Saturday 13 May, Accor Stadium, 3pm (AEST)
South Sydney will be looking to continue their white-hot run of form when they come up against the Wests Tigers to kick off Super Saturday at Accor Stadium.
The Bunnies are on a five-match winning streak heading into this encounter – knocking over the Bulldogs, Dolphins, Panthers, Broncos and Storm during this run. Four of those victories have been by margins of 16 points or greater, highlighting their dominance – with their last three wins coming over Penrith, Brisbane and Melbourne, three of the very best teams in the NRL competition.
The Tigers have hit some resurgent form over the last fortnight, backing up their big upset over the Panthers in Bathurst, by edging out the Dragons in Magic Round. Tim Sheens’ side will now be gunning for three straight wins for the first time since 2018. New Tigers’ recruits Api Koroisau, David Klemmer and Isaiah Papali’i are starting to find some form, while boom young fullback Jahream Bula has shown he can be their main man for many years to come.
We can’t go against the Rabbitohs here. Souths are the most dangerous team in the competition and aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. We’ll back them to cover the line.
South Sydney -16.5 @ $1.95 (TopSport & PointsBet)
Saturday 13 May, Queensland Country Bank Stadium, 5:30pm (AEST)
North Queensland are in search of back-to-back wins for the first time this season when they play host to the struggling Dragons in Townsville.
While both teams are struggling in 2023, each sitting in the bottom four on the NRL ladder – the Cowboys should come into this encounter with confidence after last weekend’s grinding 20-6 victory over the Sydney Roosters. The Cowboys bounced back from their 44-6 hiding at the hands of the Sharks ten days earlier with a superb defensive effort against the Chooks – which was much more reminiscent of their 2022 season, that saw them come within one win of the Grand Final.
St George Illawarra are a club in crisis, which can be argued has been the case for some time now. The Dragons aren’t getting blown off the park, but they can’t buy a win, losing their last five matches by a combined 13 points, with four losses coming by two points or less. They should have closed out the Wests Tigers last week, but some poor discipline in the last 15 minutes saw them fall 18-16.
North Queensland have now won two of their last three games and are coming off their best performance of the season last week. This is a great opportunity for the Cowboys to start building some momentum, so we’ll be backing them to put the Dragons away.
North Queensland Cowboys -6.5 @ $1.96 (Sportsbet)
Full NRL Fixture & Odds
Saturday 13 May, GIO Stadium Canberra, 7:35pm (AEST)
Parramatta will be without their star halfback Mitchell Moses when they travel to the nation’s capital to face an in-form Raiders side on Saturday night.
It’s a tough ask for the Eels without their main playmaker. They are experiencing a disappointing start to the 2023 season after making the Grand Final last year. Parramatta are sitting outside the Top 8 and have only won back-to-back matches just once all season. The Eels showed their inconsistent form last weekend, going down to Gold Coast to the scoreline of 26-24 in Magic Round.
After a slow start to the season, sitting with a 1-4 record, Canberra have surged into top form and come into this showdown on the back of a four-match winning streak. In true Raiders fashion, each win has been tight, but they’ve managed to roll over the top of the Broncos, Dragons, Dolphins and Bulldogs by six points or less. Despite the victories, Raiders’ coach Ricky Stuart would have been disappointed with his side’s defence over the last fortnight, winning both matches but conceding a combined 60 points.
We aren’t liking the Eels’ chances without Moses. Not expecting Canberra to run away with this, but the points may flow given the lacklustre defensive record of Canberra coupled with the Eels’ inconsistent discipline.
Canberra Raiders H2H into Over 36.5 Alternate Total Match Points @ $2.41 (Neds & Ladbrokes)