A plethora of teams have byes this weekend, but it does not mean we can rest on our laurels.
Four games worth of fixtures to plough through to find the best bets for Round 17 of the NRL season.
cronulla vs. melbourne
july 7th 7:50pm
This is some way to start Round 17, with Melbourne travelling north to take on Cronulla in a top-four battle.
Not often does the Storm lose two in a row, and they will be eager to find a way back into form after falling 36-30 against a resurgent Manly.
Meanwhile, Cronulla had to grind out an 18-6 victory against Canterbury, making it three wins in a row.
The Sharks sit fourth with a game in hand on the Cowboys, but two games behind them on the table, and they also pose a game away from Melbourne, so this result is critical in the hunt for a strong position in the top four.
Craig Bellamy will take confidence in the recent form his mob has shown against Cronulla as it holds sway to a five-game winning streak dating back to 2019.
With Ryan Papenhuyzen getting back into the swing of things after missing out the last two months with injury and COVID, the Storm has all the makings to find a way back into winning form.
Suggested Bet: Melbourne Storm -1.5 at $1.90
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Storm -1.5
Leg 2: Total points under 37.5
Leg 3: R. Papenhuyzen, anytime try
Combined odds = $7
newcastle vs. south sydney
july 8th 7:55pm
Newcastle and South Sydney meet on Friday night with a host of players out of both teams due to Origin Three this weekend.
Kalyn Ponga will remain on the sidelines for the Knights, which is enormously positive for the Souths, who will be looking to utilise the form of Latrell Mitchell.
The South Sydney skipper looked back to his best in a 30-12 win against Parramatta last weekend with his kicking game on song.
Knights will have a tough time containing this dangerous Souths outfit looking to generate momentum in the back half of the season.
Suggested Bet: South Sydney -4.5 at $1.90
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: South Sydney -4.5
Leg 2: Total points over 40.5
Leg 3: L. Mitchell anytime try
Combined odds = $5.25
wests tigers vs. parramatta
july 9th 7:35pm
With its season going from bad to worse, Wests Tigers return from a 22-2 thumping against New Zealand when it prepares for battle against a wounded Parramatta.
The Eels were left shellshocked by South Sydney last weekend as they went down by 18 points and will want to wrestle back some momentum after a month of ebbs and flows.
To put it bluntly, when analysing this game, you just could not put your hard-earned money on the Tigers at the moment.
Eels have the class edge here.
Suggested Bet: Parramatta Eels -10.5
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Parramatta -10.5
Leg 2: Total points over 39.5
Leg 3: Maika Sivo anytime try
Combined odds = $3.90
brisbane vs. st george illawarra
july 10th 4:05pm
With Adam Reynolds back in the fold for Brisbane, he will be keen to lead his troops to victory against St. George Illawarra after a disappointing loss to North Queensland last week.
Reynolds returned from a hamstring niggle and described his performance as ’embarrassing’ against the Cowboys, so expect a significant response from the proud Broncos captain.
St George does bring in winning form to this game but expect the Broncos to surge back into the winner’s list.
Suggested Bet: Brisbane Broncos -2.5 at $1.90
Suggested Same Game Multi:
Leg 1: Brisbane -2.5
Leg 2: Total points under $4.33
Leg 3: Corey Oates anytime try
Combined odds = $4.33
