NRL 2024 Round 4 – Betting tips & Predictions

As it so often does, the start of the NRL season has thrown up a lot of unexpected results, and three weeks in we have the Rabbitohs sitting on the bottom of the ladder, the Broncos also in the bottom four and the Cowboys the only undefeated team. But three weeks is just that, and there is still plenty of water to go under the bridge in what is a long season. Round 4 will take place over five days on Easter weekend, kicking off with a big game between two Premiership fancies in the Roosters and Panthers on Thursday night, and concluding with the annual Easter Monday matchup between the Eels and the Tigers. Take a look at our previews for all eight games set to take place this long weekend below. 

This is not a bad way to start Round 4. The Roosters and the Panthers both find themselves in the top three Premiership favourites according to NRL betting sites, each having won two of their first three games. The Roosters bounced back from a disappointing Round 2 defeat to the Sea Eagles in impressive fashion last weekend, handing what would have been a very satisfying belting to their old rivals in the Rabbitohs. They flew out of the blocks with a try to Dominic Young in the third minute of that game and continued to pile on the pain from there onwards, ending up 48-6 victors at the end of 80 minutes. The Panthers were equally impressive last weekend. After bouncing back from their opening round loss to the Storm with a win over the Eels in Round 2, they came up against the team they knocked off in last year’s Grand Final last Thursday night in what loomed as an early season test for the three-time reigning Premiers. It wasn’t. They bounced out of the blocks with four first half tries to lead 22-2 at the break and quickly extended that lead to 34-2 early in the second, and while the Broncos pegged that lead back slightly, the 34-12 final score was still indicative of what was a very one-sided affair. It was an imposing performance from the Panthers as they attempt to demonstrate that they are still the best team in the business despite having lost so many of their Premiership stars, and a win at Allianz Stadium against the Roosters would be a great way to further solidify that fact. Neither team will find it nearly as easy to score on Thursday night as they did last weekend in what will likely be a fiercely contested affair, and it’s hard to imagine a whole lot separating these teams come the game’s end. The Panthers will be extremely tough to beat, but after last week’s performance, the Roosters look like good value to end an extended losing streak against the Panthers in this one. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Roosters to win	$2.75
	Roosters +6	$1.91
	Under 38.5 total match points	$1.89

Predicted Squads

Sydney Roosters : 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Joseph Suaalii 4. Joey Manu 5. Dom Young 6. Luke Keary 7. Sam Walker 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Brandon Smith 10. Terrell May 11. Nat Butcher 12. Sitili Tupouniua 13. Victor Radley 14. Connor Watson 15. Naufahu Whyte 16. Angus Crichton 17. Siua Wong

Penrith Panthers : 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Izack Tago 4. Taylan May 5. Brian To'o 6. Jarome Luai 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 10. Lindsay Smith 11. Scott Sorensen 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo 14. Daine Laurie 15. Matt Eisenhuth 16. Liam Henry 17. Luke Garner 

There have been a couple of teams whose starts to season 2024 have been far from ideal, but given their lofty expectations this year the Rabbitohs’ has probably been the worse. The loss to the Sea Eagles in Round 1 could be forgiven, and a ten-point defeat at the hands of the Broncos the next week wasn’t exactly a disaster. Their Round 3 performance, however, was. Looking to avoid going 0-3 against their biggest rivals and a fellow Premiership contender in the Roosters they failed to give a whimper, being battered from pillar to post by the Roosters en route to a 48-6 loss. They should be expecting to open up their account this week, but the Bulldogs were good last week. They smashed the struggling Titans 32-0 in a performance which was impressive as it was frustrating given they themselves had endured a very poor first couple of weeks of the season. The inability to play consistently which has plagued them for years has been plain to see over the first three weeks of the season, but they will be hoping that last week’s effort will prove to be a turning point. A win against the Rabbitohs would be a perfect way to back up last week’s performance, and the Bunnies are certainly looking vulnerable. But if they want to establish themselves as anywhere near the group of contenders they want to be a part of, a win – and preferably a big win – is non-negotiable. Back on their home turf, they can begin their march up the ladder with a solid win. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Rabbitohs to win	$1.50
	Rabbitohs -6	$1.91
	Rabbitohs/Rabbitohs half-time/full-time double	$2.00

