NRL best bets are back in 2020. Every week, I will publish an article that will showcase some of the best bets of the round. Let’s have a winning season and make some money.
Raiders vs Titans
The runners up from last year return back to Canberra to kick off their 2020 season against the Gold Coast Titans.
Curtis Scott while facing several police charges, will be putting on the Raiders green for opening round.
Scott isn’t the only change to the team.
George Williams will wear the 7 jersey and Corey Horsburgh also known as “Hors-bruh” will replace the injured John Bateman and young up and comer Bailey Simonsson alongside Nick Cotric.
The Titans will go without arguably their best player, AJ Brimson, who is dealing with a back injury and Moeaki Fotuaika will be joining him on the extended bench with an injury.
Both these teams have new players stepping up into the starting team.
It’s only round one, so both teams will take some time to gel with new players.
This game will have mistakes , miscommunication and mix ups on set pieces like a lot of games in round one.
However, I also believe it will be a low scoring affair due to new line-ups and the fact that many players are rusty in the opening round
Best bet- Under 44.5 (Ladbrokes)
Warriors vs Knights
These two teams have been nightmares to bet on. One week they look like finals material, and the other wooden spooners.
However, I think the New Zealand Warriors this pre-season have looked awful.
In the Nines, usually a tournament that they excel in, they scored just eight points across the entirety of the tournament.
Adding to the already weakened Warriors team (Jackson Frei and Bunty Afoa out for season) the Warriors will miss Josh Curran and Agnatius Paasi due to injury.
The Knights are healthy heading into round one, but will see Kurt Mann pair up with Mitchell Pearce and Jayden Brailey make his Knights debut.
The Knights have an advantage at the majority of positions and will have a strong impact off the bench which consists of Connor Watson, Jacob Saifiti, Tim Glasby and Aiden Guerra.
The Knights have won their last four matches played at home in round one, and I expect the same to happen here on Saturday arvo.
Best bet- Knights -6 (Bet-easy)
Value- Knights 13+
Manly vs Storm
What a way to kick off Sunday arvo footy. Two of the best rivals in the NRL will battle it out in the opening round.
This is the game of the round and I expect a highly competitive game.
Going into this ‘battle’, Manly will have both Trbojevic brothers and Addin Fonua-Blake in the lineup who were questionable to play round one.
Manly don’t have any other changes besides Danny Levi making his debut.
The storms enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona looks set to be out due to a hamstring injury.
Brandon “Cheese’ Smith will be eating an aged cheddar on the bench because of a facial fracture sustained in the Aboriginal vs Maori game.
Melbourne have a significantly different team compared to last year, and even though coach Craig Bellamy always puts them through a rigorous pre-season, nothing matches the speed of a real NRL game.
To succeed against the Storm you can’t be afraid and have to put the pressure on them.
Des Hasler is always able to get his players up in a big game. Manly will have to bend that tough storm defence, push offloads and be fearless.
Manly will be fired up in the opening round at home and I expect them to edge this one out.
Best Bets- Manly +3.5 (Ladbrokes), Manly WIN