Rugby League Betting
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Last Updated: Rugby League is a thrilling international sport and gets a lot of attention at the bookmakers, especially during the Super League and Rugby League World Cup. The game is played across the world but is particularly popular in Northern England, Australia, New Zealand and southwest France.
Rugby league betting provides you with a fantastic opportunity to ramp up the excitement you experience when watching a big game. You can choose from dozens of intriguing pre-match betting options, in-play wagers and long-term markets. This rugby league betting guide arms you with all the information you need to maximize your chances of success.
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How we Choose the Best Bookmakers for Rugby League Betting
There are hundreds of rugby league betting sites to choose from, but only a handful of them excel across the board. We will shine a light on the betting sites that offer great odds on rugby league, along with competitive bonuses, a wealth of rugby league betting options, fast payouts, excellent customer service and rock-solid security.
We will highlight the best rugby league events to bet on, from the Super League and NRL to the World Cup, so you can learn all about the different options you have at your disposal. This guide will explain how to bet on long-term markets such as the Steve Prescott Man of Steel award and the Dally M.
By the time you have finished reading this guide, you will be ready to embark upon an exciting rugby league betting journey. We constantly refresh the list of the best rugby league betting sites, so you should bookmark this page to ensure you remain up-to-date with all the best bookmakers, the most attractive bonuses and the latest expert rugby league tips.
Our team of rugby league betting experts will sign up for accounts with all the different sites that offer rugby league odds. They will make a deposit, place wagers and mark the site according to certain criteria:
- Licence and Regulation | We only recommend safe, reliable, trustworthy sites that are licensed and regulated by respected industry bodies such as the MGA. Our reviewers will inspect the licensing credentials of each site before making recommendations.
- Welcome offers | Rival bookmakers constantly for your business, so most of them including new bookmakers to the market try to stand out from the crowd by launching enticing welcome bonuses. We will check out the amount of bonus cash on offer at each site, along with the wagering requirements imposed. We then benchmark each offer against those provided by rival sites, before deciding how attractive and competitive each one is.
- Signup Process | The registration process should be quick, simple and effective. However, it should also be suitably robust and meet the correct licensing conditions.
- Industry reputation | Our expert reviewers will perform thorough research on the general reputation of each site. That allows us to separate the trustworthy operators with excellent liquidity and a long history of prompt payouts from the shady sites that are likely to rip you off.
- Security | The best rugby league betting sites should use the latest SSL software to encrypt your personal and financial details. We will ensure that the sites we recommend boast excellent safety measures and have no security breaches on record.
- Odds and pricing | The competitiveness of the odds is generally the primary concern for most rugby league bettors. We will conduct a thorough odds comparison featuring the various rugby league betting sites, highlighting those bookmakers that consistently offer above-average prices.
- Payout Percentage | The best rugby league betting sites operate on a lower than average margin in order to appeal to customers. We work hard to find the sites that offer the highest payout percentage, which is achieved by consistently offering attractive odds and exciting bonuses and promotions.
- Reliable Promotions | Once you have signed up for an account at a rugby league betting site, it should work hard to retain your loyalty. Many sites, therefore, offer a wealth of ongoing promotions, such as free bet offers, and we highlight the bookies that provide the best promotions.
- Customer Service | The leading rugby league betting sites offer efficient, professional, friendly customer service on a 24/7 basis. You should be able to choose from live chat, phone and email, and you should receive rapid support, while there should also be a strong FAQ section at the site.
We will only recommend rugby league betting sites that excel across these different criteria, providing you with a fantastic all-round wagering experience. Our experts will also assess the general user experience, including ease of navigation, the effectiveness of the search function and the bet slip, the educational material on offer and so on.
Once we have compiled all of this information, we can then provide honest reviews of each site, pit the different bookmakers against one another and make recommendations about the very best rugby league betting sites in the business.
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Meet our Expert Team of Reviewers
We have assembled a formidable team of in-house betting industry experts to compile our reviews. They are all seasoned bettors that have an innate understanding of what makes a strong online betting site. These experts have worked in the industry for many years, and they are highly experienced when it comes to conducting unbiased, authoritative, detailed reviews.
