NRL Round 22 Friday Night Double Preview

As well as providing his best value bets every week, our NRL guru Steve Green also previews every NRL game for members. Each week on the blog we’ll feature some of his match previews from the eight games. Check out his NRL Round 22 Friday Preview below

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NRL Round 22: Dragons v Panthers

The Dragons have been very poor since the BBQ drama, but there were some promising signs in their loss to the Raiders. They made more tackle breaks, more line breaks and more metres. They just did not execute against a gritty Raiders goal-line defence.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, they line up for this one missing Tariq Sims due to suspension, meaning they are now missing a whole host of their best players (Vaughan, Hunt, Dufty).

As for the Panthers, while they will lose Koroisau due to suspension, I do not think he has been that good in 2021 (his form is a long way off what he delivered in 2020). In 11 games, Api has scored 1 try, has 1 try assist, 2 line breaks and is averaging less than 50 metres per game.

It appears there is now a strong chance that Cleary comes back for this game, meaning it would be the first time Cleary, Burton, Luai and Edwards had played together for a while.

With Crichton back in the centres, and a backrow of Yeo, Martin and Kikau, I have this Panthers team about 24 points better than the depleted and out of form Dragons.

The Dragons are a gritty team that can defend well on their day, while the Panthers are still yet to rekindle their early season form.

But with guys like Norman, Clune running the ship, I cannot see the Dragons getting many points in this one.

Predicted score
Panthers 34
Dragons 10

NRL Round 22: Broncos v Roosters

While Coach Walters has had his critics, I think he deserves a lot of credit for the footy the Broncos have produced over the past month. It is clear he inherited a playing group that was fractured, but with guys like Pangai Jnr and Lodge being moved on, he has been able to pull together this young squad and has them playing with a lot of energy and defensive desperation.

From Round 1 to Round 10, the Broncos ranked 1st in line breaks conceded and missed tackles…which made people question whether Coach Siebold was actually the problem. But since then the Broncos have ranked 5th worst for line breaks conceded and 7th best for missed tackles

While there is still work to do, it is clear that they are finally heading in the right direction.
This weekend they welcome back Flegler in the forwards, who has looked great since he made in Origin debut. While I also really like Kelly in the halves alongside Gamble, as these two are both great competitors and capable of generating points.

Although they are still missing Staggs, Cobbo and Coates out wide provide some big bodies to aim at, along with Farmworth and Oates.

The Roosters are missing two key forwards here, with Crichton suspended and JWH rested…so this is not the strongest Roosters team I have seen line up this year.

At Suncorp, with a likely crowd of over 20,000 Brisbane fans, I think the home team will put up a real fight here.

Predicted score
Roosters 24
Broncos 20