With the State of Origin Game 1 teams in camp ahead of next Wednesday’s series opener in Sydney the 2015 NRL Telstra Premiership Round 11 team lists and betting markets here with us at Ladbrokes have been affected.
A top weekend of footy kicks off on Friday night with just the one game, the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Parramatta facing off at ANZ Stadium, the Eels now down in 16th spot on the ladder.
We get into the first weekend of byes and teams who get to post the two competition points without playing are:
- Melbourne Storm
- St George Illawarra Dragons
- Sydney Roosters
- New Zealand Warriors
- Penrith Panthers
- Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
- Gold Coast Titans
- Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
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On Saturday the sole game sees the Wests Tigers get the home ground advantage over a flying Cowboys outfit who shoot for their eighth win on the trot but must do it without their Origin rep stars, most notably skipper Johnathan Thurston.
Sunday sees the Canberra Raiders, now in sixth spot and charging towards a Top 8 bid, host the Bulldogs at GIO Stadium with Canterbury the disappointment of the season now 14th on the ladder.
Monday night the Newcastle Knights are our short-priced pick to salute for the home side at Hunter Stadium when they play the third-ranked Brisbane Broncos who will be without six of their squad named in the XXXX Maroons Queensland Origin team.
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Parramatta Eels
Friday, May 22 – 7:45pm (AEST) – ANZ Stadium
The Bunnies were leading the charge during the early season and are still a big hope sitting inside the top eight, seventh on the ladder, with a four-point loss to Melbourne from Round 10 to atone for here. The Eels have been one of the worst performed teams of late slipping down to last on the ladder and will need to lift on the back of a home game loss to NZ if they are any chance here. Both squads lose just one player each to Origin with the Bunnies without the big Greg Inglis and Will Hopoate in Blues camp out of the Parra line-up. Souths have lost four of their past five and are really missing Adam Reynolds, who is still out here. The Eels have been very inconsistent this season but if they can knuckle down here they can score a narrow win.
Wests Tigers vs North Queensland Cowboys
Saturday, May 23 – 7:30pm (AEST) – Campbelltown Stadium
The young Tigers squad couldn’t match Newcastle when going down 22 -12 last Sunday and on a six-day back-up they should be in trouble here. Instead they are leading our odds on the game when playing the fourth-placed Cowboys who have won their past seven straight after a huge effort to beat Brisbane last Friday night. Why are North Queensland the underdogs? Origin. They play without a host of their best players including of course JT and Matty Scott so are going to be vulnerable taking on the Tigers in Sydney. If the Cowboys can beat the odds and win without their Origin stars they’ll be celebrating their best winning streak in 20 years, no easy feat. Wests also don’t escape the great Origin deplete with Robbie Farah and Aaron Woods out, but still they should have enough to post some much needed points.
Canberra Raiders vs Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
Sunday, May 24 – 4:00pm (AEST) – GIO Stadium
Last week the Raiders couldn’t beat the Dragons when losing 32 – 18 but they will start the favourites at home in Canberra this weekend taking on the Bulldogs who were embarrassed going down 24 – 10 to the Roosters last Friday night. The Raiders have an unchanged team to last week with injured halfback Sam Williams still absent from training sessions. For Canterbury the NSW Origin squad steals Josh Morris, Trent Hodkinson, Josh Jackson and David Klemmer so there are plenty of changes and an extended bench to try and get them out of a rut. For the Green Machine they are untouched by Origin selection, a massive plus this time of year. There is depth to the Des Hasler boys but with Croker and Graham firing the Raiders should get there.
Newcastle Knights vs Brisbane Broncos
Monday, May 25 – 7:00pm (AEST) – Hunter Stadium
Former ladder-leaders Newcastle are 10th now but still within hope of making the Top 8 and the semis. Last weekend they won by a 10 point margin over Wests and this week they get the home ground advantage taking on one of the season’s form teams, Brisbane. The Broncos were brave in their defeat to the Cowboys last Friday night but are without the likes of Corey Parker, Sam Thaiday, Justin Hodges and co. all in Origin camp this week so there are plenty of gaps to fill. The question is now whether the baby Broncos can step up and keep things going while the big boys play Origin. Wayne Bennett returns to Hunter Stadium for the first time since leaving the Knights at the end of last year and he’ll bring with him Daniel Vidot back into the squad. If Newcastle can’t beat Brisbane in this they don’t deserve your money any other week. They should though, and comfortably.