RUGBY LEAGUE BETTING PREVIEW - NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS VS CANTERBURY BULLDOGS

Rugby League

2024-08-23 - New Zealand Warriors vs Canterbury Bulldogs

A Sports Betting Preview by Stu

New Zealand Warriors v Canterbury Bulldogs
Rugby League : Australia : NRL Season 2024
Friday 23rd August 2024 - KO 1800 AEST

---

New Zealand Warriors

The Warriors fate this season is now official, they will not play in the finals and as a result the season has been a rather large failure considering last seasons results and the now famous “up the Wahs” war cry. Shaun Johnson will play his final match at home after announcing his retirement and this will be the main motivation for the whole team coming into this match.

The Warriors continued to underwhelm their fans and neutral observers alike with yet another loss away to Manly in the last round in wet conditions going down by 14 points in the end. The match was closer than many predicted, mostly down to the weather making for a slippery encounter. The match was evenly poised at HT 10-10 but no points scored by the Warriors in the second allowing Manly to hold the lead, eventually prevailing 24-10.

New Zealand Warriors Team News - Only one change named and that is the return of Wayde Egan, pushing Harris-Tavita out of the 17.

Canterbury Bulldogs

Canterbury are on a tear, playing well above most punters expectations this season and a win here will 100% secure their finals berth, although even with a loss should still make the top 8. Currently 5th at the start of round 25 with a great record of 13-8, Manly just behind them and these teams meet next round in what could be a fantastic matchup. The Roosters and Sharks 1 win in front of them so if the Bulldogs win all their matches an one of those two teams lose a match, Canterbury could achieve a top 4 spot.

The Dogs won their 4th straight match last round when they easily took care of the visiting Redcliffe Dolphins at Slater oval. Winning the first half 3 tries to 2, Canterbury held a 6 point lead at the break 16-10 and the second half defended well yet again in the second half, denying the Dolphins any points while extending the lead to 20 points in the finish, 30-10.

Canterbury Bulldogs Team News - No changes named.

Odds

The visiting Bulldogs are set to start as the favoured side, $2.20 to $1.54, the line is 5.5 points and combined points 44.5

The Betting Verdict

40 previous matches have been played and the results are as even as you could expect, 19-19 with 2 matches drawn. The ground statistics are in favour of New Zealand, winning 57% at home while the Dogs have not enjoyed their trips across the Tasman much, winning just 6 times from 17 attempts.

The last time they played was not that long ago, this season in round 18. The Warriors outscored the Bulldogs 1 try to 2 in the first half to lead at the break 6-12, the second half had just one try and the 80 minute result was a draw, Matt Burton slotting a golden point field goal midway through the second period of extra time to claim a 1 point victory, 13-12.

New Zealand have lost 7 of their past 9 matches dropping them out of contention for the finals a few weeks ago after being placed mid table half way through this year. The one big motivator here is to send off Shaun Johnson with a victory so expect a fired up performance through the first 20 minutes, question is, can the Warriors maintain that predicted intensity throughout the full 80?

Canterbury are almost the exact opposite of the Warriors in the second part of this season, winning 4 straight and 6 of their past 7 to rocket up to 5th. Incredibly the fact that the Dogs are now assured of playing in the finals breaks a 7 year drought of appearances in the post season. Canterbury will need to be on top of their game here though as the Warriors will be right up for this match.

The forecast for Auckland this Friday is good, with no rain forecast so we should expect a reasonably fast open match. Canterbury are the best defensive team this season overall and the only team to have not conceded 30 points in a single match.

I am sure the Warriors are going to really give the ball some air time in this one to send SJ out a winner and with the Dogs also in hot form on attack I am suggesting a match with a number of points, Bulldogs winning a close one by about 6-8 points.

The Pick :

New Zealand Warriors 22-28 Canterbury Bulldogs

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the combined points over 44.5 points returning $1.91 with Bet365