Rugby League

A feast of upsets and tight rugby league have the difference between the best and the worst in the NRL as close as it has ever been after three rounds.

Every team has registered a win in the first three weeks, which is the first time that has happened in 44 years, while just two premiership points separate third spot from last.

The old maxim of "no easy matches" is more apt than ever, and three matches are considered just about too close to call by the oddsmakers in Round 4, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

Thursday night's opening match between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters is not one of those, despite the bitter rivalry between these two sides.

The unbeaten Roosters are $1.40 to defeat the Rabbitohs ($3), despite South Sydney winning their past two matches with some ease.

Friday night sees Penrith Panthers go around the shortest-priced favorite for the round despite their early-season troubles. They are $1.20 to get the job done against the Newcastle Knights, who are $4.60.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXTGiC0WJUg

The Brisbane Broncos also desperately need a win after losing their past two and are $1.63 to get one against the Canberra Raiders, who broke through for a much-needed victory last week. The Raiders are $2.30 to secure just their second win in the past 10 trips to Suncorp Stadium.

The oddsmakers are not sure what to make of either the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles or the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, who both got their first wins last week. Their clash at Brookvale on Saturday sees the Bulldogs as $1.80 favorites with the Sea Eagles at $2.

It's a similar story in the match between the Parramatta Eels and the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. They are both $1.90, with the Eels having won two of their first three, while the Sharks' premiership defence is in danger of stagnating at 1-2.

The Gold Coast Titans host the North Queensland Cowboys in an all-Queensland clash, with the Cowboys clear-cut favorites at $1.60 and the Titans at $2.35.

The Wests Tigers sacked coach Jason Taylor this week and interim coach Andrew Webster fronts up against the premiership favorites, the Melbourne Storm. The Tigers host the game at Leichhardt Oval and are surprisingly short in the market at $2.65 with the unbeaten Storm at $1.48.

The final match of the round is another flip-of-the-coin job with the St George Illawarra Dragons at $1.90 against the New Zealand Warriors, who are the same price.

The Melbourne Storm will host their first home game of the year against one of their biggest rivals, the Brisbane Broncos, in the highlight match of Round 3 of the NRL this week.

The Storm, who were beaten by the Broncos at AAMI Park late last season, start as $1.57 AUD betting favorites in Thursday night's match, according to AustralianGambling.com.au, with Brisbane the clear outsiders at $2.42.

While Melbourne are unbeaten through the first two rounds, justifying their status as premiership favourites, the Broncos are 1-1 after a golden-point defeat last week and face finalist Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Canberra Raiders in the next fortnight.

The match will see the return of superstar Storm fullback Billy Slater, who has played just eight games in the past two seasons, and that should guarantee a bumper home crowd in Melbourne.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp3KsTi6zME

Friday night's matches see both the away teams start as favorites. The Gold Coast Titans, minus their star Jarryd Hayne, are $2.57 outsiders against the Parramatta Eels, who are $1.52 having won both of their games comfortably to sit top of the table.

The Bulldogs play a home game in Dunedin against the New Zealand Warriors, some 2,200 kilometers from their usual locale in the western suburbs of Sydney. It's still a 1,063 km trip for the Warriors, but the bookies think the Dogs' winless start to the season will roll on. They are $2.10 outsiders with the Warriors at $1.75.

Saturday's clash between the Penrith Panthers and the Sydney Roosters at Penrith has the oddsmakers scratching their heads. They can't pick a favorite, with both teams at $1.91.

The other Saturday matches are expected to be more clear cut. The South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Newcastle Knights might be both at 1-1, but Souths are heavily favored to take away the two points from the trip to the Steel City at $1.67, with the Knights at $2.37.

The shortest-priced favorites for the round are the North Queensland Cowboys, who are $1.28 to go 3-0 on the season as they host the Manly Sea Eagles, who are $3.75 having lost their first two games at home.

Sunday sees another two possibly lopsided encounters with Canberra at $1.40 to win their first game of the season as they host the Wests Tigers, who are $3.

The reigning premiers, the Cronulla Sharks, got their title defense moving last week with a big win over the Raiders, and they are $1.38 to beat the St. George Illawarra Dragon ($3.10) on Sunday night.

The opening round of the National Rugby League season produced its share of upsets, and oddsmakers are not confident about many of the matches heading into Round 2, with the lines for all eight games at a converted try or less.

Confidence in the Cronulla Sharks' title defence has certainly plummeted after they lost the season opener to the Brisbane Broncos, and they go into Saturday's clash with Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium as $2.40 (AUD) outsiders.