Predicted Squads

South Sydney Rabbitohs : 1. Latrell Mitchell 2. Alex Johnston 3. Jack Wighton 4. Isaiah Tass 5. Taane Milne 6. Cody Walker 7. Dean Hawkins 8. Tevita Tatola 9. Damien Cook 10. Davvy Moale 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Jacob Host 13. Cam Murray 14. Siliva Havili 15. Tallis Duncan  16. Sean Keppie 17. Tom Burgess

Canterbury Bulldogs : 1. Blake Taaffe 2. Blake Wilson 3. Jacob Kiraz 4. Stephen Crichton 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Matt Burton 7. Drew Hutchison 8. Max King 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Liam Knight  11. Viliame Kikau 12. Jacob Preston 13. Jaeman Salmon 14. Kurt Mann 15. Sam Hughes 16. Josh Curran 17. Kurtis Morrin 

After the Roosters take on the Panthers on Thursday night, two more potential contenders go head to head in Good Friday’s second game when the Broncos host the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium. The Broncos haven’t been at their best so far to start the year and last week’s performance against the Panthers was particularly disappointing, but they have been handed a very difficult start to the season by the NRL. They’ve faced the Roosters, Rabbitohs and Panthers so far, beating only the Bunnies out of that trio, and now they have to face the only undefeated team in the league. Following a disappointing 2023 season the Cowboys have jumped out of the blocks this year, knocking off the Dolphins, Knights cand Dragons. Admittedly that’s a hell of a lot easier than what the Broncos have had to endure, but the Cowboys have nonetheless been impressive, putting up more than 40 points in two of those three games. The 110 points they have scored so far this season in 28 more than any other team in the league, and they unsurprisingly have the best points differential in the NRL as well. But this will be easily the most difficult test that they have faced to date. Despite their two losses in the first three games of the year, the Broncos remain one of the Premiership favourites for good reason, and particularly on their home deck will be very hard to beat all season long. They are battle-hardened after facing three tough opponents to start the year, and can knock off a Cowboys team that has no doubt benefited from a friendly early season fixture. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Broncos to win	$2.00
	Broncos +1.5	$1.91
	Broncos 7+	$2.80

Predicted Squads

Brisbane Broncos : 1. Tristan Sailor 2. Jesse Arthars 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Selwyn Cobbo 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Fletcher Baker 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Martin Taupau 17. Xavier Willison

North Queensland Cowboys : 1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Tom Chester 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Tom Dearden 7. Chad Townsend 8. Jordan McLean 9. Reece Robson 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Reuben Cotter 14. Jake Granville 15. Griffin Neame 16. Sam McIntyre 17. Jack Gosiewskime

• The Rabbitohs have been pretty dominant against the Bulldogs in recent years, winning five in a row by an average margin of nearly 22 points before going down in a tight upset late last year. 
• After an impressive first round win over the hapless Titans, the Dragons have been very leaky in their last two games, conceding 38 and then 46 points. The Sea Eagles, meanwhile, have been the third highest scoring team in the league through the first three weeks of the year
• The Easter Monday clash has typically been reasonably close regardless of these two teams’ situations, with only three of the ten editions of the game being decided by more than ten points. 

Multi of the Week

Entering the season with relatively low expectations, the Dragons started the year well with a big win over the Titans. Since then, however, they have played a lot more like the team that most expected them to be. They were hapless in Round 2, going down 38-0 to the Dolphins, and their performance last weekend wasn’t much better as they gave up 46 points to the Cowboys en route to a 22-point defeat. They are really struggling to contain teams defensively, which doesn’t bode well for them coming up against a Sea Eagles outfit which has scored the third most points in the league through the first three weeks of the season. After knocking off the Rabbitohs and Roosters in their first couple of games, they endured their first loss of the year last week, but they were far from disgraced in a four-point loss to the Eels. With Tom Trbojevic healthy and leading from the front, they have looked like a legitimately good team so far this year, and are one of a handful of sides for whom the NRL world may need to recalibrate their expectations. If they can remain healthy they are good enough to not just play finals but potentially challenge for top four, and they should have no trouble putting up another big score against the leaky Dragons this weekend and notching up a big win. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Sea Eagles -8.5	$1.90
	Sea Eagles to score 31 points or more	$2.40
	Sea Eagles 13+	$2.30