The team is made up of professional tipsters, journalists, software experts, industry consultants and other experts. Many of them have worked at bookmakers in the past, so they know what it is required of a top betting site. They are all totally impartial and work hard to provide fair, balanced reviews of all the betting sites vying for your attention.
While our team all have a good understanding of rugby betting, a number of our experts specialize in rugby league betting in particular. They can be relied upon to highlight the sites that cover a wide range of exciting rugby league markets and provide extremely competitive odds on an abundance of matches and long-term futures markets.
The Best Super League Betting Markets
The best rugby league betting sites will provide you with a wealth of different wagering options on each Super League match. You should always find classic bets such as the winner of each match, rugby league handicaps and total points, but the best sites will offer a wide variety of specials betting markets too.
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
Refund or free bet when one selection in an accumulator lets the bet down
We have explained some of the most popular rugby league betting options below to help you boost the excitement you feel when watching Super League matches take place.
Head to Head
- This is a straightforward wager on which team will win a particular rugby league match. The odds compilers at the betting sites will analyse the relative strengths and weaknesses of each team and then assign a set of odds to each one. They will factor in which team has home advantage, the recent head-to-head record between the teams, fatigue, injuries, motivation levels and other concerns.
- You generally see a favorite and an underdog. If Leeds Rhinos are in great form and they are hosting an injury-hit Salford side, you might see Leeds priced as the 1/2 (1.50) favorites and Salford as the 8/5 (2.60) underdogs. Draws are rare in rugby league, so the draw would have odds of roughly 20/1 (21.00).
- A bet on Leeds would earn you a 50% profit if successful, whereas a bet on Salford would earn you a 160% if they won the game. The larger potential profit on Salford tells you that they are the clear underdogs.
- The odds can move in the build-up to a match. If a lot of money goes on Salford, the odds on them would shrink, while the odds on Leeds would grow more attractive. Injury to a key Leeds player in training that week would also be likely to cause a shift in the odds.
Line Betting
- Line betting gives the supposedly stronger team a handicap to level the playing field. Let’s say the Penrith Panthers are having a great season and preparing to host the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Panthers Stadium. You might find odds of 1/2 (1.50) on Penrith and 17/10 (2.70) on South Sydney.
- If you want more value on Penrith, you could be them to cover the rugby league handicaps line. In this case, it would probably be set at six points. You could then bet on Penrith -6, meaning the Panthers would have to win by seven or more points in order for your bet to pay off. However, you would expect to find odds of evens (2.00) as opposed to 1/2 (1.50), meaning you earn a greater profit if successful.
- Your alternative would be to bet on South Sydney +6. If the Rabbitohs won the game or lost by up to five points, your bet would pay off. That gives you a greater chance of success, but you would expect to find odds of evens (2.00) on South Sydney +6 as opposed to 17/10 (2.70), so your potential payout would be smaller.
First Try Scorer
- This is another straightforward bet on the player that you think will score the first try in a match, much like in football betting when you try and decipher who will be the first goalscorer. The oddsmakers will rank each player based on the likelihood of them scoring first, factoring in how prolific they have been that season.
- Once again, it will start with a favorite and go down to a rank outsider. If the Melbourne Storm are playing the Canberra Raiders, you might expect to find a strike runner or outside back, for example, Josh Addo-Carr as the 6/1 (7.00) favorite and a prop forward, in this instance Jesse Bromwich, as the 60/1 (61.00) outsider.
- You should also be able to find anytime tryscorer betting on rugby league matches. The odds are always smaller than first tryscorer betting, but your chances of success are naturally higher.
Margin Betting
- Margin betting enables bettors to predict the margin by which a team will win a particular match. It allows you to earn far greater value than simply betting on a team to win. It also offers more value than rugby league handicaps, as you have to be more specific about the winning margin.
- If St. Helens are playing Wakefield in the Super League, you might be able to bet on the Saints winning by 1-10 points, 1-12 points, 13+ points, 11-20 points, 1-7 points, 8-14 points, 21-30 points and so on. The list of available winning margin options differs from one bookmaker to the next, so it is advisable to hold an account with multiple rugby league betting sites. That allows you to enjoy the best possible value on each match.