The Raiders, who were also Round 1 losers, are $1.57 to bounce back with a win on home soil and consign the Sharks to a 0-2 start, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

The round kicks off on Thursday night when the Sydney Roosters, who were big winners over the Gold Coast Titans last week, host the Canterbury Bulldogs at Allianz Arena.

The Roosters start the shortest-priced favourites of the round at $1.45 against a six-point line with the Bulldogs $2.75 having succumbed to the Melbourne Storm last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MYZta4hT-M

Speaking of the Storm, they travel to New Zealand for the early game on Friday to take on the Warriors, who beat the Newcastle Knights last week despite starting at a short price.

The Storm are $1.74 having won twice against New Zealand last season, while the home side are at $2.10.

The highlight of the round is the all-Queensland battle between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys. The Cowboys and the Broncos were both Round 1 winners, and there is a real confidence for big 2017s from both teams, who of course played out an epic 2015 Grand Final.

The oddsmakers can't split them. They are both $1.90, despite the Broncos having not lost to the Titans at Lang Park in five years.

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the South Sydney Rabbitohs both lost their opening matches and will be desperate to get a win on the board when they meet at Lottoland on Saturday afternoon. The Sea Eagles are priced as $1.60 favourites with the Rabbitohs at $2.35.

Sunday's matches promise to be tight with little between both the Wests Tigers ($2) and Penrith Panthers ($1.80) and the St George Illawarra Dragons ($2) and the Parramatta Eels ($1.80).

Interestingly, both the Tigers and Dragons were the big winners of Round 1, but both are slight outsiders going into their Round 2 matches.

The two NRL teams that have been most on the nose with punters in the offseason open proceedings on Thursday night when reigning premiers Cronulla host Brisbane.

The Sharks may have created history with their first premiership in their history in 2016, but there is no confidence in them repeating the feat in 2017, with Cronulla drifting from $9 in early premiership markets out to $15 and eighth pick overall.

It's been a similar story for the Broncos, who are out to $12 to win their first title in 11 years.

But when it comes to Thursday night's opener, it's the Broncos who have taken control of the favorite status, after being backed from $2 to $1.80 in the past few days, according to AustralianGambling.com.au. The Sharks, who are without Valentine Holmes, are out to $2.02.

There are two other games which feature clashes of teams from last year's final series, including Friday night's clash which sees last year's beaten grand finalists Melbourne Storm travel to Sydney to play the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who bowed out in the first week of the 2016 playoffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u70_S92FawE

The Dogs have beaten the Storm the last six times the team have met, giving those who have taken the $2 about them plenty of confidence heading into this match. Melbourne are equal favorites for the Premiership and accordingly go into this match as $1.81 favorites.

The other Friday night match sees two teams who missed last year's finals look to begin 2017 with some momentum. The South Sydney Rabbitohs, off the back of a confidence-building Charity Shield win over the St George Illawarra Dragons on Feb. 19, are $1.65 favorites, with the Wests Tigers at $2.25.

The best of the three Saturday matches sees last year's two beaten preliminary finalists face off as North Queensland Cowboys welcome the Canberra Raiders. The Cowboys are $1.40 favorites having not lost to the Raiders at home since 2006, while the Raiders are $3.

Penrith Panthers have been backed into equal favorites for the title on the strength of their young talent, which is undoubtedly the best in the composition.

The first indication we'll get of whether the Panthers go from boys to men this year will be against the Dragons on Saturday afternoon. They are $1.40 favorites, with the Dragons at $3.

The other team expected to make massive improvement this year are the Sydney Roosters, who finished second from bottom in 2016. Mitchell Pearce's return to full fitness plus the recruitment of Michael Gordon and Luke Keary has the Tricolors in great shape and at $10 to win the Premiership.

They travel to face the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday night and are $1.70 favorites with the home side at $2.15.

Sunday features the most lopsided game of the round according to the oddsmakers, with New Zealand Warriors at $1.17 as they host the battling Newcastle Knights, who are $5.10.

The afternoon match at Lottoland (formerly Brookvale) sees Manly Warringah Sea Eagles host Parramatta Eels, with the Sea Eagles at $1.80 and the Eels at $2.

The Kangaroos have never looked in a better position to re-assert their dominance on world rugby league than in this weekend's Four Nations final at Anfield.

Having progressed through the group stage of the tournament without incident, with big wins over Scotland and England split by a 14-8 success over New Zealand, Australia go into the final as raging $1.25 favorites, according to website AustralianGambling.

While this is not yet a vintage Australian side, the quality of their opposition in the tournament has been questionable.

