There are just four weeks remaining in the 2021 NRL Premiership regular season and there is plenty on the line in Round 22!
The action begins on the Sunshine Coast on Thursday night when the Storm look to take another big step towards the minor premiership at the expense of the Raiders.
A real acid test awaits the Neds Gold Coast Titans when they take on the red-hot Rabbitohs on Saturday, while the Sea Eagles and the Eels will renew their historic rivalry later that night.
All of that and more in our NRL Round 22 Tips below.
The Raiders are on the edge of the eight, but they have understandably opened as rank outsiders in betting ahead of their Thursday night meeting with the Storm.
Simply put, the Storm are the best team in the league, and I personally cannot picture a team beating them again in 2021.
They enter this match off the back of a tough win over a very credible Manly side and there is no doubt that this is a sizeable drop in class.
The Raiders’ have been poor more often than not, but they did return to winning form at the expense of a similarly disappointing Dragons outfit in Round 21.
Overall, it looks to be a pretty open and shut case.
Nathan Cleary looks to be in line for a return, and I think that will prove to be the difference in a big Penrith win on Friday evening.
They’ve clearly missed the NSW (and likely Australian) halfback, but the Panthers have still continued to play competitively, and they look to be a lock for the top four.
Last week’s performance and win over the Roosters was particularly impressive and Cleary or not, I think that it puts them in good stead for another win this week.
The Dragons finished within the line as outsiders in last week’s match with the Raiders (as expected), but they were still comfortably beaten, and they’d need to go to a whole new level to compete for the full eighty in Round 22.
It certainly isn’t cause for celebrations just yet, but there is no doubt that the Broncos have been an improved side throughout the last month, and Friday night’s match with the Roosters will be a real indication of where they stand.
I’m not the biggest wrap on Kevvie Walters as a coach, but he has been thrown one of the great hospital passes with this Broncos side, and I think that it speaks volumes of the bloke and his passion for the club that he has continued to line up, have a crack and face the music when things haven’t gone well.
The Round 20 win over the Cowboys was franked with another quality effort, albeit a tight loss to the Knights last week, and they did it without names like Coates and Staggs.
The Roosters have been a little difficult to get a read on during the last couple of weeks, but Round 22 obviously offers far better prospects for success than last week’s game with the Panthers.
Our Neds Gold Coast Titans are flying, but the face an acid test in the red-hot Bunnies on Saturday afternoon.
They have finally started to find a little consistency, and would you believe, it has resulted in them climbing into the top eight – it really is an easy formula!
Justin Holbrook’s men look like they are having plenty of fun, and the emergence of exciting young half Toby Sexton has been the cherry on top of their recent run of results.
With the Sea Eagles having been beaten by the Storm in Round 21, the Bunnies could very well be the one side remaining with claims on beating Bellamy’s boys this year.
They absolutely flogged fellow top four side Parramatta last Friday, and being completely realistic, they are going to be a very stern test for the Titans.
Betting suggests that the best contest of the round will come up on Saturday evening, and there is a case to be made for both the Cowboys and the Tigers in Townsville.
The Cows have lost eight consecutive games heading into Round 22, and while finals really haven’t been a prospect for a long time now, they also face the possibility of slipping into second-last on the ladder.
The Tigers have also languished towards the bottom of the table all year, but they have returned several pleasing performances recently, and their warm favouritism in this match is justified.
I thought that Adam Doueihi had been a shining light for them and a real lynchpin in their competitive form, and I’m back him to crash over for another try on Saturday.
Manly look well placed to bounce back into winning form at the expense of the Eels on Saturday night.
Only four weeks ago this would have quite clearly been the match of the round, but the Eels have fallen right out of form, and they are in danger of dropping out of the top four.
The Sea Eagles certainly lost no admirers in last week’s tough loss to the ladder-leading Storm, and they were ultimately undone by careless errors. A few tightened screws leading into the finals, and I have little doubt they will make a deep run.
They can begin their surge with a comfortable win in Round 22.
The first of two Sunday matches at Redcliffe will see the Warriors taking on the Bulldogs and understandably, the former have opened clear favourites in betting.
Understandably because they still boast an outstanding team on paper, but boy have the Warriors been disappointing and impossible to trust in 2021.
They responded to the loss of game great RTS with a tough win over the Sharks in Round 22, and they’ll be confident of making it two in a row at the expense of the league’s cellar dwellers.
For mine, this is quite clearly the Bulldogs’ best opportunity to record one last win in 2021, and they’ve been a little more competitive recently.
At current prices, I’m going to give Barrett’s boys one last chance.
There is a case to be made for both the Sharks and the Knights in Round 22’s final match on Sunday afternoon.
Neither side has looked like a premiership threat at all this year, but they’ve been quite similar in their inconsistency, and their ability to seemingly beat good sides and lose to bad ones.
That alone builds this fixture into an intriguing one, and if both sides turn up eager to perform, I actually believe that this could be the highlight match of the week.
I don’t have as much between them as the bookies do and for that reason, I think that the value lies with backing the Sharks at the line as outsiders.