Predicted Squads

St. George Illawarra Dragons : 1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Zac Lomax 3. Moses Suli 4. Jack Bird  5. Mikaele Ravalawa 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Ben Hunt  8. Francis Molo 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Blake Lawrie 11. Luciano Leilua 12. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 13. Jack de Belin  14. Jesse Marschke 15. Michael Molo 16. Tom Eisenhuth 
17. Viliami Fifita 

Manly Sea Eagles : 1. om Trbojevic 2. Raymond Tuiamalo Vaega 3. Tolu Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Jaxson Paulo 
6. Luke Brooks 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Josh Aloiai 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Karl Lawton 15. Tof Sipley 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Nathan Brown 

As far as Saturday night clashes go, this one isn’t exactly the most enticing, but there is plenty on the line for the Titans in particular. Their start to the season could not have been worse. In a season in which improvement was expected, they have scored just four points over their first two games, losing the first by 24 points and the second by 32. And it’s not as though they were against good teams – their start to the season has been very friendly, facing the Dragons in Round 1 and the Bulldogs last week before taking on the Dolphins in Round 3. Making matters so, so much worse, scans have confirmed an ACL rupture for captain Tino Fa’aasuamaleaui, who will now miss the rest of the season. Just like that, their hopes for genuinely competing for the finals this season have been if not extinguished, very much dampened, and another loss this weekend would round out a disastrous first month of the year for them. The Dolphins won’t be world beaters this year and a 43-18 loss to the Cowboys was a disappointing start to the season, but they bounced back impressively with a dominant 38-0 win over the hapless Dragons in Round 2 before enjoying a week off to rest on their laurels in Round 3. They now head to the Gold Coast refreshed after a week off, and though it isn’t with any great deal of confidence, they have to be the tip given how poor the Titans have been over the first couple of games of the season. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Dolphins to win	$1.72
	Dolphins -2	$1.91
	Under 44.5 total match points	$1.89

Predicted Squads

Gold Coast Titans : 1. Jayden Campbell 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. AJ Brimson 5. Phillip Sami 6. Kieran Foran 7. Tanah Boyd 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Chris Randall 10. Isaac Liu 11. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 13. Jaimin Jolliffe 
14. Sam Verrills15. Klese Haas 16. Erin Clark 17. Keenan Palasia 

The Dolphins : 1. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 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. Tom Flegler 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Euan Aitken 13. Max Plath 14. Josh Kerr 15. Kenny Bromwich 16. Mark Nicholls 17. Ray Stone

Sunday kicks off with an intriguing rematch of one of last year’s semi-finals, with the Warriors hosting the Knights over in Auckland. The Warriors were dominant in that game, ending what was by that stage a ten-game winning streak for the Knights with an emphatic 40-10 win. It’s hard to see as one-sided a game this time around though, particularly given how the Knights played last weekend. They’ve got better by the week so far this season, responding from a poor Round 1 performance with a one-point loss to the Cowboys before knocking off the Storm last Sunday. An effort like that will have them right in this one, though the trip across the Pacific is never an easy one. The Warriors actually lost their first game there of the season by four points to the Sharks before losing another tight one to the Storm in Melbourne the next week, but they opened their 2024 account with a solid win on home soil against the Raiders last weekend. This looks like a tight matchup and could very easily go down to the wire, and while the Warriors deserve favouritism on their home turf, they look very short in the betting odds. In what should be a tight game, the Knights look like the value pick in this one.  