The Kiwis' best performance of the tournament came against the Kangaroos two weeks ago in Coventry, when they conceded a 10-0 start after 10 minutes but then largely outplayed them for the rest of the match, only to lose by six points.

But despite that gallantry, New Zealand go into this match as $4 outsiders, needing to re-produce the intensity of the second half of that match to be a genuine chance.

Outside of that 40 minutes, they have struggled. They fell over the line 17-16 against England and against Scotland last week went within a whisker of falling victim to one of the great sporting upsets.

The teams split the points 18-18, which was enough to earn the Kiwis a spot in the final, but not before Scotland took the lead with 10 minutes left. Centre Gerard Beale proved the hero with two late tries.

Coach David Kidwell will be pinning his hopes on the Kiwis lifting against their old foe Sunday. They can put their patchy tour behind them with a complete performance in the final.

The bookies are convinced otherwise with the shortest price with the addition of a margin, a 13+ point win for Australia at $2.10. For the Kangaroos to win by under 13 is $2.75 while a NZ win by that small margin is $5. An over 13-point win by the Kiwis is a $15 chance.

Australia have won all three clashes between the two this year, but New Zealand won the previous three.

After two rounds of the 2016 Four Nations competition, it is Australia who are leading the way. Victories over Scotland and New Zealand have put them in the driver's seat to take the title.

This weekend they will face an England team needing not only a win, but a significant points-difference boost if they are to reach the final. New Zealand will face Scotland while looking to deny the English any chance of making the final.

The Kiwis are heavy favorites to beat Scotland priced at $1.01, according to Australian Gambling. A narrow win over England followed by a defeat to the Kangaroos has galvanized this New Zealand side, who are looking to retain the Four Nations title.

The superior quality that they have throughout their squad is likely to prove too much for Scotland.

Although 2016 is shaping up to be the year of the miracle underdog victory, the Scottish must overturn odds of $21. They managed to compete with England for long periods in their last match but will have to produce an incredible performance to beat the Kiwis.

Australia headed into this year's Four Nations with a point to prove after losing out to New Zealand last time around. With a blend of youth and experienced NRL players, the Kangaroos have begun to take strides forward in their development as a side.

They will be looking to return to the summit of the rugby league hierarchy and will be confident of dispatching the English at $1.25. England held so much promise for this tournament but have failed to deliver despite a squad boosted by their own world-class NRL talent.

Failure to reach the final on home soil would be a massive disappointment for them, and their inability to boost their points difference against Scotland may well have denied them that, even if they can beat Australia at a price of $4.

Heading into the last round of play before the final, England and New Zealand will be battling it out for the chance to play Australia at Anfield. By the time England play they will know exactly what they must do to better the Kiwis on the Four Nations ladder.

England will be the site of the Rugby League Four Nations Tournament this year, and they'll be hosting tournament holders New Zealand along with Australia and Scotland—who will open the competition this weekend. The Kangaroos will be looking to make a statement in their opening game as they try to regain the Four Nations crown.

Australia is a heavy favorite against Scotland at $1.01, according to website Australian Gambling. In contrast, Scotland stands at $21.00 to claim what would be an historic victory. A win for them would be even more remarkable considering that no fourth-ranked team has ever beaten any of the top three sides in this tournament.

Scotland will be relying on a number of foreign-born Scottish descendants to boost their chances against the big league nations. Lachlan Coote of the North Queensland Cowboys will get his chance to shine in a Scotland jersey. The Kangaroos, as ever, are a team full of confidence, with Origin, International and NRL experience, and they will be expected to blow away their rivals.

England this year will be looking to overthrow the dominance of New Zealand and Australia. With new head coach Wayne Bennett bringing a wealth of inside knowledge of both the NRL and Kangaroos setups, they may just have an edge.

New Zealand, however, are still priced as favorites to claim an opening-round victory over England at $1.74. Despite demoralizing defeats to Australia in their last two matches, they will be confident of beating an English side that has continually struggled against their southern hemisphere rivals.

Bennett has selected a squad with what he hopes is the right blend of Englishmen from the NRL and domestic Super League. They will be looking to overturn odds of $2.10 against the Kiwis.

As current holders of the Four Nations title, New Zealand are the team to beat. With rivalries across the board with all the teams, though, every game has the potential to be a classic.

Scotland will look to battle valiantly as underdogs, while England look to upset the odds and Australia try to regain their position at the top of the rugby league summit.

Ahead of the Four Nations tournament in England later this month, Australia and New Zealand will meet for a historic Test in Perth.

