NRL Finals Week 3 2020
Week two of the finals saw both top four teams in the two-time defending premiers the Sydney Roosters and the fast starting Parramatta Eels bow out of the competition as the Canberra Raiders & South Sydney Rabbitohs advanced to the penultimate round of the finals. Read on as we cast our eye over this week's game in what should be a blockbuster round of footy with plenty of points.
Melbourne Storm ($1.47) vs Canberra Raiders ($2.70)
Friday, 16th October 7:50pm, Suncorp Stadium
Friday’s game is a replay of the 2019 qualifying final as the Melbourne Storm welcome the Canberra Raiders to their second home in Suncorp Stadium. Last year's final saw the Raiders shock the Storm in a 2 point win in Melbourne in a loss that ultimately derailed the Storm's premiership hopes. Craig Bellamy will fiercely remember this loss and he will be hoping that his side can build on their round 9 victory against the Raiders. In this victory the Storm prevailed despite missing 45 tackles and only completing at 71% in a 20-14 victory at the Raiders home. If the Raiders are to reverse this result then they will be hoping for another performance similar to theirs from last week. In this match the Raiders caught the Roosters napping thanks to their clinical attack and high intensity pressure in a 22-18 victory. As a result of this strong performance the Raiders have stuck with the same 17 from last week's performance but don’t be surprised if there are some late changes within the 17. For the Storm their only change stands as Tom Eisenhuth coming in for Chris Lewis on the bench but NSW forward Dale Finucane has been named in jersey 18 as he looks to return from a lingering calf injury. In the history of these two teams they have been relatively even with only one game being decided by more than six points in their last four matches and both sides winning three a piece from their last six encounters. Despite this the Storm are considerable favourites for this one and rightfully so as they have won 15 from their last 16 matches up in Suncorp Stadium. As a result we’re quite keen on the Storm with their extra week off as the Raiders revenge win on the Roosters from their grand final loss could come at a large emotional & mental cost in what was such a hyped game. With the Storm showing their dominance in recent weeks we will lean towards them but expect it to be close, like previous encounters, so we’ll lean with the Storm in a tight one.
Recommended Bet: Melbourne Storm 1-12 $2.75
Penrith Panthers ($1.47) vs South Sydney Rabbitohs ($2.70)
Saturday, 17th October 7:50pm, ANZ Stadium
The second preliminary final sees the minor premiers the Penrith Panthers take on the red hot South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium. The Panthers may be the team on the 16 game winning streak but they will be incredibly wary of a Rabbitohs side who have scored 144 points across their last three matches. The even scarier stat is that these three games have been against top 8 teams in a showing that they are confident in their free flowing attacking mentality. On the other hand the Panthers deserve to be the premiership favourites as they have been the most consistent team throughout the season on the back of a record breaking win streak. Unfortunately for the Panthers they will be without one of their strike players in Viliame Kikau as he is out suspended and is replaced by Kurt Capewell with Spencer Leniu coming onto the bench. For the Rabbitohs they remain unchanged as they look to build on their season best form. The last time that these two teams met the Panthers prevailed 20-12 in round 7, at the start of their streak, in what was their third win from their last four starts against the Rabbitohs. The Panthers dominated this game through their middle forwards & clinical finishing, a feature that has been prominent throughout their streak and as a result they’ve been installed as rightful favourites for this clash. We’re quite confident that the Panthers will win this one but with them being heavily favoured in the market we’re looking more closely at the total points market. In the last five matches for the Rabbitohs they have averaged 36 points in attack against some of the competitions best defence whilst the Panthers have averaged just under 30 points across the same amount of games. As a result we’re quite keen on the overs line in this one in what should be a game where both sides back their attack to take them through to the big dance one week later.
Recommended Bet: Total Points Over 44.5 $1.90
