Panthers Overcome Odds of 2.30 to Defeat Roosters
To date this season, the Penrith Panthers have had a sedate start. They dropped their opener 8-0 against the Storm, before scraping past the Eels 26-18 in round two. Last weekend saw Penrith really hit their straps with a 34-12 victory over the Broncos, but it came with a big caveat – star scrum half Nathan Cleary was injured.
When they headed to Allianz Stadium to take on the Sydney Roosters on Thursday night, betting apps rated them as underdogs to win as a result. The Roosters had, after all, just pummelled the Rabbitohs 48-6 the round before. Odds read 1.59 to 2.30 in favour of the Roosters ahead of kick off.
As we suspected, bookies had underestimated Penrith. Sure, Cleary is a huge part of their success over the past four years, but the Panthers are more than a one-man band. They proved that on Thursday night, sticking it to the Roosters with an impressive performance. Sunia Turuva was the star of the show scoring a brace, while Jarome Luai was sharp as well in Cleary’s absence.
Broncos Bounce Back Strong, Defy Bookies’ Odds
Friday night saw more bookmakers have their odds undone, with the Brisbane Broncos soundly defeating the North Queensland Cowboys.
The Cowboys came into the clash top of the table having won three from three in 2024 so far. Brisbane, on the other hand, were lacking star fullback Reece Walsh, and had just been thrashed by the Panthers. But we expected a strong answer for their limp round three performance, and they gave exactly that at Suncorp Stadium.
Bookmakers WinnersBet and BoomBet both had the Cowboys at 1.80 and Broncos at 1.97, but that counted for little. Brisbane came out firing from the get-go, running in tries in the second, 12th and 18th minutes to mount an early lead. Three more in the second half sealed the deal, as they ended comprehensive 38-12 victors.
Bulldogs Almost Pull Off Big Upset Too
Bookmakers did get one result right on Friday night, but only just. We saw the Rabbitohs vs Bulldogs match as a bit of a coin toss, given their form so far this year. South Sydney headed into the match winless from three games, losing badly to the Roosters most recently. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, had been mercurial, picking up a nice win against the Titans in round three but looking poor before that.
In what was an ugly, close game, the Rabbitohs came away 20-16 victors. Canterbury stormed back into the match though and nearly forced a different result, with errors letting them down at the last minute. Odds ahead of the clash turned out to be fair, with South Sydney paying 1.49 to win, and the Bulldogs 2.55 underdogs. At least the bookies got one right.
Round four of the NRL has begun with plenty of upsets, with betting sites struggling to get much right across the first three games. Here at MyBettingAustralia, we picked against the bookies’ odds twice and got it right both times, with the Panthers defeating the Roosters and Brisbane overcoming North Queensland at home.
