The penultimate round of the regular season has arrived! For some clubs, the situation really is reaching boiling point and results could not be more vital. For others, the close of the season simply cannot arrive quickly enough – particularly if some of last week’s blowout score lines are any indication!
The Broncos and the Eels kick off Thursday night footy and it looms as a potential week 1 finals preview, given how the ladder is currently shaped.
Prepare yourself for a weekend of blockbusters, beginning on Friday night when the Storm and the Roosters clash in Melbourne. On Saturday, the Sharks can cement a top four spot with a win over the Bulldogs, before the Rabbitohs welcome the Cowboys to Accor Stadium.
The Titans have shown glimpses of a team desperate to avoid last place and they play the lowly Knights on Sunday afternoon, with the loser a genuine chance of finishing with the spoon.
Check out our complete NRL Round 24 Tips below!
Round 24 of the NRL gets underway with a bang, and some serious implications go on the line when the Broncos host the Eels.
The Broncos have certainly slipped out of form, and at possibly the worst time possible. Their patchy win over the lowly Knights two weeks ago clearly didn’t count for much, and the slumped to a 60-12 defeat to the Melbourne Storm, in Brisbane, Round 23. Things don’t get a whole lot easier this week and realistically, they could be joined on competition points by the Raiders.
The Eels meanwhile thrashed the Bulldogs in Round 23, and they take all of the momentum into this clash. They’ve well and truly had the better of the Broncos in recent seasons, and with a top four berth still a possibility, I think they’ll be winning again.
The Penrith Panthers have opened clear and justifiable $1.02 favourites in NRL betting ahead of their Round 24 clash with the New Zealand Warriors.
Their form without Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai was looking shaky, but last weekend’s tough win over the in-form Rabbitohs really was something to behold, and they subsequently wrapped up another deserved minor premiership. This is a big drop in class, and it’s tough imagining them losing.
The end of the season cannot arrive quickly enough for the Warriors, and thankfully, this will be their penultimate fixture in 2022. They suffered another hefty defeat to the Cowboys in Round 23 and face a similarly daunting task at the foot of the mountains.
This looks a great opportunity to have a Same Game Multi.
Our Same Game Multi selections:
- Panthers 13+
- Stephen Crichton Anytime Try
- Dylan Edwards Anytime Try
Two of, if not THE TWO formed sides in the NRL clash when the Storm host the Roosters in Friday night footy, and I cannot bloody wait.
The Storm’s midseason slump is well and truly a thing of history, and they’ve re-affirmed their premiership credentials first with a win over the Panthers in Round 22, and secondly with a bullish demolition job of fellow top eight club the Broncos in Round 23. They’re flying high and are always an almost impossible task to overcome in Melbourne.
The Roosters have also returned to form in recent weeks, and take their place in this contest following big wins over the Broncos and Cowboys, and after putting 72 points on Wests Tigers last week. Sure, the Tigers aren’t good, but 72 puts against any club in the world’s best competition cannot be ignored.
I don’t have nearly has much between these two as the bookies seem to, and I therefore think that the value lies in backing the Roosters to cover the line as outsiders.
The Raiders continue their desperate bid to make the top eight when they host the Sea Eagles in the nation’s capital on Saturday afternoon.
They’ve been anything but a consistent performer this season and they almost certainly cannot win the premiership, even if they do sneak into the finals. The being said, they’ve done enough to win more often than not recently, and their recent form has been a lot better than say, the Broncos, who look most likely to drop out.
The Sea Eagles haven’t been able to take a trick this season. Turbo’s injury being the most significant, but A LOT of their stars have been ruled out, particularly at the pointy end of the campaign, and this will be their penultimate appearances. They have a decent record against the Raiders, but with nothing to play for, away from home and missing several key names still, I can’t imagine them winning.
The Sharks can (at least momentarily) climb into the top two by beating the Bulldogs in Round 24 of the NRL.
Their resurgence under Craig Fitzgibbon has been nothing short of outstanding, and the Sharks would not look out of place in an NRL Grand Final and even hoisting a Provan Summons Trophy in 2022. They gelled immediately and have continued to improve as the season has progressed, and they made another statement in Round 23 with a big win over the Sea Eagles – their first at Brookvale for 15 years.
The Bulldogs have been a lot better throughout the last couple of months, but they were thrashed by the Eels in Round 23, and it does look like they’ve switched off, with one eye on Mad Monday celebrations. The really only leaves one outcome to this contest, in my opinion.
Our Same Game Multi selections:
- Sharks (-20.5)
- Ronaldo Mulitalo Anytime Try
- Highest Scoring Half (2nd)
Another thrilling top eight clash will materialise on Saturday night when the Rabbitohs and Cowboys meet in Sydney.
The Bunnies have been high flying since the return of Latrell Mitchell, and while they did suffer defeat at the hands of an understrength Panthers side in Round 23, they were in the contest the entire way. Some pundits declared that they now cannot win the Premiership, and they’ll be eager to silence those few with a big response this week.
The Cows remain in second position heading into Round 24, but assuming the Sharks get the chocolates earlier in the day, nothing short of a win will be required for them to stay there. Their record on the road has actually been better than their home record this season, but they were outclassed by the Roosters at their last appearance in Sydney.
I genuinely believe that this one could fall either way, so I am staying away from match betting and the line.
Our Same Game Multi selections:
- Latrell Mitchell Anytime Try
- Valentine Holmes Anytime Try
Certainly not the match of the week from an anticipation perspective, but betting does suggest that Sunday’s meeting between the Tigers and Dragons could be one of the more tightly fought contests.
The Tigers’ wretched season hit a new low they were suffered a shocking 72-6 defeat to the Roosters in Round 23. Absolutely nothing could be taken from that game – they were undermanned, have nothing to play for and clearly stopped playing – throw away the tape and move on.
The Dragons are also out of finals contention, but they did manage to put 46 points on the Titans in Round 23, and they face a similar task against the Tigers on Sunday. With Ben Hunt still a very live chance of winning the Dally M, his side can lift and record another win.
The Titans have opened favourites to score a late season consolation win over the Knights in the penultimate round of the NRL regular season.
It has been a very forgettable year for both of these clubs, and has been particularly suffering for two long-suffering sets of fans, who probably rightly expected more of their sides this year.
Having snuck into the finals in 2021 and only just missed beating the Roosters in Week 1, the Titans have floundered this year, and really will be lucky not to finish last.
The Knights meanwhile have promised plenty for a few seasons now and delivered little, and they’ve been particularly poor this year.
All of that combined, and this isn’t the best conclusion to a round that we have witnessed.