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Knights to win	$2.65
	Knights +6	$1.91
	Knights 1-12	$3.70

Predicted Squads

New Zealand Warriors : 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Luke Metcalf 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Addin Fonua-Blake  9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitch Barnett 11. JacksonFord 12. Kurt Capewell 13. Tohu Harris 14. Freddy Lussick 15. Tom Ale 16. Bunty Afoa 17. Dylan Walker 

Newcastle Knights : 1. Kalyn Ponga 2. Tom Jenkins 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Enari Tuala 6. Tyson Gamble 7. Jack Cogger 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Phoenix Crossland 10. Daniel Saifiti 11. Tyson Frizell 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Adam Elliott 14. Jayden Brailey 15. Jack Hetherington 16. Mat Croker 17. Dylan Lucas 

The Sharks and the Raiders have started their season in similar fashion, each notching up wins in their first two games before suffering their first losses last week. But while the Raiders were reasonably gallant in defeat against the Warriors, the Sharks’ own loss was a disaster. Coming up against the Wooden Spoon favourites in the Tigers they were widely expected to take their record to 3-0 – instead, they were dominated by one of the worst teams in the league, conceding five consecutive tries after scoring the first to ultimately go down 32-6. Given they had beaten a top four team from last year in the Warriors and then beat up on the Bulldogs the next week, that was an unusual result to say the least. If they play like that again anybody in the league would beat them, including the Raiders, but they should really be bouncing back and winning this game. The Raiders, widely expected to tumble down the ladder this year after a finals appearance last year which probably wasn’t indicative of where they are at as a collective, have actually looked decent to start the season, and they themselves took care of the Tigers by 20 points just a couple of weeks ago. But the Sharks are typically a much better team on their home turf, and last week, poor as their performance was, isn’t reflective of a side which should be competing for a spot in the finals. The Sharks should be able to bounce back with a solid win on their home turf this Sunday afternoon. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Sharks to win	$1.50
	Sharks -5.5	$1.90
	Under 41.5 total match points	$1.89

Predicted Squads

Cronulla Sharks : 1. Will Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Sifa Talakai 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall  
7. Nicho Hynes 8. Thomas Hazelton 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Jack Williams 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cam McInnes 14. Kade Dykes 15. Braden Hamlin-Uele 16. Billy Burns 17. Tukupa-Ke Hau Tapuha 

Canberra Raiders : 1. Jordan Rapana 2. Albert Hopoate 3. Matt Timoko 4. Seb Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Josh Papalii 9. Danny Levi 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Morgan Smithies 14. Tom Starling 15. Emre Guler 16. Zac Hosking 17. Corey Horsburgh 

The Easter Monday clash between the Eels and the Tigers has established itself as an annual fixture on the NRL calendar over the decade, having been played every year since 2014 with the exception of the Covid-affected 2020 season. With the Tigers struggles it hasn’t exactly been the most significant matchup in recent years, but it nonetheless draws close to 30,000 spectators through the gates every season and has been relatively tight the last couple of years. Somewhat unsurprisingly the Eels have won three of the last four of them, the solitary exception coming in 2022 – the year the Eels made the Grand Final – when the Tigers upset them with a one-point win. But it’s hard to imagine that happening again this year. The Tigers put in one of their best performance for years last week when they demolished the Sharks 32-6, but the Eels are off to a really solid start to the season. They’ve won two of their first three, that loss being a competitive one to the Panthers, while last week’s win over the in-form Sea Eagles was an impressive one. They’ve got a pretty friendly draw coming up over the next few weeks – a stark contrast to last year when their start to the season was about as difficult as possible – and should be looking to bank a number of early wins. This will likely be one of them. If the Tigers play like they did last weekend they can keep this one competitive, but the Eels should still be too strong.  

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Eels to win	$1.24
	Eels 1-12	$3.10
	Over 44.5 total match points	$1.89

Predicted Squads

Parramatta Eels : 1. Clint Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo  3. Will Penisini 4. Bailey Simonsson 5. Sean Russell 6. Dylan Brown 
7. Mitchell Moses 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Joey Lussick 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Bryce Cartwright 13. J’maine Hopgood 14. Luca Moretti 15. Ryan Matterson 16. Joe Ofahengaue 17. Kelma Tuilagi 

Wests Tigers : 1. Jahream Bula 2. Charlie Staines 3. Solomona Faataape 4. Justin Olam 5. Junior Tupou 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Api Koroisau 10. David Klemmer 11. Isaiah Papali’i  12. John Bateman 13. Fonua Pole 14. Bud Sullivan 15. Alex Seyfarth  16. Alex Twal 17. Samuela Fainu

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