NRL 2024 Round 8 – Betting tips & Predictions

Round 8 of the NRL season will follow a different schedule than usual, with ANZAC Day meaning three games will kick off the round on Thursday, before one is played on Friday, two on Saturday and three on Sunday. The headline games include a Storm vs Rabbitohs matchup on Thursday night and a Cowboys vs Panthers clash a couple of days later, but after a few surprise results last weekend there is plenty of intrigue surrounding most of the eight games. Take a look at our previews for each of them below.  

After a really solid start to a season in which they have top four aspirations, the Warriors put in their worst performance of the year by some margin last weekend. They kicked off proceedings with a Shaun Johnson try in the 11th minute, but things went south quickly after that as they conceded the next five tries against the Dragons and ultimately went down 30-12. They’ll be expecting to bounce back in kind against the only winless team in the league, but the Titans are getting closer to that long-awaited victory. After being uncompetitive in the first few weeks of the season, they got to within a point of the Raiders a couple of weeks ago before taking it right up to the Sea Eagles last weekend. In a high-scoring game, an Ethan Bullemor try gave Manly a 34-30 lead in just the 55th minute, before the game finally tightened up over the last 25 minutes and no more points were scored. But as disappointing as two consecutive losses by a combined margin of five points is, the Titans should at least be buoyed by the manner of those defeats. They’re likely going to find themselves right towards the bottom of the ladder this season, but there is some room for optimism based on the past fortnight. They still probably won’t be good enough to knock off the Warriors, but they can at least keep it reasonably close. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Warriors to win	$1.26
	Warriors 1-12	$3.20
	Titans +11.5	$1.89

Predicted Squads

New Zealand Warriors : 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Rocco Berry 4. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 5. Marcelo Montoya 6. Te Maire Martin 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitch Barnett 11. Jackson Ford 12. Kurt Capewell 13. Tohu Harris 14. Dylan Walker 15. Tom Ale 16. Jacob Laban 17. Ali Leiataua 

Gold Coast Titans: 1. AJ Brimson 2. Alofiana Khan-Pereira 3. Brian Kelly 4. Jojo Fifita 5. Phillip Sami 6. Tanah Boyd 7. Kieran Foran 8. Moeaki Fotuaika 9. Chris Randall 10. Jaimin Jolliffe 11. David Fifita 12. Beau Fermor 13. Isaac Liu 14. Sam Verrills 15. Klese Haas 16. Erin Clark 17. Josiah Pahulu 

Not much was expected of the Dragons this season, and while at times they have well and truly lived up to that lack of hype, at others they’ve looked like a pretty decent team, and last weekend was an example of the latter. Following on from a strong win against the Tigers the week prior, they faced a much sterner test in the New Zealand Warriors and passed it with flying colours, scoring five tries in a row late in the first half and early in the second to secure an impressive 30-12 win. The Roosters had a tough test of their own, too, but were unable to manage the same result as the Dragons, going down by six points to the Storm. But while they didn’t get the chocolates it was a quality game between two good teams, and the Roosters had every chance to win after tying things up courtesy of a converted Joseph Manu try in the 68th minute. The loss was their third in the past four games, but aside from a dreadful first half against the Bulldogs a couple of weeks ago they have played at a pretty reasonable level during that time. With their record now at 3-4 they will be eager to start actually getting the results they’re after as soon as possible, and they should be able to do that against the Dragons on Thursday afternoon. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Roosters to win	$1.53
	Roosters -4.5	$1.91
	Roosters 7+	$2.04

Predicted Squads

St. George Illawarra Dragons : 1. Tyrell Sloan 2. Zac Lomax 3. Moses Suli 4. Jack Bird 5. Mikaele Ravalawa 6. Kyle Flanagan 7. Ben Hunt  8. Francis Molo 9. Jacob Liddle 10. Hame Sele 11. Raymond Faitala-Mariner 12. Jaydn Su'A 13. Tom Eisenhuth 14. Fa'amanu Brown 15. Blake Lawrie 16. Jack de Belin 17. Luciano Leilua 

Sydney Roosters : 1.  James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Joseph Suaalii 4. Joey Manu 5. Dom Young 6. Luke Keary 7. Sam Walker 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Brandon Smith 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Nat Butcher 12. Angus Crichton 13. Victor Radley 14. Connor Watson 15. Naufahu Whyte 16. Sitili Tupouniua 
17. Terrell May 

Heading into the season the Storm and the Rabbitohs were two of the favourites to win the Premiership, but their years to date could hardly have been more different. The Storm have been consistently very good, losing just a solitary game and that game coming by just two points to the Knights, putting them behind only the Sharks on the ladder seven weeks into the year. They’ve conceded less points than every team in the league but the Panthers, though incredibly they have won all five of their games by eight points or less. The Rabbitohs’ season, meanwhile, has been an unmitigated disaster. Their solitary win came by four points against the Bulldogs and they have been on the receiving end of plenty of hefty losses, the result being that they sit ahead of only the Titans on the ladder and with the worst points differential in the league. A few important players who have been absent through injury or suspension are getting closer to a return, but the depth of their problems extends beyond just those absences. The Storm haven’t been putting teams away by big margins this season, but they should be winning this one comfortably and may very well secure their biggest victory of 2024 to date. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Storm to win	$1.24
	Storms 13+	$1.85
	Storm -13.5	$1.89

