After 27 long weeks, the NRL regular season has finally come to a close in Australia and New Zealand. Nine teams have seen their seasons come to an end, while for eight others, it’s down to business now. With four exciting weekends of finals rugby league ahead, there’s plenty of excellent entertainment and betting to be had.
Can the Penrith Panthers back up their Minor Premiership victory by claiming their third title in a row? Or will their greatest rivals this year, the Brisbane Broncos, have the last laugh? And what about the Melbourne Storm, who are coming right at the business end of the tournament, or the New Zealand Warriors, who are having their best season in 15 years?
We break down the answers to these questions and more by looking at the latest betting odds from bookmaker bet365 ahead of week one of the NRL playoffs this weekend.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 6th, 6:15 A.M. (GMT)
Bookmaker bet365 is backing Penrith to win their third title in a row, with the Panthers sitting on odds of 2.40 to win the Grand Final in just less than a month’s time. Behind them is Brisbane on 3.30, with the Broncos just missing out on top spot in the regular season by a whisker. The Melbourne Storm follow on odds of 6.50 before the Warriors come in at a reasonably long 12.00.
From here, the odds continue to grow steeper and steeper as the Newcastle Knights pay 17.00, while the Roosters and Raiders are joint on 26.00, and the Raiders pay a whopping 101.00 to win.
In terms of outright winner bets, the Melbourne Storm are paying a great price here. They come into the finals on a four-game winning streak, kicked off by a powerful 48-2 rout of the Canberra Raiders a month ago. Last week they defeated the Broncos and denied them the Minor Premiership, and they hold an incredible head-to-head advantage against the Brisbane-based side who they’ll play again in the qualifier final this weekend.
With the Storm rounding into form at the right time, it feels like all it would take for them to win is for another team to knock out the Panthers. There’s every chance that another mercurial team such as the Warriors, Knights or Roosters could do that for them, which would give the Melbourne side an open shot at the title given their strong records against the Warriors and Broncos. Back them to lift the trophy at a healthy 6.50 return.
