NRL Weekly Betting Tips, Odds & Predictions

insert introRound 16 will be a shortened week in the NRL, with seven teams enjoying a bye and only five games set to take place over the course of the weekend. For the second time in three weeks there will be no Thursday night game, with the round’s action kicking off when the Dolphins host the Storm in an intriguing Friday night clash. Later in the weekend, the Roosters take on the Bulldogs in Gosford on Saturday afternoon, while that evening the resurgent Rabbitohs host the Sea Eagles as they search, remarkably, for a fourth consecutive win. Below, we have previewed all five of the matches set to take place over this abridged round of the NRL. 

Incredibly, we are now four months into the season and the Dolphins are still in the top four. After another strong start to the year a tumble down the ladder at some point has felt inevitable, and realistically there are still at least a couple of far more talented teams below them that will likely take their place at some point over the coming weeks.

But these Dolphins are not giving up their spot up without a fight. After consecutive tight losses they had what looked like a difficult matchup in Cronulla against the Sharks last Thursday, but they came out of the blocks like a team possessed and opened up a 22-0 lead by the 25-minute mark. Unsurprisingly the home side did come storming back, and a 79th minute try by Sione Katoa could have resulted in extra time had Nicho Hynes converted it. Alas, he didn’t, the Dolphins won by two points, and maintained their hold on fourth spot as a result. But though they are sitting pretty for the time being, they are just two games ahead of the Dragons back in 11th and have yet another tough game coming up this weekend, this time against the Storm.

The Storm have been offensively electric over the past month, the solitary exception coming when they were defeated by the Sea Eagles; in the three other of their past four games they have scored at least 36 points, in the last two weeks notching up solid wins against first the Knights and then the Warriors. Those victories have seen them retain their hold on top spot on the NRL ladder over the past few weeks, and with a three-game lead over the Roosters in fifth they are in a great position to once again finish top four.

With grander aspirations than just a top four finish they will be hoping to secure a home double chance with a top two finish, and with the end to the home and away season gradually coming into sight, games like this against fellow potential finalists will have a big say on whether they can manage to achieve that accomplishment. Based on the way that the Storm have been playing over recent weeks this should be a high-scoring game, and while the Dolphins will make things hard for them, the Storm – in Ryan Papenhuyzen’s return from injury – should be able to notch up a third consecutive win.

Predicted Squads

The Dolphins: 1. Trai Fuller 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Jake Averillo 4. Herbie Farnworth 5. Jack Bostock 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Kenny Bromwich 11. Connelly Lemuelu 12. Euan Aitken 13. Max Plath 14. Josh Kerr 15. Mark Nicholls 16. Ray Stone 17. Tevita Pangai Junior 18. Oryn Keeley 19. Sean O'Sullivan 20. Mason Teague 21. Tesi Niu 22. Anthony Milford

Melbourne Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. Will Warbrick 3. Grant Anderson 4. Nick Meaney 5. Sua Fa'alogo 6. Tyran Wishart 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Tui Kamikamica 9. Bronson Garlick 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eli Katoa 13. Trent Loiero 14. Jack Howarth 15. Christian Welch 16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 17. Joe Chan 18. Reimis Smith 19. Dean Ieremia 20. Lazarus Vaalepu 21. Chris Lewis 22. Kane Bradley

After a really impressive couple of months put the dreadful first few weeks of the Titans season well and truly in the rearview mirror, they have hit a wall over the past fortnight with consecutive poor losses to fellow cellar dwellers. The first came in humiliating fashion to a resurgent Rabbitohs outfit – they lost that one 46-12 – and while last week wasn’t nearly as emphatic, a loss to the Tigers is not something that any team particularly wants on their resume.

That loss sent them back to the bottom of the ladder – albeit very marginally – and with a tough game against a Warriors team that has been really good form of late, they are a good chance of staying there for at least another week. The Warriors actually had a three-game winning streak snapped last week against the Storm, though they were far from disgraced. Up against potentially the best team in the league outside of the Panthers, they were in it up to their eyeballs for about an hour before the Storm accelerated away late.

