By the time that Round 14 of the NRL kicks off, Origin 1 will be in the history books, and it’s full steam ahead towards the second half of the NRL season!
The Tigers are back in action first-up against the Raiders on Friday night, while a further six games will be contested on Saturday and Sunday.
Three teams, the Eels, Knights and Sea Eagles are on the bye, and you can find my complete NRL Round 14 Tips below.
Wests Tigers take on the Canberra Raiders in Round 14’s opener on Friday night, and incredibly, it looms as one of the better contests of the week.
The Tigers enter the match refreshed after a week off and prior to that, having won three of four matches.
Api Koroisau’s availability and selection is obviously key to their chances, but if he does suit up, I rate them as an excellent chance of winning this.
The Raiders bounced back from a shock loss to Manly with a valuable win over Souths (albeit a depleted Souths), and they take plenty of momentum into this one.
I’m going to take the value on offer for the upset!
The Warriors and Dolphins lock horns across the ditch on Saturday afternoon.
Plenty of pundits, this one included, expected the Warriors to come out and towel up an Origin-depleted Broncos in Round 13, but it didn’t happen.
It didn’t happen so much that they actually lost.
Are the Wahs returning their former (in)glory? Surely not. I surely hope not, anyway.
The ‘Phins meanwhile returned another performance that is becoming synonymous with their debut campaign; competitive early, before running away with it late, when they beat the Dragons in Redcliffe on Thursday night.
The Warriors should start favourites as they bounce back from defeat at home, but I think that the value lies in backing the Dolphins to cover the line as outsiders.
The Titans and Bunnies do battle on Saturday evening, and this is certainly one that will be affected by who will and won’t back up from Origin.
It’s simple enough for the Titans, if all of their Origin players step out, they are a competitive chance but if Tino, for example, doesn’t, I give them no hope at all.
A desperately understrength South Sydney took the Raiders all the way last week and while they did fall short, it was still a very good performance.
The Titans were on the bye, meanwhile, and prior to that they were pipped at the post by the lowly Bulldogs.
I’m confident the Titans players will back up, and given that Latrell is already a certainty to miss, I think that Souths will elect to rest as well.
For those reasons, I’m taking the Titans to cover.
The second-placed Sharks do battle with the third-placed Broncos in the Shire on Saturday night and assuming most of the stars are engaged, this will be one to remember!
The Sharks did fall into a small form around Magic Round, but they towelled the Knights in Round 12, before enjoying a well-earned break last weekend.
The Broncos are yet to have their first bye of the season and they really are hanging out for it.
Sure, they ground the Warriors down enough to get the win last week, but they were probably lucky to do it and that came after consecutive losses to the Storm and the Panthers.
Nicho Hynes is obviously vital for the Sharks, while the Broncos will obviously welcome back anyone and everyone they can get.
I’m going to stay away from match betting and the line, and instead focus in on a couple of the league’s standout try scorers.
Same Game Multi selections:
- Sione Kotoa Anytime Try
- Ronaldo Mulitalo Anytime Try
The bye simply couldn’t have come soon enough for the Chooks.
I tipped them to win the whole thing this year, but they’ve been next to awful, suffering three-consecutive defeats leading into their week off.
Will the refresh do them good? Maybe, but I now have to see it before I believe it!
The Dogs’ rebuild has continued to be frustrating, but rarely ever is anything expected of them, and the has resulted in a few smart performances and upset victories in 2023.
The Dogs CAN beat the Roosters, but I certainly don’t have the confidence to say they WILL, so this is another one for which I’m going to steer away from match betting and the line.
The Cowboys return home in Round 14, but are charged with overcoming the ever-dangerous Melbourne Storm.
Good form hasn’t been a thing pretty much all season for the Cows, but you wouldn’t have known that when Billy Slater selected no fewer than five North Queenslanders for the Maroons.
Could State of Origin be the catalyst required for the Cows returning to form? It genuinely could be, and boy, do they need something to return the spark.
For their standards, the Storm really have flown under the radar in 2023, and given they are still missing a few key gamebreakers, their upside is potentially enormous.
I can’t have the Cows at any point, let alone with so many key players backing up, and against an opponent of this calibre.
The most one-sided match of the round will almost certainly materialise on Sunday evening when the Panthers take on the Dragons at the foot of the mountains.
Even understrength, this Penrith side is simply too good for the Dragons, and I’m expecting it to get ugly.