2016 NRL Round 17 Betting Tips
We’ve hit the final stretch on the 2016 NRL season as it’s already now or never for teams to make their moves and cement their positions in the 2016 Finals. With that in mind let’s take a look at our 2016 NRL Round 17 betting tips.
Sydney Roosters Vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Thursday, June 30)
The Roosters are fresh off the bye and looking strong this week. Halfback Mitchell Pearce will return after missing five weeks with a calf injury. Both Aidan Guerra and Blake Ferguson also return to the side after their respective Origin performances. Their return will shift Sam Moa onto the bench and Chris Smith and Joseph Manu have been omitted.
The Bulldogs are the superior side. Last weekend against a full strength Broncos, they were seemingly unstoppable. Very few, myself included, expected the bulldogs to come out victorious against the Broncos and certainly not 40-14 victors. Aiden Tolman was the best on ground, taking possession of the ball 27 times while running it 230 metres and making 41 tackles. His performance was followed closely by Brett Morris who in his first game for the season moved the ball 147 metres and scored 3 tries. Another plus for the Bulldogs was Kerrod Hollands’ kicking game. Holland kicked 6 of 7 conversions, a huge improvement from his recent performances which includes his Round 12 air ball incident.
Tip: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 13+ – $2.72 at CrownBet
Brisbane Broncos Vs Melbourne Storm (Friday, July 1)
Friday night we’ll see the Melbourne Storm travel to Suncorp to take on the Brisbane Broncos. The Storm are having a stellar season. Currently sitting in 2nd position, Melbourne will enter this one off the back of a strong win against the Wests Tigers. Last weekend Melbourne’s first half was impeccable. Felise Kaufusi got off to a quick start, scoring back-to-back tries in the first 20 minutes, quickly followed by Tuhu Harris and Marika Koroibete who both crossed the line before half time. Despite a 26 – 0 lead at half time, Melbourne allowed the Tigers to fight back and ended up winning the game by only 9 points. Storm will have to be vigilant about this drop off. The Broncos wont hesitate to exploit any weakness in Melbourne’s line.
The Broncos, on the other hand, are coming off a staggering 14-40 loss to the Bulldogs. With 6 players backing up from a tough Origin Game 2, the Broncos were overpowered. They struggled to complete sets and as a result gave the game away. Alex Glenn, Andrew McCullough and Lachlan Maranta have all been named to return for the Broncos. With Maranta on the wing, McCullough back at hooker and Glenn in the 2nd row, the Broncos are looking about as strong as they have all season. Greg Eden, Herman Ese’ese and Tom Opacic have all been omitted.
This one will be close and definitely worth a look. In the end we are expecting Melbourne to disappoint the Broncos faithful.
Tip: Melbourne Storm Head to Head – $2.30 at CrownBet
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Vs Parramatta Eels (Saturday, July 2)
Ladder leaders Cronulla Sharks are dominating the league at every turn. Currently on an 11-game winning streak, the Sharks have certainly earned their position atop the NRL ladder. Last weekend five-eighth James Maloney kicked a game winning field goal after the Sharks entered ‘golden point’ against the Warriors. The only change to the Sharks lin- up is Sosaia Feki who will slot onto the wing, pushing Ricky Leutele to the extended bench.
Just when the Eels thought their season couldn’t get any worse, Semi Radradra is still MIA. Well not really. We know exactly where he is – he’s in Fiji. The native Fijian left Australia a couple of weeks ago and currently there are no real signs he’s planning on returning. Despite this, the Eels have named Radradra to take the field against the Sharks on Saturday night. Team wise the Eels have not named any changes to their line up.
The Sharks, meanwhile, are on another level. Quite frankly the Eels aren’t in any position to beat them. This one should come down to how much the Shark win by.
Tip: Cronulla Sharks at the line -10.0 – $1.92 at CrownBet
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Vs St. George Illawarra Dragons (Monday, July 4)
The Dragons are coming off two solid wins – first against Melbourne and last weekend against the Knights. While most people expected the Dragons to overpower the Knights, it was the consistency in-play that surprised us most.
Benji Marshall hasn’t been quite the same since he returned to the NRL. Last week against the Dragons, we saw glimpses of what he was once known for. Marshall had a ripper of a run with 2 try assists, a line break and he followed it up with a try of his own. Tariq Sims is the only addition to the Dragons line-up. He missed last week’s game against his former club due to trade regulations.
Manly welcomed back DCE last weekend who scored the Sea Eagles opening try. Despite his inclusion, the Cowboys proved too strong for them. With their season on the line, Manly came out guns blazing and we expect they’ll do the same this weekend. With DCE back in the side, Dylan Walker was able to shift back into the centres where he is more comfortable. The most interesting part of last weeks’ game was the fact four of the Sea Eagles tries came off the bench. Addin Fonua-Blake was the most damaging, scoring 2 in his 15 minutes of game time.
As we saw last week, the Eagles still have something left in the tank. This paired with Mondays game being played at Brookvale, should send shivers down the Dragons’ spines. We are expecting a close game with neither team getting out to a substantial lead at any time.
Tip: Either Team By Under 6.5 – $2.90 at CrownBet
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