Sportsbet Blog

Round 16 of the 2011 NRL Season is fairly straight forward for footy tipping with only two tricky game against the Warriors V Storm and Dragons V Sea Eagles. This is the game of round 16 and my prediction is the Dragons will take the points in a close match.

Best Bet of Round 16

Take the Raiders to win at the -4 points line paying 1.90 at Sportsbet. With their attacking game style I see them able to cover the line easily.

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Wests Tigers V Bulldogs

Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney, Friday, 7:35pm

Tip: Bulldogs

Odds: Wests Tigers 2.50 Bulldogs 1.53

Although both clubs have had a disappointing season well below expected I predict a high pressure game. The winner will not only take the points but it will ease the tension that has started to creep into the media about both teams.

The inclusion of Jamal Idris, Trent Hodkinson and Michael Ennis into the Bulldogs team will see them much more organised and will get over the line.

South Sydney V Brisbane Broncos

Nib Stadium, Perth, Friday, 9:00pm

Tip: Broncos

Odds: South Sydney 2.66 Brisbane Broncos 1.48

Brisbane’s defense has been the key to their success this year and it will show on Friday night. They look a very solid unit and even with Greg Inglis coming in for the Rabbitohs it wont be enough to stop the Broncos getting the winning score.

The uncertainty of South Sydney with the new coach coming in and players not knowing what future they have with the club will continue to distract the club and hinder an easy recovery,

Gold Coast Titans V Cronulla

Skilled Park, Gold Coast, Saturday, 5:30pm

Tip: Gold Coast

Odds: Gold Coast 1.68 Cronulla 2.18

The Titans have pulled the pin on their 2011 season and will struggle to stop the attacking game style Cronulla have shown they have adopted this year. Fullback Nathan Gardner is the key man to the Sharks side and expect to impress again on Saturday night.

Canberra Raiders V Parramatta Eels

Canberra Stadium, Canberra, Saturday, 7:30pm

Tip: Raiders

Odds: Raiders 1.58 Eels 2.38

The Raiders will find it hard to get a winning score without Josh Dugan’s attacking presence although Jarryd Hayne is in super form at the moment. I think the rumor of Blake Ferguson wanting to go back to Cronulla will bring down the moral of the team that could affect them in this game. Expect a closer result than first thought.

New Zealand Warriors V Melbourne Storm

Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, Sunday 12:00pm

Tip: Storm

Odds: Warriors 1.90 Storm 1.90

The form the Storm are in at the moment it would be very hard to tip against them. They have lost some key players this year but have continued to show they are still a force.

Although the game is played in NZ they aren’t playing as well as they were at the start of the season. I expect storm to have a big win.

Penrith Panthers V North Qld Cowboys

Centrebet Stadium, Sydney, Sunday, 2:00pm

Tip:Panthers

Odds: Penrith Panthers 1.48 V North Qld Cowboys 2.66

With the Cowboy’s Johnathan Thurston is yet to face the judiciary it is a touch hard to pick a clear winner in this game. I think if Thurston is out then it will come down to the way Penrith use the ball. If they rely on their kicking game I can’t see them getting a result, if they play with a spring in their step expect the match to go down to the wire. If Thurston plays tip the Cowboys in this one.

Newcastle Knights V Sydney Roosters

Ausgrid Stadium, Newcastle, Sunday, 3pm

Tip: Knights

Odds: Knights 1.68 Roosters 2.18

The Knights will easily take the win on Sunday over a lack-luster Roosters side who were very disappointing against Melbourne 2 weeks ago. Newcastle has a finals position in their sights and will do everything to avoid another nail biting loss.

St George Illawarra Dragons V Manly Sea Eagles

WIN Stadium, Wollongong, Monday, 7pm

Tip: Dragons

Odds: Dragons 1.68 Eagles 2.18

This is the games of round 16 2 vs 3 on the ladder. The winner will likely look back at this game come finals time and try to reproduce the effort. With the Dragons struggling over the last few weeks I’m tipping Manly to step up and take the win as they have shown that even if they are behind well into a game they can dig themselves out of it for the result they are after.