Western Australia will get its first glimpse of this enthralling sporting rivalry with the Kiwis looking to bounce back from a demoralizing 16-0 loss the last time they faced the Kangaroos. For Australia, that victory ended a run of three straight defeats to their trans-Tasman rivals.

According to website AustralianGambling.com.au, Australia is the favorite for this match at $1.40. The Kangaroos need a win here to set them up as they look to reclaim the Four Nations title from New Zealand.

A victory here would certainly put them in a great position before traveling to the UK. Head coach Mal Meninga is still searching for his best blend of youth and experience in the starting lineup.

Despite having lost to Australia in this year's Anzac Day Test, the Kiwis can head into this match with confidence, having won three out of the last four fixtures against the Kangaroos. Australia's domination in this fixture is a distant memory, and New Zealand will look to overturn a price of $3.00.

With a wealth of NRL talent, the Kiwis continue to get stronger every year.

Although New Zealand should provide a stern test for Australia, the punters are backing a big win for the Kangaroos. A 13-plus point victory stands as the favorite at $2.50, while a win of between one and 12 points is at $3.00. Meanwhile, for a New Zealand win by 13-plus points the price is $7.50, with a close-fought Kiwi win of one to 12 points at $4.25.

With England and Scotland awaiting both sides before the end of October, this one-off Test holds all the more importance. Momentum will be key heading into the Four Nations, as Australia and New Zealand both aim to be the best league nation in the world. Expect a huge clash in Perth this weekend when these two sides collide.

After a thrilling weekend of Preliminary Finals, only the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla Sharks remain in contention to be crowned NRL Premiers for 2016.

The Storm showed their experience to battle past the Canberra Raiders, while the Sharks blew the Cowboys out of the water. Cronulla will have to bring that game plan and level of intensity to the Grand Final if they are to overcome the Storm.

Having already secured the Minor Premiership, the Storm are looking to claim a double. Website Australian Gambling is reporting that bookmakers have priced the Storm at $1.83 to beat Cronulla. The Storm have an ideal blend of youth and experience throughout their squad, giving them an advantage over a side chasing their first Premiership.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeBJ1_iRblM

Melbourne's key men came to the forefront in the Preliminary Final and will likely do so again in Sydney.

Cronulla currently stands at $2.00 to win the Grand Final. The last time these two sides met it was Melbourne that took the victory, but the Sharks will be buoyed by the fact that they beat them earlier in the season in Sydney.

Confidence and temperament will be massive factors if the Sharks are to win. They fell apart as a side in the closing stages of the season after sitting atop the ladder for so long. There can be no place for such a drop-off in form in the Grand Final.

The competition to claim the Clive Churchill Medal for man of the match in the Grand Final is extremely close. Veteran Storm players Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith are the favorites priced at $5.00. Cronulla's James Maloney is set at $8.00.

This Grand Final is shaping up to be a particularly tough match to call as the big-stage rookies, the Sharks, take on the experienced Storm. It would be a monumental feat should Cronulla manage to secure their first Premiership title.

The season's top four ranked sides have all made it through the maze of playoffs to face off against each other in the NRL Preliminary Finals this week.

Form sometimes has no bearing, as with any knockout competition season, but the top performing teams throughout the year have continued to put in incredible performances. The Storm, Raiders, Sharks and Cowboys are each only two wins away from an NRL Premiership title.

North Queensland overcame a determined Brisbane side last week in an epic match that went all the way to extra time. It took a bit of Johnathan Thurston magic to seal the win despite the heavy physical toll that match must have taken on the Cowboys players, in particular the forwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCQNjgxwL7c

The Cowboys are betting favorites to make back-to-back Grand Finals, priced at $1.78, according to website AustralianGambling. Their opponent, Cronulla, will have an eye on an upset as they host the Cowboys. If they can keep the tempo of the game high, they may be able to take full advantage of their week off compared to a bruised and battered Cowboys side. Cronulla will look to overturn a price of $2.16.

Melbourne are heavy favorites to make it to the Grand Final. They are priced at $1.44 to beat the Raiders at home. The Storm have been sublime at AAMI Park so far this season and it is hard not to see them continuing that form. They have had the benefit of a week off in preparation for this match, whilst the Raiders had to overcome Penrith after a hard-fought loss to Cronulla in Week 1.

Canberra stand at $3.01 and will be hard pressed to overturn those odds. They showed throughout the year that they have the ability in their squad to mix it with the best teams in the league on their day but do they have one final effort to get themselves into the Grand Final?

As the Cowboys go looking for a second Grand Final appearance in two years, these matches have all the hallmarks to be classics. With such a massive prize on the line, it will come down to which side has the grit to battle through these Preliminary Finals.