Round 3 of the NRL season is here and with the BetDeluxe Game of the Round ready to go, our team has a look at the rest of fixtures for this weekend.
All the best bets and selections for a big weekend of NRL.
wests tigers vs. new zealand
march 25th 6:00pm
At 0-2, both the Wests Tigers and New Zealand Warriors need to get a wriggle on if they are to salvage anything from season 2022.
The two teams go head to head on Friday night in a bid to kickstart their winning ways.
Flashes in the pan are all the Tigers and Warriors have to show for their two games to date.
The Tigers will embrace a return to their heartland at Campbelltown Stadium.
Having not played there since round nine last year, it presents a great opportunity for the crowd to get behind them and surge them to a win.
The problem for the Tigers is the poor form they bring into this match.
They were abysmal late in the piece against Newcastle.
The Warriors will not let them have it their own way after showing some good form in a free-flowing game against Gold Coast last week.
Going with the visitors in this one.
Suggested Bet: New Zealand -1.5 at $1.82
south sydney vs. sydney
march 25th 8:05pm
Fierce rivals have it out at when South Sydney Rabbitohs host the Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium on Friday night.
Sitting at 0-2 is not exactly what the Rabbitohs had in plan having lost to Brisbane Round 1 and then being narrowly defeated by an injury-depleted Melbourne Storm.
Losing Adam Reynolds in the off-season has proven detrimental to results so far as new coach Jason Demetriou finds a way the fill hole left by Reynolds.
Sydney, meanwhile, got its first win on the board after despatching Manly at the SCG last weekend.
Roosters captain James Tedesco was back to his best and he will be eager to bring to an end this three-game losing streak his squad has against South Sydney.
The Roosters should have enough in the locker to get the premiership points.
Suggested Bet: Sydney Roosters -4.5 at $1.99
penrith vs. newcastle
march 26th 3:00pm
Nathan Cleary will miss another round of NRL when Penrith takes on Newcastle at Carrington Park on Saturday afternoon.
Cleary was ruled out of the clash on Thursday afternoon as he continues his battle with recovery from a shoulder injury.
It opens the door for an in-form Newcastle team to pounce as it looks to hold onto its spot atop of the NRL table as well as its unblemished 2-0 start to the season.
Defence has been at the forefront of the Knights in the opening two rounds having only conceded 10 points.
They are going to make life hell for the Panthers if they can keep a strong defensive unit intact as they have done in the first two weeks.
Backing the Knights to cover the line.
Suggested Bet: Newcastle Knights +11.5 at $1.79
melbourne vs. parramatta
march 26th 5:30pm
An injury-ravaged Melbourne Storm will try to make it three from three to start to the season when it faces bogey team Parramatta at AAMI Park on Saturday.
The Storm held on for an epic 16-15 win over against South Sydney highlighting how well Craig Bellamy’s system and structures hold up despite missing key personnel.
Paramatta, meanwhile, for how disappoint it was against Cronulla last week, will be leaning on a strong recent record against the Storm.
The Eels toppled Melbourne on the two occasions they meet each other last season.
However, those games were played at CommBank Stadium and Suncorp, without a Storm crowd to push their troops on.
AAMI Park is a fortress for the Storm and they did start favourites in both games last season.
Bellamy’s men have proven themselves in the face of adversity before and they can do it again.
Suggested Bet: Melbourne Storm -4.5 at $1.92
canberra vs. gold coast
march 26th 7:35pm
If there was ever a team to make you pull your hair out and drive you insane it would have to the Canberra Raiders as they get set for a clash against Gold Coast.
The Raiders were overwhelming favourites against the lowly-ranked North Queensland Cowboys last week and failed to deliver.
With early pressure mounting on coach Ricky Stuart, then Green Machine needs to get its act together.
Gold Coast is no slouch of a team and brings in a 20-18 winning form line against New Zealand.
Canberra does have a knack of bouncing back strongly at home, but its last performance at GIO Stadium against the Titans was an unmitigated disaster.
A 44-6 belting is what the Raiders copped against Gold Coast and they need some sort of magical spell to bridge the gap.
The market has the Raiders favourites, which must be respected to a certain extent.
However, Titans to cover the line seems the way to go.
Suggested Bet: Gold Coast Titans +2.5 at $1.85
brisbane vs. north queensland
march 27th 4:05pm
Two old Queensland foes do battle when the Broncos host the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
Brisbane has looked a completely different team to the one we saw won only seven games in 2021.
It is thanks to the coaching nous of Kevin Walters and the leadership of Adam Reynolds who slotted into the club seamlessly since arriving from South Sydney.
North Queensland, meanwhile will be hoping it can bring to an end this undefeated Broncos by using the momentum of their strong 26-6 win over Canberra in Round 2.
The battle for influence on the contest between Cowboys winger Valentine Holmes and Broncos captain Reynolds will be intriguing.
Both are clearly the barometers for the performance of each other team and whoever gets on top will be helping determine this result in a big way.
This is going to be a hotly-contested match and we expect a close one.
Suggested Bet: North Queensland +6.5 at $1.81
manly vs. canterbury
march 27th 6:15pm
Manly will attempt to put disappointing start to the 2022 NRL season in the rear-view mirrow when it hosts last year’s wooden spooner Canterbury.
The Sea Eagles have looked nowhere near the unit which made it to the preliminary final last season.
A 28-6 loss against Penrith was compounded by a 26-12 loss against Sydney and going 0-3 will sound the warning siren.
Canterbury is clearly inferior opposition compared to Penrith and Sydney, but it has shown stark improvement on what we saw in 2021.
Sitting at 1-1 is definiely a pass mark and it had looked stronger in defence.
But dealing with Tom Trbojevic and Jason Saab, both keen to make amends for a poor start to the season, is a completely different kettle of fish.
If Manly was playing any other team, you could not back it on form, but given it is the Bulldogs, who still do look like a bottom six team, this should be a win for the home team.
Suggested Bet: Manly -10.5 at $1.89
