NRL Preliminary Finals Preview
Manly Sea Eagles v Brisbane Broncos at Sydney Football Stadium, Friday 7:45pm.
And then there were four. What a cracking finals series we’ve had so far. The Sea Eagles have somewhat flown under the radar as the teams who have the second week of finals off invariably do however you can make no mistake that they’ll be ready to play come Friday night. They were sublime in the second half against the Cowboys at this very ground when they put on 30 points in the twinkling of an eye. They’re again without second row workhorse Glenn Stewart however towering winger-cum-second rower Tony Williams has been an absolute wrecking ball in the past 4 weeks of the competition. He’s un-doubtedly their x-factor and will be a handful every time he handles the ball. The Broncos will be without their inspiration captain Darren Lockyer who has been ruled out with cheekbone injury that was operated on earlier this week. Fairytales don’t always happen in sport and if the Broncos fail to get past the might of the Sea Eagles then what a way for one of the games’ greats to go out – to kick a golden point field goal after suffering a fractured cheekbone only minutes earlier. Amazing stuff. If the Broncos do manage to produce a minor miracle then the scene will be set for a sporting fairytale to end all fairytales. It make for some intriguing viewing.
Lockyer’s exclusion from the Brisbane side saw the traders role the line out from -5.5 to -8. Punters have come for the Sea Eagles with bets of $5,000 @ $1.62, one of $10,000 at $1.60 and another $10,000 at $1.57 which has seen their price crunched into $1.40, now back out to $1.41.
Best Bet – Broncos +7.5 $1.91
Melbourne Storm v New Zealand Warriors at AAMI Park, Saturday 7:45pm.
The Warriors pulled of a minor miracle last week when they overcame a 12 point deficit to defeat the Wests Tigers right at the death. Only a freakish piece of play from Kristian Inu separated the two teams and the Warriors will be hoping for more of the same luck come Saturday. They had their backs to the wall and had a number of contentious calls go against them but they dug in and snuck away with their win. They’ll need to improve their discipline and defence around the ruck they’re to cause an upset this week however if they do, they certainly have the fire power to put the points on the board and are a knock out chance. The Storm have been near faultless this season. They had a slight hiccup late in the season with back to back losses the Manly and the Roosters but showed that they are a real deal with a clinical victory over the Knights in the first week of the finals. The big 3 continue to step up to the plate and the rest of the team who, in all due respect, are a class below but continue to punch above their weight and play to the class of Smith, Slater and Cronk. There’s no double that the big 3 will test the Warriors up the middle third of the field and if the Warriors don’t aim up then they’ll get carved.
We’ve tipped against the Storm all year and we’ve been burnt all year but we may as well go again. The Warriors have an outstanding record in Melbourne and they’ve got the class and talent in the team and the likes of Locke, Maloney, Johnson, Inu, Mateo, Hohiaia, Vatuvie et all can all produce something out of nothing as they did last week.
Best Bet – New Zealand 1-6 (Six Point Margin) $7.25 + 50% BONUS
Sportingbet is offering a 50% BONUS on the Six Point Margin market in both matches this weekend. See the website for details.
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