NRL Grand Final Preview
Penrith Panthers ($2.15) vs Melbourne Storm ($1.72)
Sunday, 25th October 7:30pm, ANZ Stadium
The 2020 NRL season has been without a doubt one of the strangest in recent history and with just one more game to go, the coveted grand final, we look forward to what should be a blockbuster clash between the two most dominant teams in the competition.
These two teams are the Penrith Panthers, who are currently riding a humongous 17 game winning streak, and the Melbourne Storm, who have the experience of playing in three of the last four grand finals. Both teams have earned their positions here after finishing the regular season as first & second and with just one game to go the biggest question on everyone's lips is whether the youth and flamboyant style of the Panthers can overcome the experience of the Storm side.
Funnily enough the last time that these two sides played was actually the start of the Panthers winning streak as they defeated the Storm 21-14 at Campbelltown Stadium thanks to a commanding performance from Nathan Cleary. This win may appear to put the Panthers in front in terms of confidence but the Storm will know that they will be a better side this time round as they were without Jahrome Hughes and Josh Addo-Carr in this match.
To add to the Storms confidence has been their dominance during the finals. Despite suffering a scare from the Eels in the opening stages of their qualifying final they have looked almost faultless in two 12+ victories, their second being against last year's grand finalists the Canberra Raiders. For the Panthers they have survived two huge scares in their finals games as they only just scraped past the Roosters by 1 point in their first final and then failed to put away the Rabbitohs despite having a host of chances, largely due to a 72% completion rate and 13 errors.
Thankfully for the Panthers they welcome back arguably their strike forward as Viliame Kikau returns to the side after serving a one week suspension as Mitch Kenny is the unlucky man to drop out of the 17 with Kurt Capewell reverting to the pine. For the Storm they have named the same 17 as last week as they look to build on their dominant form.
As mentioned previously the Panthers won the most recent meeting between these two sides but this win was only their second win from their last nine meetings with the Storm. This dominance from the Storm is something that we’re leaning towards too, with the Storm's experience on the big stage as well as their superior form during the finals then we’re leaning towards Storm by 1-12 in terms of picking a winner. Where there does also appear to be value is in the total points market as the last six grand finals have gone under the total points market in what is traditionally a defence orientated game.
As a result we’re confident in the unders in this one but we will stick by our tip for Storm by 1-12 too. For a third and final bet in the last game of the year we’ve had a look at the Clive Churchill market and despite being favourite we like the odds of Cameron Smith. If Storm do win then our money is on Smith retiring on the spot and with arguably the games greatest player retiring then all it will take is him to have a half decent game and they’ll be giving him the Clive Churchill come Sunday.
Recommended Bet 1: Total Points Under 36.5 $1.80
Recommended Bet 2: Melbourne Storm 1-12 $2.85
Clive Churchill Winner: Cameron Smith $4
