teams will be desperate for the W.
For the Sea Eagles, it’s all about avenging last week’s shock loss to the out of form Raiders.
Sure, they lined up with DCE, Jake and Tom Trbojevic, but given how poor that opponent has been recently and Manly’s top four hopes, they still should have been good enough.
This meanwhile will be the Dragons’ first game of footy since PaulVaughngate and they will be eager to let their footy do the talking.
If either DCE or Turbo (or both) back up from Origin, it’s tough imagining anything other than a Manly win.
An intriguing clash awaits on Saturday afternoon as the Raiders, fresh off the back of one of their strongest performances of the season, host the consistent Cronulla Sharks in the nation’s capital.
It was effective early, ugly in parts but ultimately, the Raiders were clear and deserving winners over the Sea Eagles, and it was enough to breathe life into their dwindling finals prospects.
They should welcome back most of their stars this week, and a chilly match in Canberra is always a difficult prospect for Sydney clubs.
The Sharks did enough to see off the Warriors in Round 17, climbing into the top eight in the process, and they are well and truly now looking the most likely of the four or five clubs hovering around eighth position to actually win their way into the finals.
I’m going to have to see more from the Raiders before I can trust them, and I am going to take the Sharks to cover a small line as favourites.
They are one of the few clubs with legitimate home ground advantage in Round 18, but the Cowboys have their work cut out for them with the Sydney Roosters.
They found a lovely patch of form to toe the eight just a few weeks ago, but their trashing defeat at the hands of the Sea Eagles after Origin 1 looks to have blown the wheels right off the wagon, and they have been thrashed by the Knights and Souths in the wake.
A weakened Roosters proved slightly too strong for the Bulldogs at their best in Round 17, but they were given a real wakeup call by the Storm the week prior, and focus simply needs to return this week if they are going to make the top four.
I think that it will, and I think that the Roosters will win this one comfortably.
Betting suggests one of the more one sides matches of the round will be contested between the Storm and the Knights, and it really isn’t difficult to see why.
They were somewhat slow from the blocks, but the Melbourne Storm have once again proven why they have been dominant for the best part of two decades, and they are once again favourites to hoist the Provan-Summons come season’s end – will somebody please change the record?
The Knights are another club who have ultimately been let down by zero consistency, but they did win two in a row before have the luxury of last week off.
Regardless, this is a huge step up in class and the Storm should be winning comfortably.
More often than not, the Warriors have continued to play competitively without getting the result, and they’d surely need to go to a new level to even compete with the Penrith Panthers.
The Warriors lost to the Sharks in Round 17, the Dragons in Round 16 and the Knights in Round 15. All games were close(ish), and they loomed as a winning chance in each, but failed to get the result.
The Panthers have hardly faltered, even during the Origin period, and they are justifiable favourites again in Round 18.
I’m sure that Ivan Cleary will rest some players, while other remain out with injury, but the Panthers’ depth really has been the difference this year and they can win again.
Incredibly, the Brisbane Broncos will start favourites in NRL betting this week, but I think that Wests Tigers (proudly sponsored by Neds) can have an impact.
Both sides are languishing towards the bottom of the table and neither will make the finals this season, but both have shown glimpses of good footy and there is upside, moving forward.
The Broncos are fresh after the week off and delivered the Sharks a shock defeat the week prior, and that is certainly why they have opened favourites (other than this being a home game).
The Tigers are winless since beaten the depleted Panthers in Round 13, and they have unfortunately had some large scores put on them in that time.
I think that they can cover the line as outsiders.
South Sydney have opened $1.05 favourites ahead of their Round 18 clash with the last-placed Bulldogs ($9.75).
This is therefore the biggest disparity in match betting prices this week and I really don’t think that there is too much more to say – Souths at a canter.