NRL Round 23 betting preview: South Sydney to buck the trend, while Gutho leads Parramatta fightback

Once again Penrith are in a blockbuster to open the round as they take on the red hot South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Panthers recently had all the answers against the Bunnies after winning seven of their last eight encounters. Latrell Mitchell poses as the ultimate difference maker this time.

The North Queensland Cowboys will be aiming to get back to winning ways against a New Zealand Warriors side who have had an impressive record against them lately, while Melbourne will look to go on to a 12-string win against Brisbane on Friday night.

Elsewhere, Aaron Woods is hoping his 250th milestone match will be a memorable one when the Dragons host the Titans.

Here is Sporting News‘ Betting predictions for this round of NRL action.

Quotations courtesy of TAB.

South Sydney stops the rot

Penrith are unbeaten in their last five games against South Sydney. But her winning streak is in serious danger of coming to an end as injuries and suspensions affect her momentum heading into the final.

Without Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, the Panthers struggled to break through Melbourne’s defense last week despite controlling possession and field position for extended periods.

The Bunnies are an extremely difficult proposition at Accor Stadium, having won nine of their last ten games there.

With Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker firing on all cylinders, South Sydney have an opportunity to inflict rare back-to-back defeats on Ivan Cleary’s men.

Latrell Mitchell 1st or last attempt – $6.50

Jeremiah Nanai has the last laugh

North Queensland struggled against the Sydney Roosters last weekend. Perhaps no player more so than Jeremiah Nanai, who barely touched the ball.

Nanai and his Cowboys teammates have a chance to take on the Warriors at the comfortable Queensland Country Bank Stadium, where they’ve won six of their last seven games.

Todd Payten’s men have made a habit of being the last team to score this season, having managed to do so 15 times.

Nanai is one of the main reasons for this as the backrower has scored the last try in five separate games.

Last try scorer Jeremiah Nanai – $9.00

Parramatta throwback by Clint Gutherson

Parramatta’s form continues to swing from one extreme to the other. They were beaten 26-0 by South Sydney last weekend after easily beating the reigning Premiers two weeks earlier.

Revenge will be on the Eels’ minds after suffering one of the biggest shock losses of the season against the Bulldogs. Back in Round 14, Canterbury beat them 34-4.

Parramatta has never lost consecutive games at CommBank Stadium and their captain, Clint Gutherson, loves playing against the Bulldogs. He has scored four tries and provided two assists in his last four games against them.

C Gutherson 1+ try/ par win – $2.25

Roosters make easy work of tigers

It’s fair to say that the Sydney Roosters have dominated the Wests Tigers. In fact, they’ve won 15 of their last 16 meetings with them.

The Roosters were able to rack up points against their battling opponents while also limiting their defenses. They haven’t conceded 20 points or more against the Tigers in a decade.

Trent Robinson finally has his attack and in James Tedesco they have a meter-eating machine that always gets their sets off to a strong start. He’s one of only two players to average 200 yards or more per game so far this season.

Exact points away: Wests Tigers 0-10 – $2.30

Canberra victory in an unfamiliar environment

The Raiders have not faced the Newcastle Knights since Round 10 in 2017 at the McDonald Jones Stadium.

But when it’s an unfamiliar environment for Canberra, the stadium poses as unfortunate for the Knights. They have won just one of their last nine home games and have lost an average of 35 points per game during that time.

Newcastle appeared to be short of attacking ideas in their loss to the Broncos last week and this is made worse by the absence of weapons center Bradman Best due to disciplinary issues.

Since the conclusion of the State of Origin series, the Knights have struggled to get four points. They were only able to register 11 in two months, which is the lowest number in the competition.

Total Match Attempts: 0-5 Attempts – $4.80