Online bookies could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars after numerous bets being placed this morning just before Melbourne Storm and the NRL announced the salary cap infringements.

Not only have Melbourne Storm lose their two premierships but all points in the 2010 season handing them the wooden spoon after only six rounds.

Online bookmaker Sportingbet took several bets at 250-1 with some punters set to win $10,000 from each bet

“We took three bets to win $10,000 and another to win $8000 for the Storm to win the wooden spoon all within 10 minutes of each other this morning,” Sportingbet Australia spokesman Bill Richmond said.

“You don’t take a series of bets like that unless someone knows something and we have suspended betting on the wooden spoon as a result.”

“Melbourne is now our worst result for the wooden spoon despite the fact they are premiership favourites.”

The TAB also took a $200 bet for Storm to take the wooden spoon the night before the announcement at the odds of $200-1 with a massive $40,000 payout. Before suspending the market the TAB received further bets that morning.

Another major online bookmaker IASbet took “farily odd” bets on the wooden spoon and have suspended betting and waiting out the storm to see what results from it all.

Australia’s only betting exchange Betfair also was hit with wooden spoon bets before the rumour become fact with Betfair spokesman Hugh Taggart saying that his agency would not void a market based on hearsay and rumour, and it would take advice from the NRL for Betfair to stop the public betting on the market.

“We would only avoid a market in an extreme circumstance.”

“Punters always bet on rumour and innuendo.”

“Our markets will be dictated by what happens in the public domain.”

It has been a very messy day for the NRL and the bookies have been cough up in the middle of it. I can’t see the bookies accepting these bets I think a refund will be given to clients that put bets on 24 hours before the announcement.

Where it could get messy is the Melbourne premiership betting. Do the bookies keep the bets or will refunds be given out. It will very interesting to see which bookmakers makes the first move with the others likely to follow suit.

The NRL finals are nearing completion for the 2009 season with the semi-final matches to be played this weekend on Friday and Saturday nights.

Last weekend the Titans were eliminated in poor fashion after being hammered by Parramatta. The final score for Friday night was 27 – 2 and was definitely not the best game for the Titans.

Brisbane also managed to get over the Dragons to claim a semi-final spot. The Dragons have played poorly of late and even after winning the home and away season they were not good enough eventually going down 24 – 10 last weekend.

The results of last weekend have now set the stage for 1 of 4 remaining teams to take the premiership. Of the remaining teams, the Melbourne Storm is being touted as the most likely to win the NRL premiership, but only time will tell who has what it takes.

The NRL semi-final breaks down as follows.

Bulldogs V Eels

7:45pm Friday at ANZ Stadium

The Bulldogs have a good chance to go through to the NRL premiership as they come up against the Eels. The Bulldogs have had a week off after winning in week 1 of the NRL finals and should be well rested which will give them an edge coming into the semi-final. Brett Kimmorley is still injured and should make a return next week for the grand final if the Bulldogs can get up this week. Three Bulldogs players are currently suspended.

The Eels will be on a bit of a high after their stunning form of late and will definitely give the Bulldogs a run for their money. Escaping last week without any injuries is sure to help the in-form Eels this weekend, although three players are on suspension. I would expect that the Eels get up on Friday night, but it will without a doubt be a close game.

Tip: Parramatta Eels – Under 12.5 points – Odds of $2.92

Storm V Broncos

7:45pm Saturday at Etihad Stadium

The Storm is the second team this week that is coming off of a 2 week long break and this is bound to help out with fitness. The favourites for the NRL premiership are currently sporting a few injuries along with a couple of suspensions, but I doubt that this will affect their game too significantly.

The Broncos on the other hand did play quite well last weekend with an impressive win over the Dragons. Ben Te’o is still on the sidelines with a calf injury and Justin Hodges is out on suspension. Even if the Broncos had the option of playing these two players I really don’t believe that it would make much difference. The Broncos season should end this weekend with the Storm heading though to the NRL grand final.

Tip: Melbourne Storm – Odds of $1.44