- The odds will vary on each potential winning margin. For example, you might find 8/5 (2.60) on St. Helens winning by 1-12 points and 9/5 (2.80) on them winning by 13+ points. Another bookmaker might offer 9/2 (5.50) on Saints winning by 1-6 points, 5/1 (6.00) on a winning margin of 7-12 points, 11/2 (6.5) on a winning margin of 13-18 points, and so on.
The number of different sports you can bet on
Can you cash out of bets before an event has finished?
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The number of different sports you can bet on
Can you cash out of bets before an event has finished?
Can you create your own personalised bets?
The number of different sports you can bet on
Can you cash out of bets before an event has finished?
Can you create your own personalised bets?
Rugby League Betting Overview
Rugby league is a popular sport in England and Australia. The main tournament in England is the Super League, which features 10 teams from the M62 corridor along with Catalans Dragons from Perpignan in France. These teams also compete in the Challenge Cup each year.
In Australia, the NRL is the main event, featuring 15 teams from across the country plus the New Zealand Warriors. The State of Origin series is also one of Australia’s premier sporting events.
You may be wondering how to bet on rugby league. We have listed the key match betting markets above, but you can also place long-term, futures bets on various outcomes.
For example, at the start of the season you can bet on which team will win the NRL Grand Final, the Super League Grand Final or the Challenge Cup. The odds compilers at each site will assess each team and then assign odds to each of them.
The defending champions are often among the favorites, along with other strong teams that have brought in exciting new players. The odds grow progressively longer until you reach the outsiders, the teams that are given little chance of success. You can also bet on individual awards.
The odds on these markets change throughout of the season. If a team embarks upon an impressive winning streak, the odds will drop. If a team struggles for form or suffers an injury crisis, the odds will lengthen.
By capitalising upon these line movements, you can bet on different teams winning a tournament over the course of the season and lock in a profit regardless of who lifts the trophy. For anyone that wants to know how to bet on rugby league, this is known as hedging your bets.
It also pays to compare the odds at different bookmakers, as that provides hedging opportunities. You should always search for the best odds when considering rugby league betting, because that will maximize your chances of earning a profit on a long-term basis.
It is advisable to sign up for accounts with a few of the best rugby league betting sites. You can then quickly take the best odds on offer each time.
You must also familiarize yourself with the scoring system when betting on rugby league. It differs from rugby union. In the rugby league scoring system, four points are awarded for a try, two for a conversion and one for a drop goal. Bear this in mind when placing rugby league handicaps and total points bets.
It is also advisable to look beyond the simple winner and rugby league handicaps markets. The people that really know how to bet on rugby league will consider bets like second half result, leading after 60 minutes, half with most tries, team to score first, to score first and win and winning margin betting to find more value.
Just remember to stick to the safe, reliable, secure rugby league betting sites that we recommend on this page. Shady, unlicensed operators are battling for your business, and they have a history of ripping off their customers, so stick to the best rugby league betting sites.
Other Rugby League Events to Bet On
There are a several rugby league tournaments that take place across the globe on an annual basis. Fans can enjoy the Super League, RFL Championship, League 1, National Conference League and various regional leagues. The top tier in France is the Elite One Championship, and there are various lower leagues, while 10 teams compete in the Irish Elite League.
There are a number of regional leagues and cups in Australia, while domestic league are held in various Pacific nations. Continental and regional tournaments also take place around the world, along with women’s and youth events.
However, it is rare to find betting markets on any of these tournaments. From a rugby league betting perspective, most bookmakers stick to Super League, Challenge Cup, NRL, State of Origin. NRL fans can bet on the team that will win the minor premiership and the Grand Final.
You can also bet on the World Club Challenge, which pits the NRL Grand Final winner against the Super League Grand Final winner each year. Bookmakers will offer a wealth of rugby league betting markets on the World Cup too, which we have detailed further down this page.
Carnegie Challenge Cup
- The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league competition that was inaugurated all the way back in 1896. The final is held at Wembley Stadium in London each year, and it is broadcast around the world. The best teams in England vie for glory, and Wigan hold the record after winning it 19 times over the years.
