There are only four weeks left in the NRL regular season – Is this how the top eight will look come finals time? The action is only heating up, and we go head-first into a top four clash when Penrith tackle the Storm at the foot of the mountains in Thursday night footy!
Friday sets up another potential finals preview when the Eels welcome the Rabbitohs to Commbank Stadium and it’s full steam ahead into another cracking Saturday of footy. The Roosters and Cowboys collide at the SCG in another top eight clash before the Knights travel to Brisbane, where they can expect to face a hungry Broncos side coming off reeling from consecutive losses.
The Raiders can keep their hopes of finals footy alive win another win on Sunday whilst also ending Dragons’ chances in the process. Check out my complete NRL Round 22 Tips below!
Could this be a Grand Final preview? The reigning premiers and current competition leaders Penrith take on the Melbourne Storm at the foot of the mountains first-up on Thursday night.
The Panthers were given a bit of a touch up by the Eels a fortnight ago, but they responded well to that loss and the loss of both Cleary and Luai with nice effort to sink the Raiders in Canberra last week.
Melbourne’s losing streak appears to be a thing of history, meanwhile, and they are chasing a hat-trick in Round 22 following wins over the Warriors and Titans.
With all injuries and omissions considered, I don’t have nearly as much between these two sides as they bookies do, so I think that backing the Storm to cover the line as outsiders is where the value lies.
The Dogs’ recent resurgence has been great, and they are fitting favourites to record another win over the Warriors in New Zealand on Friday.
Six wins this season sees the Dogs sit in 12th heading into Round 22, and I think that’s indeed where they will finish their campaign. They were gallant in defeat to top two side the Cowboys in Round 21, and this is obviously a big drop in class.
The Warriors have been terrible for almost the whole campaign, and they were thoroughly beaten again in Round 21, this time at the hands of the Rabbitohs. The end of the season cannot arrive quickly enough, and I simply don’t think they’ll be good enough to win this week.
In my humble opinion, the match of the round will almost certainly materialise between the Eels and the Bunnies in Friday night footy.
I’m famously not an Eels man, but there is no denying that they look to be hitting their straps in perfect timing for the finals, and they enter this match following wins over the Panthers and the Sea Eagles.
The Rabbitohs are also finding their best for a deep run through September, and have been since Latrell Mitchell’s return – I don’t think that there is any doubt he has been the key, whether involved in plays or just his overall presence.
I can’t split them, and I therefore think that this is another occasion that the value lies in backing the outsider to cover the line.
Alright, if that Friday night games doesn’t turn out to the best of Round 22, I think that this one will. The Roosters take on the Cowboys at the SCG on Saturday afternoon, and the former have opened favourites in betting.
I thought that the Roosters’ performance against a severely weakened Manly left plenty to the imagination in Round 20, but they were outstanding against the Broncos last week, and they will surely take plenty of confidence along with their momentum into this clash.
The Cowboys did enough to beat a decent Bulldogs side in Round 21, and they maintain their position in the NRL’s top two. I still can’t believe how good they’ve been this year – I had them pencilled in as a genuine spoon contender, but they genuinely wouldn’t look out of place lifting the Provan Summons Trophy come season’s end.
There is a case to be made for both, but the Cowboys seem to find ways to win more often!
The Tigers will be hopeful of mustering another good effort and upset victory when they take on the Sharks on Saturday evening.
It has been a long, largely fruitless campaign for the long-suffering Wests club, but a bit of recent business does seem to have buoyed them, and they’ve been in the contest with some good clubs over the last month, knocking off the Broncos most notably.
The Sharks meanwhile continue their charge towards a top four finish, and they were too good for the Dragons in Round 21.
While I’m sure the Tigers will try their hearts out again, I think that the Sharks will have identified that there is too much on the line for them not to record a big win this week.
At publish, the Neds bookies have the Broncos priced as the shortest favourites of the week, and they really should be recording a dominant win over the lowly Knights.
Their form has been a bit patchy since Origin, but the Broncos still have been competitive with far stronger opposition than they strike this week, and this is the perfect opportunity for them to get back to winning ways and instil a little belief and momentum ahead of their finals campaign.
The Knights did claim a rare win over the similarly lowly Tigers in Round 21, but it was anything but convincing, and they’d need to improve noticeably to compete effectively with a top eight side like the Broncos.
I think that this looks a great opportunity to have a Same Game Multi skewed towards the market favourites.
Our Same Game Multi selections are:
- Broncos (-18.5)
- Selwyn Cobbo 1st Try
- Kotoni Staggs Anytime Try
- $21.03
It has been a pretty forgettable week for the Canberra faithful, but all can be forgiven and forgotten with a win over the Dragons on Sunday afternoon, which would keep them in the frame of a previously unlikely finals berth.
Was Ricky Stuart out of line when he called Jaeman Salmon a ‘weak gutted dog’ last week? It doesn’t really have anything to do with footy, but its been the big talking point out of a game that also saw Canberra suffer a pretty decent defeat to the Panthers, and ultimately made their finals hopes a little more difficult.
The Dragons’ season is also teetering on the edge of ending after their too lost in Round 21 (away to the Sharks), and nothing short of a dominant win is required for Hook’s men this week.
All of that therefore sets up a pretty decent and potentially fiery contest in Round 22, and I’m going to stay away from match betting and the line – anything could happen!
Our Same Game Multi selections are:
- Sebastian Kris Anytime Try
- Highest Scoring Half (2nd)
- $5.75
The Sea Eagles will be desperate to bounce back when they meet the Titans on the Gold Coast on Sunday.
They were unlucky not to beat the Roosters two weeks ago, and their hopes of finals footy were almost certainly dashed with last week’s loss to Parramatta. That being said, they can keep the slightest mathematical hope alive with big wins in the next few weeks, starting in Round 22.
The Titans have been terrible this season, but I thought that this week included a big highlight for them – the signing of exciting young hooker, Sam Verrills. Rather than spending the bulk of their budget on a few big names, I think that this is exactly the sort of player they should be targeting, and hopes are bright from season 2023.