NRL FINALS WEEK 3 TIPPING PREVIEWBy W D Nicolson
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Happy days!
But that's with my team done in September after a surprising run into the finals, there are still four sets of fans who are living the dream for at least another week and here is a look at the odds entering the two Preliminary Finals.
The current premiership market as it stands after Week 2:
$2.75 - BULLDOGS (W1: $4.50, W2: $2.75)
$3.25 - STORM (W1: $4.00, W2: $3.50)
$4.00 - SEA EAGLES (W1: $3.00, W2: $6.00)
$5.75 - RABBITOHS (W1: $6.00, W2: $9.00)
Sea Eagles and even the Storm remain the value... as the big game experience of both teams gives them the edge once one of them get into the Grand Final. Dogs still too short unless they tear the Bunnies a new one on Saturday night.
If you want to hear who the NOT The Footy Show team likes for this weekend's Preliminary Finals - grab yourself our 84 minute NRL Finals Podcast (right click/save target as).
The Toyota Cup market after Week 2:
$3.00 - RAIDERS U20s (W1: $4.25, W2: $3.50)
$3.75 - ROOSTERS U20s (W1: $11.00, W2: $9.00)
$3.75 - DRAGONS U20s (W1: $21.00, W2: $11.00)
$4.00 - TIGERS U20s (W1: $6.00, W2: $3.75)
After Week 2 - Upset wins by the Roosters and Dragons make the Toyota Cup race interesting, as the Tigers and Raiders were the underdogs in their opening week semis... and now the Dogs and Warriors are gorn! Enjoy two good semis here people...
| To the NRL Finals for Week 3 and NOT The Footy Show delivers a full preview of Melbourne v Manly and Canterbury v South Sydney plus plenty more (including a QLD Cup Grand Final Preview)... so join Warrick Nicolson, DC Chapman, Matthew Duncan and guest Adrian McMurray for Episode 127.So grab NOT The Footy Show for 84 minutes of Rugby League!
Be sure to check all the Team news on the NRL Injured List which is updated every Tuesday afternoon - and the Podcast has plenty of insight on those selections and your Late Mail and Panel Picks are below.
All the panel's picks are below with their Special Fried Rice selections - which is our lock of the week but we can't choose the same team as what one of the other six tipsters has already selected.
20/09 Odds are courtesy of Sportingbet Australia
For some more insight into the markets check out NOT The Footy Show's resident betting maestro's site GT Tips http://www.gttips.co.uk
All Kick-Offs are LOCAL time.
If you have any reputable mail - Let me know via @NRLTweet
#2 STORM $1.65 v $2.30 #4 SEA EAGLES (+3.5)
MEL: B Slater, S Waqa, D Nielsen, W Chambers, J O'Neill, G Widdop, C Cronk, J Bromwich, C Smith (c), B Norrie, S Manu, R Hoffman, R Hinchcliffe.Bench: T Lowrie, J Ryles, J Lowe, K Proctor, R Kostjasyn, M Fonua, R Fa'aoso.
[Late Mail - Jason Ryles will miss with a hamstring injury, Richie Fa'aoso or Rory Kostjasyn will make the bench as his replacement. Mahe Fonua is on standby for Will Chambers and a dodgy hamstring. Sika Manu will play. ]
MAN: B Stewart, J Taufua, J Lyon (c), S Matai, D Whare, K Foran, D Cherry-Evans, J King (c), M Ballin, B Kite, A Watmough, T Williams, G Stewart.Bench: J Buhrer, J Galuvao, D Lussick, V Mauro, G Rose.
[Late Mail - Jason King's shoulder is kaput but he will probably play anyway, meaning the last spot on the bench comes down to Vic Mauro v George Rose. ]
Great matchup worthy of a Grand Final without 'salary cap' issues... but instead we get them in a Prelim Final and that's the next best thing.
If the Storm hold the middle then the Big 3 win the game, but if Manly win the physical battle - they could do a number on the Storm... leaning home team, just.
Taking Storm in Melbourne... just worried about Manly's front row holding Bromwich if King is no good.. but Sea Eagles better than a $2.30 outsider in a Preliminary Final.
#1 BULLDOGS $1.48 v $2.72 #3 RABBITOHS (+6.0)
CBY: B Barba, S Perrett, J Morris, K Inu, J Wright, J Reynolds, K Keating, A Tolman, M Ennis (c), S Kasiano, F Pritchard, J Jackson, G Eastwood.Bench: J Graham, D Finucane, C Payne, D Stagg, D Halatau.
[Late Mail - The Bulldogs only added Dene Halatau to their squad from the team that won in the semi final against Manly but there's only a slim chance he replaces someone on the bench. ]
SOU: G Inglis, N Merritt, C McQueen, D Farrell, A Everingham, J Sutton, A Reynolds, L Burgess, I Luke, R Asotasi, S Burgess, D Taylor, M Crocker.Bench: N Peats, D Tyrrell, E Pettybourne, B Lowe, J Hunt, J Clark.
[Late Mail - Nathan Merritt is back on the wing with Justin Hunt going to the bench and Jason Clark is added to the squad as well. Luke Burgess starts at prop, Sam Burgess into the backrow (where he played last weekend) and Ben Lowe and Dave Tyrrell look set to keep their spots on the bench. ]
| BOTTOM LINE |South Sydney are a team that has to click from the get go and they can be very hard to stop, the Dogs however have won a few games when not at their best - but great starts were a huge factor in their minor premiership run. If Souths do their homework they can shut down Canterbury's two most effective set moves. but the Dogs could harass the Bunnies into error to square the ledger... hopefully there's at least 60,000 there on Saturday at ANZ..
Souths aren't going great... and the Dogs are nicely rested. Down to Barba and Reynolds v Sutton and Luke... because Greg Inglis will be great regardless. Dogs by 6.
For more on how we see the Weekend unfolding, check out the Podcast and Preview below.