- You can bet on the winner of the Challenge Cup, and enjoy match betting on individual games. The best bookmakers offer pre-match and live betting on Challenge Cup matches, including rugby league handicaps and all manner of special bets.
NRL
- The National Rugby League is the major domestic rugby league competition in Australia. The season typically begins in March and games are played every weekend until the start of September. Teams are ranked in a ladder and the team with the most points will be declared minor premiers.
- The eight highest placed teams then go through to the Finals series. There are qualifiers, semi-finals and preliminary finals, and then the Grand Final determines the overall champion. It is one of the most important events in the entire Australian sporting calendar.
- UK and European players have had big success in the National Rugby League in recent years, with the large salary cap offering lucrative contracts to star players. Recent figures show that around 20% of players in the league were from the UK, a testament to the popularity of the league and its enticement to foreign players.
State of Origin
- The State of Origin series is widely regarded as the greatest sporting rivalry in Australia. Each year it sees the New South Wales Blues clash with the Queensland Maroons in a best-of-three series. Players are selected to represent the Australian state in which they played their first senior rugby league game.
- It is always a fiercely competitive event and it enjoys huge TV audiences. You can find a wide variety of rugby league betting markets for these matches. See above for a rundown on how to bet on rugby league, while keeping in mind the rugby league scoring system.
Rugby League World Cup
- The Rugby League World Cup is an international tournament that was inaugurated in 1954. Following the 2013 tournament, it was decided that the world cup would be scheduled to take place every four years. Australia won the World Cup in 2017 after battling to a hard-fought 6-0 victory over England.
- They are the most successful team in the tournament’s history, with 11 wins. Australia are typically the favorites to win Rugby League World Cup. Great Britain won it three times, although it has been split into England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland since 1995, while New Zealand won it once.
- England and New Zealand are also typically among the favorites to win Rugby League World Cup. France, Lebanon, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Italy are the other teams that take part. You can find rugby league betting tips to aid your decisions when the World Cup takes place.
Recent Super League Grand Final Winners
The Super League is the greatest prize for all English teams and they fight tooth and nail to lift the trophy each year. These are the winners from the past decade:
| Year | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | St. Helens | 23-6 | Salford |
| 2018 | Wigan | 12-4 | Warrington |
| 2017 | Leeds | 24-6 | Castleford |
| 2016 | Wigan | 12-6 | Warrington |
| 2015 | Leeds | 22-20 | Wigan |
| 2014 | St. Helens | 14-6 | Wigan |
| 2013 | Wigan | 30-16 | Warrington |
| 2012 | Leeds | 26-18 | Warrington |
| 2011 | Leeds | 32-16 | St. Helens |
| 2010 | Wigan | 22-10 | St. Helens |
Betting on Rugby League’s Individual Awards
Betting on rugby league’s individual awards can be a fun, exciting and profitable enterprize. There are numerous awards to bet on. The oddsmakers will assign a price to all the key players in contention for an award at the start of the season, and those odds will change over the course of the campaign depending upon form, injuries and so on.
If you want to bet on a player and you cannot find him listed, you might be able to contact the best rugby league betting sites and request a price on that individual. This is an exciting rugby league betting market, as you do not need to predict which team will win a tournament – you simply need to pick out one player that will thrive.
Steve Prescott Man of Steel
- The Steve Prescott Man of Steel award is presented to the Rugby Football League player of the year at the end of each season. It was renamed after former Prescott, the former St. Helens, Hull and Wakefield fullback, in 2014, the year after he died of cancer aged 39.
- A panel of former rugby league players is chosen to determine the winner of the award each year. The voting mimics the system used to name the Dally M winner in Australia. Points are awarded to the best performing players after each game –three points for the man of the match, two points for the runner-up, and one point for the third best player – and the player with most points wins the award.
Lance Todd Trophy
- The Lance Dodd trophy has historically been awarded to the man of the match in the Challenge Cup final. A particular star will be rewarded for playing a blinder in that game, and some rugby league betting sites allow you to place wagers on who will be named man of the match before the action gets underway.
