NRL Preview Tip: Back Penrith Panthers to beat Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs by 1-12 points
Recommended bet: Winning Margin – Penrith Panthers to win by 1-12 points @ 21/10 (3.10) with William Hill
Play-off chasing Penrith Panthers look to make it four wins on the spin when they host Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at the Pepper Stadium on Thursday evening.
The Panthers saw off the Gold Coast Titans 24-16 last weekend and are now finally showing the kind of form that many had anticipated at the start of the campaign. A win here would draw them level on points, at least temporarily, with St. George Illawarra Dragons in the final play-off spot.
The Bulldogs have had a desperately disappointing campaign and, down in 13th place in the NRL Premiership, are now really in must-win territory if they are to harbor any genuine hopes of a late charge for the play-offs themselves.
They went down to a heavy 42-12 defeat at the Brisbane Broncos last week, which was particularly worrying coming on the back of a bye. Their current form is woeful, with seven losses in their last nine matches and even their most recent win was a 20-18 victory over the hapless Newcastle Knights.
A lack of points scored has been a significant problem for the Bulldogs this season, with them registering just 252 throughout the campaign to date at a paltry average of 14 points per game. That’s the lowest in the NRL Premiership this term by some distance and goes a long way to explaining their poor form.
With regards to team news, Penrith captain Matt Moylan has a hamstring strain.
The teams have already met once this season back in Game week 13 at the ANZ Stadium in early June, with the Panthers handing out a 38-0 thrashing to the Bulldogs.
The Panthers are short betting odds to win this game too and everything suggests that they should win, but a similar thrashing as last month might be pushing it. They haven’t won that convincingly too often this term.
The 3/10 (1.30) with Unibet on a win for the Panthers holds little appeal, but the 21/10 (3.10) with William Hill on the Panthers securing victory by 1-12 points looks more attractive and is worth a bet.
