NRL Semi-Final Betting Tips: Panthers On The Prowl
Melbourne and Brisbane will be hosting the 2025 preliminary finals on Friday and Sunday respectively next week, so it’s now a matter of determining their visitors this week when GIO Stadium and Accor Stadium take centre stage.
The Raiders will be desperate to avoid the same fate as AFL minor premiers Adelaide last week when being dumped in straight sets from first place and, at least for the first 65 minutes of their qualifying final, played some footy they should be proud of.
They have got a fascinating semi-final against the surprise in-form side of the competition and it will make for a great match-up with both teams boasting some of the league’s best attacks and defences.
But the two best defensive units of the season will meet as Canterbury attempt to halt their slide against the triple reigning premiers.
After comparing the odds across the best Australian betting sites, here are our six favourite selections for the semi-finals.
NRL Semi Finals Predictions:
- Raiders/Sharks Either Team To Win By 1-6 Points - 2.95 With Unibet
- KL Iro To Score A Try - 3.10 With Picklebet
- Savelio Tamale To Score A Try - 2.25 With Betr
- Penrith -8.5 points - 1.90 With PlayUp
- Casey McLean To Score A Try - 2.55 With Ladbrokes
- Penrith -8.5 And Under 39.5 Total Points - 4.00 With Bet365
Canberra Vs Cronulla, Saturday 7:50pm AEST
The minor premiers ended up on the wrong end of one of the most exciting finals fixtures of all time and had already celebrated booking a home preliminary twice before Michael Maguire’s men pulled the rug out from underneath them.
Raiders fans have suffered from stressful finishes on multiple occasions this year, including in Round 4 this year when the Raiders were down 20-18 heading into the 79th minute and had to run the ball from 55 metres on the last tackle only for Seb Kris to be on the end of a string of passes and score the match winner.
Canberra have played out 10 matches decided by a margin of one to six points, amongst the most of any team this year, and their meeting with Cronulla in early April was the first of eight that they won under such circumstances.
The Sharks' confidence will be high after winning eight of their last nine games, even if Sydney (twice) and Canterbury were the only finalists they beat in that period.
Now that they have an even better defence than Canberra and are going for just 20 points per game, it would be silly to discount them, and we’re forecasting an epic here.
Find the tri-bet market on your favourite NRL betting apps, or head to Unibet for the best price at 2.95.
KL Iro is yet to find the line since returning from injury but was on a nine-game try scoring streak prior to that so he can’t be far away, nor Savelio Tamale with five of the Sharks’ last six away games seeing them concede a try to the opposition’s starting right winger.
Best Bet: Raiders/Sharks Either Team To Win By 1-6 Points - 2.95 With Unibet
Player Prop: KL Iro To Score A Try - 3.10 With Picklebet
Same Game Multi: Savelio Tamale To Score A Try - 2.25 With Betr
Canterbury Vs Penrith, Sunday 4:05pm AEST
This match could be a classic case of one team peaking at the perfect time and the other too early.
Canterbury held premiership favouritism throughout the first half of the season after winning nine of their 10 matches, compared with their opponents who are hoping to become the first team in league history to win the flag from the unenviable position of a 1-5 start to the season.
The Dogs have been beset by injuries in recent weeks and lost Enari Tuala while captain Stephen Crichton remains doubtful even despite being named in the reserves on Tuesday.
Their only win from their last five games was a cruisy 28-4 victory against what was effectively Penrith’s NSW Cup side and therefore cannot come into consideration when forecasting this result, whilst the meagre 50 points they accumulated in their four losses surrounding that is of concern.
This Panthers side are the finals kings as they illustrated last week with a 13th consecutive finals victory, the majority of which they also covered the line in.
They should do so again this week despite what we expect to be a low total given these sides are one and two for defence this year, with the Bulldogs likely to be kept to fewer than 16 points.
Penrith’s Casey McLean has been a money maker for anytime try scorer players, having found the line in seven of his last eight games. The best value amongst NRL bookmakers appears to come from Ladbrokes this time around.
Best Bet: Penrith -9.5 points - 1.90 With PlayUp
Player Prop: Casey McLean To Score A Try - 2.55 With Ladbrokes
Same Game Multi: Penrith -9.5 And Under 39.5 Total Points - 4.00 With Bet365
