A preliminary final double headers headlines a massive weekend of Rugby League as four teams battle it out for a chance at premiership glory next week.
It all starts on Friday night when South Sydney faces Manly and then Saturday night brings us a rematch of the 2020 grand final when defending premier Melbourne takes on Penrith.
South Sydney vs. Manly
September 24th 7:50pm
Two old foes do battle for a place in the NRL Grand Final when the South Sydney Rabbitohs meets with Manly Sea Eagles on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
South Sydney come into this game fresh after having the week off following its 16-10 upset over Penrith in the qualifying final, while Manly has had to do it the hard way.
The Sea Eagles were humbled in their qualifying final loss against Melbourne going down 40-12 but rectified that result with a huge 42-6 win over Sydney in their semi-final last weekend.
Tom Trbojevic bounced back into form with two tries for the Sea Eagles and will be out to prove his claim as the best player in the league.
For the Rabbitohs, it’s all about Jaxson Paulo and Cody Walker providing the offensive threat close to the try line.
From a head-to-head perspective, the Rabbitohs have held sway for the last four games against the Sea Eagles.
Manly has not beaten a South Sydney team since Round 4 in 2019.
Since then, it has been the Rabbitohs winning by an over of nearly 16 points.
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett knows exactly what finals are all about and his side looks poised to make a grand final in what will be his last year as head coach.
Suggested Bets:
South Sydney -1.5 at $1.81
Jaxson Paulo first try scorer at $10
Total points scored under 44.5 at $1.90
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: South Sydney -2.5
Leg 2: J. Paulo anytime try
Leg 3: T. Trbojevic anytime try
Leg 4: Total points scored under 45.5
Combined odds = $15
Melbourne vs. Penrith
September 25th 4:00pm
The new found rivalry of the NRL is set for another episode when last year’s grand finalists Melbourne and Penrith face off in a huge preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers will have to dig deep to refill their tanks ahead of facing a fresh and invigorated Melbourne Storm side in this Saturday night’s Suncorp Stadium showdown.
The grinding 8-6 win over Parramatta on Saturday in Mackay was an energy-sapping encounter and the Panthers haven’t got the luxury the Storm have enjoyed – virtually 14 days of rest to soothe some of their aches and pains.
The break has meant Josh Addo-Carr is welcomed back to the Storm team after getting over his hamstring complaint which kept him out of the big win over Manly.
These are the best two teams from the 2021 NRL club competition – 21 wins each from 24 matches.
In head-to-head match-ups, the spoils were shared with the Panthers winning their round-three game while the Storm exacted revenge in round 20.
Only once in the past five years (2019) did Storm not make the grand final after a week off.
History suggests Craig Bellamy is the king of the big games.
His counter, Ivan Cleary, will be hoping his team keeps the same sort of discipline and defensive mindset against the Storm as it did against the Eels having conceded just two penalties over 80 minutes and six points.
We are set for a bruising encounter here, but the week off is going to do the Storm of a world of good and it should mean they finish stronger than the Panthers.
This will be tight for the first half, but expect the Storm to pull away late in the game.
Suggested Bets:
Melbourne Storm -9.5 at $1.86
Josh Addo-Carr first tryscorer at $7.5
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Melbourne -8.5
Leg 2: J. Addo-Carr anytime try
Leg 3: G. Jennings anytime try
Leg 4: Total points scored over 41.5
Combined odds = $5.5