Prior to that they had been in really good form, beating the Panthers, Dolphins and Cowboys in consecutive weeks, the latter of those victories coming by a margin of 30 points. The Warriors wouldn’t have been thrilled with conceding 38 points last weekend, but up against the Titans they will feel confident in their ability to prevent a similar outcome this Saturday. Currently back in 12th, the Warriors have some work to do if they are to play finals this year, but given that they are just a game and a half away from fifth, things could change very quickly, and given how they have been playing of late it looks like it might do just that. Up against a struggling Titans team, they should be able to return to the winners’ list with a comfortable victory.

Predicted Squads

Gold Coast Titans: 1. Keano Kini 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. Phillip Sami 5. Jojo Fifita 6. Jayden Campbell 7. Kieran Foran 8. Keenan Palasia 9. Chris Randall 10. Josiah Pahulu 11. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 13. Erin Clark 14. Sam Verrills 15. Isaac Liu 16. Iszac Fa'asuamaleaui 17. Joe Stimson 18. Tanah Boyd 19. Jacob Alick-Wiencke 20. Ken Maumalo 21. Arama Hau 22. Jaylan De Groot

New Zealand Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Edward Kosi 3. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 4. Adam Pompey 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Te Maire Martin 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Wayde Egan 10. Jackson Ford 11. Marata Niukore 12. Dylan Walker 13. Tohu Harris 14. Chanel Harris-Tavita 15. Jacob Laban 16. Jazz Tevaga 17. Tom Ale 18. Bunty Afoa 20. Taine Tuaupiki 21. Moala Graham-Taufa 22. Freddy Lussick 23. Demitric Sifakula

• The Raiders’ last four wins have come by an average of just two points.
• The Warriors are 3-2 in their past five games with those losses coming to the Storm and the Roosters, while the Titans have lost their past two games to bottom four teams.
• The Storm’s last four games have seen an average of 60 points scored, while the last two and four of the last six Dolphins games have surpassed 50 points.

Multi of the Week

The Tigers are off the bottom of the ladder! Insignificant an achievement though that may be, given how much time they have spent there in recent years it feels worthy of acknowledgement, particularly given that it may very well not remain the case for long. They hauled themselves out of bottom spot with a long-awaited win over the Titans last weekend, their first since the 1st of April and one which saw them switch places with the team that they beat. They have another winnable game this weekend at home against the Raiders, but after that their fixture gets pretty ugly for a month or so, so if they want to win again anytime soon then this weekend might have to be the time they do it.

The Raiders somehow sit in seventh spot, but as was the case throughout the course of last year, their ladder position is not really reflective of their ability as a team. They have once again managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat numerous times this year, and they have a points difference worse than all but the bottom four teams despite boasting a 7-6 record. Perhaps that all sounds a little harsh; winning tight games is a genuine art and they are as good as any team in the league at it, but they have begun throwing in a few ugly performances of late which are suggestive of a team that is not going to hang around in the eight all that much longer.

In the past six weeks they have lost 40-0 to the Sharks, 44-16 to the Roosters and last week 34-16 to the Cowboys, and though they have notched up three wins in that time those have been by a combined total of just seven points. But for all of that criticism of the Raiders, one thing that they have shown an ability to consistently do this year is to beat the teams below them. They may not have nearly the talent to go with the best in the business and a few more floggings will likely come their way over the rest of the season as a result, but when they play the bottom feeders they generally get the job done. When they do win the Raiders have an incredible penchant for doing it by a small margin and that may be the case again this weekend, but they should hold on to their spot in the top eight for at least another week with an eighth victory of the season to conclude Round 16.

Predicted Squads

Wests Tigers: 1. Jahream Bula 2. Solomona Faataape 3. Brent Naden 4. Justin Olam 5. Charlie Staines 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Api Koroisau 10. Fonua Pole 11. Reuben Porter 12. Samuela Fainu 13. Justin Matamua 14. Tallyn Da Silva 15. Sione Fainu 16. Alex Seyfarth 17. Kit Laulilii 18. Heath Mason 19. Luke Laulilii 20. Adam Doueihi 21. Tony Sukkar 22. Jordan Miller

Canberra Raiders: 1. Jordan Rapana 2. Nick Cotric 3. Matt Timoko 4. Seb Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Kaeo Weekes 8. Josh Papalii 9. Danny Levi 10. Joe Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Morgan Smithies 14. Zac Woolford 15. Ata Mariota 16. Trey Mooney 17. Emre Guler 18. Albert Hopoate 19. Adrian Trevilyan 20. Hohepa Puru 21. Simi Sasagi 22. Adam Cook

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