Dally M Medal
- The Dally M Medal is awarded to the NRL regular season player of the year on an annual basis. The award has existed since 1979, but it was officially adopted as the NRL player of the year award in 1998.
- Rugby league commentators give three votes to the best player in each game, two to the runner-up and one for the third best player. The votes are only made public up to Round 16 of the 26-round season, and then the final results are kept secret until the Dally M Awards ceremony.
Wally Lewis Medal
- The Wally Lewis Medal is awarded to the best player in the State of Origin series each year. It is named after the highly decorated former Australian national captain and Queensland legend, nicknamed The King, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in history.
- In 2019, the NRL overhauled the voting system for the Wally Lewis Medal. The new rules see the selectors vote 3-2-1 in every game, just like the Dally M voting system, as opposed to the previous 5-4-3-2-1 system. Players are also now required to feature in at least two of the three games to be eligible to win the award.
Rugby League World Cup Betting
Fourteen international teams battle for glory in the Rugby League World Cup every four years, not to be confused with the Rugby World Cup. They are divided into two groups of four and two groups of three. Each team is awarded two points for a win and one point for a draw during the group stage. Three teams from each group of four will qualify for the knockout stage, along with the top teams from the groups of three.
Those eight teams go into the quarter-finals and the winners progress to the semi-finals, before the World Cup final. If the teams are level after 80 minutes extra time will be played and if the two teams are still level after extra time, a golden point will be played. The format will be changed in 2021, when the number of teams taking part is increased to 16.
The 2021 World Cup takes place in England in October and November. Defending champions Australia and hosts England will be the favorites to win Rugby League World Cup and they will feature heavily in the rugby league betting tips.
You will be able to bet on the winner of the tournament, plus various other long-term World Cup markets. You can also bet on individual matches, so bookmark this page for rugby league tips, rugby league handicaps, rugby league betting insights and more. As always, when signing up to a new bookmaker, ensure they have a juice sign up bonus so you can potentially boost your bankroll.
These are the recent winners of the Rugby League World Cup:
| YEAR | WINNING TEAM | SCORE | LOSING TEAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Australia | 6-0 | England |
| 2013 | Australia | 34-2 | New Zealand |
| 2008 | New Zealand | 34-20 | Australia |
| 2000 | Australia | 40-12 | New Zealand |
FAQ
How do I win betting on Rugby League?
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You should always take time to identify the best odds at the best rugby betting sites in order to maximize your chances of earning an overall profit each year. Look beyond simple match winner betting and delve into handicaps, total points, individual player markets and special betting options to find more value. Check out rugby league tips for help and advice on picking winning bets.
How does rugby league handicap betting work?
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Rugby league handicaps give the supposedly weaker team a points advantage in order to level the playing field. If you see Leeds as the six point favorites against Huddersfield, you can either bet on Leeds -6 or Huddersfield +6. Leeds would have to win by more than six points in order for your rugby league handicaps bet to pay off, whereas Huddersfield could lose by up to five points and a bet on them would still pay off.
What factors matter when betting on rugby league?
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You should factor in the form of each team and the head-to-head record between them before betting on rugby league. Home advantage can be an important factor to keep in mind, along with motivation levels – if a team has already wrapped up the title, it might not put in as much effort. Also look out for injuries to key players and fatigue, as teams often struggle if they have played a number of matches in a short period of time.
How does handicap betting work in the Super League?
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The odds compilers at rugby league betting sites will give one Super League team a handicap in order to even things out. You will then find similar odds on each team. You can either bet on the stronger team to cover the handicap line, meaning they would have to win by a certain amount of points, or the weaker team to cover the rugby league handicaps line, meaning they could either win or lose by up to a certain amount of points.
What are the best rugby league bets?
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You can bet on long-term markets like the winner of the Super League Grand Final, the NRL Grand Final or the Dally M medal. When it comes to betting on individual rugby league games, popular bets include the match result, first tryscorer, anytime tryscorer, draw no bet, half-time/full-time, win to nil and winning margins. Check out rugby league betting tips to find exciting rugby league bets.
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