The 2021 NRL season is over for half of the competition as the top teams now start to work their way towards the Grand Final on October 3.
Top 8 Confirmed
It all played out to perfection, really. Results went the way of the neutral and the Top 8 couldn’t be confirmed until the seventh match of the weekend on Sunday afternoon.
The Canberra Raiders fumbled their way to 15 errors on Thursday night. With their season on the line and the chance at a finals spot there for the taking, the Raiders couldn’t catch a cold as the Sydney Roosters ran away with the 40-16 win. It was the Melbourne Storm with butter on their fingers 24 hours later. However, despite Melbourne’s 15 errors, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks couldn’t make the most of their opportunities in going down 28-16.
So, the Gold Coast Titans would need to win by 11 or more to secure 8th on the NRL ladder.
It didn’t take long for the Titans to take control of the game. While the New Zealand Warriors went close to scoring twice in the first five minutes, they rarely looked likely again. The Kiwi club signed out for the season following the two early chances that went begging. The Titans, on the other hand, put their foot down as Jayden Campbell outplayed his rookie counterpart Reece Walsh to play a leading role in the 44-0 thrashing.
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The Titans are way out at $101 to win the premiership and will more than likely act as little more than a speed bump for the Roosters in Week 1. Still, they’ve cracked the Top 8 after entering the round as $7 outsiders and have given themselves a chance to write 2021’s fairytale.
Panthers Playing Into Form
It remains to be seen whether or not Brad Arthur made the right decision to rest the majority of his starting Parramatta Eels side this week. However, Ivan Cleary playing his full-strength Penrith Panthers has certainly played them into some encouraging form heading into the finals.
The Panthers cruised through the first half of the season before State of Origin and an injury to Nathan Cleary derailed their momentum. Struggling to recapture that form since, Penrith looked back to their best while thrashing an admittedly understrength Parramatta outfit 40-6. It wasn’t perfect. Plenty will tell you they should have won by more. But the foundations for premiership success were clear as key contributors – Cleary, Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris, Brian To’o and Isaah Yeo – linked up in ways that should have the Panthers returning to the NRL Grand Final this year.
Cleary’s side are on the second line of betting to Make the NRL Grand Final at $1.60 behind the premiership favourites, Melbourne Storm at $1.45.
Souths Slipping
The South Sydney Rabbitohs didn’t send out their best team on Saturday night but conceding 16 points in 12 minutes to only sneak past the St. George-Illawarra Dragons 20-16 is a mild cause for concern. Defence has been the issue for this group all season. In particular, switching off in defence after building a lead.
While the Bunnies are unlikely to pull ahead and have the opportunity to head to the sheds early and concede points late in a finals game, they haven’t done enough to squash the doubts over their form without the ball overall. Conceding over 19 points per game this year, they’re behind the Panthers (11.9 points conceded per game) and Storm (13.2) in defence by a distance.
Still, Souths have shown enough in attack to at least consider their $11 to win the premiership.
Finals Week 1
Finals footy is just around the corner!
Here is how Week 1 looks:
Friday: Storm ($1.42/-7.5) v Sea Eagles ($2.90)
Saturday: Roosters ($1.25/-10.5) v Titans ($4) & Panthers ($1.25/-10.5) v Rabbitohs ($4)
Sunday:Â Eels ($1.42/-7.5) v Knights ($2.90)
NRL Against the Spread Standings
And there we have it: Melbourne are the punters’ favourites after finishing on top of the NRL ATS Ladder. They stumbled a little bit late in the season. Still, they covered in 18 of their 24 games to hold off the Eels at second. Meanwhile, just for a change, the Warriors disappointed to cover only seven times all season.
After Round 25
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| Top 8 |
Bottom 8 |
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| Storm (18-6) | Panthers (12-12) | |
| Eels (16-8) | Roosters (11-13) | |
| Sharks (15-9) | Bulldogs (10-14) | |
| Rabbitohs (15-9) | Knights (10-14) | |
| Sea Eagles (13-11) | Dragons (10-14) | |
| Tigers (13-11) | Cowboys (9-15) | |
| Broncos (12-12) | Raiders (9-15) | |
| Titans (12-12) | Warriors (7-17) | |