Predicted Squads

Melbourne Storm : 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. Will Warbrick 3. Reimis Smith 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Christian Welch 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eli Katoa 13. Trent Loiero 14. Tyran Wishart 15. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 16. Joe Chan 17. Alec MacDonald 

South Sydney Rabbitohs : 1. Jye Gray 2. Izaac Thompson 3. Jack Wighton 4. Isaiah Tass 5. Taane Milne 6. Cody Walker 7. Dean Hawkins 8. Shaq Mitchell 9. Peter Mamouzelos 10. Tom Burgess 11. Keaon Koloamatangi 12. Jacob Host 13. Cam Murray 14. Damien Cook 15. Siliva Havili 16. Michael Chee Kam  17. Davvy Moale 

• The Storm have an incredible record against the Rabbitohs at AAMI Park, having never been beaten by them there in 18 matchups. 
• The Sea Eagles have won five of their last six home games against the Eels by an average of 24 points. 
• The Broncos’ four wins this year have all been by at least ten points, and by an average of 18.5 points. 

Multi of the Week

It must be maddening to be an Eels fan. Even when they made the Grand Final a couple of years ago they had issues with consistency, and a 3-4 start to this season has seen that erratic form rear its head once again. After a really disappointing fortnight which saw them lose to the Tigers and get hammered by the Raiders, they bounced back with a really impressive win against the Cowboys a fortnight ago. Unfortunately, that bounce back was limited to just one week, as they put in another stinker last weekend and went down 44-16 against the Dolphins. If they play like they have in three of their past four games, they will be no match for the Sea Eagles in Manly, who continued their strong start to the season last weekend. It was far from their most complete performance as they beat the winless Titans by just four points, but they did what they had to do to take their record to 4-1-2 and make it close to a month since they were last defeated. The Eels’ up and down form means that depending on the day, they are capable of either winning this or being blown out of the water. But given they have only really put in one good performance in the past month, a strong Sea Eagles win looks like the tip here. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Sea Eagles to win	$1.33
	Sea Eagles 13+	$2.40
	Sea Eagles -9.5	$1.85

Predicted Squads

Manly Sea Eagles : 1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Tolu Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Tommy Talau 6. Luke Brooks 7. Daly Cherry-Evans 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Lachlan Croker 10. Josh Aloiai 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Corey Waddell 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Karl Lawton 15. Ethan Bullemor  16. Matthew Lodge 17. Nathan Brown

Parramatta Eels : 1. Clint Gutherson 2. Maika Sivo 3. Will Penisini 4. Bailey Simonsson 5. Sean Russell 6. Daejarn Asi 7. Dylan Brown 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard 9. Joey Lussick 10. Junior Paulo 11. Shaun Lane 12. Bryce Cartwright 13. J’maine Hopgood 14. Luca Moretti 15. Ryan Matterson 16. Joe Ofahengaue 17. Blaize Talagi 

The Wests Tigers have had a reasonable start to life under Benji Marshall, but they were realistically never going to be too much of a chance in Penrith last weekend, and that’s just how it played out. Through Junior Tupou they scored the first try of the game and hung around for a while, trailling by just four points at half time, but a couple more tries to the home side in the second half saw them break away for a 22-6 lead. Things don’t get all that much easier for the Tigers this weekend, with last year’s other Grand Finalist waiting for them on Saturday evening. The one thing in the Tigers’ favour is the fact that the Broncos are 4-0 at home and 0-3 on the road this year, though given those losses have been in Las Vegas against the Roosters, as well as against the Storm and Panthers, that probably can’t be read into too much. What’s more, they’ve put in a couple of their best performances of the season over the last couple of weeks, knocking off the Dolphins 28-14 and then taking care of the Raiders with ease last Saturday, beating them 34-10. This looks like a great spot for them to pick up their first road win of the year. With the Tigers on the back end of a difficult two-week period, this should be a comfortable win for the Broncos. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Broncos to win	$1.20
	Broncos -13.5	$1.91
	Broncos 13+	$1.83

Predicted Squads

Wests Tigers : 1. Jahream Bula 2. Charlie Staines 3. Brent Naden 4. Justin Olam 5. Asu Kepaoa 6. Lachlan Galvin 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Api Koroisau 10. David Klemmer 11. Isaiah Papali’i  12. John Bateman 13. Fonua Pole 14. Latu Fainu 15. Alex Twal 16. Alex Seyfarth  17. Samuela Fainu

Brisbane Broncos: 1. Reece Wals 2. Corey Oates 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Selwyn Cobbo 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Ezra Mam 7. Adam Reynolds  8. Corey Jensen 9. Billy Walters 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Patrick Carrigan 14. Tyson Smoothy 15. Fletcher Baker 16. Kobe Hetherington 17. Tristan Sailor 

After a strong start to the season, the wheels have fallen off a little for the Cowboys over the past few weeks. Following a heavy defeat to the Broncos, a win over the Titans and then a loss to the Eels, they had their worst performance of the year on Sunday against the Sharks. In a game they would have given themselves a big chance of winning, they were on the back foot from the moment the game started, conceding a second minute try and heading into the half-time break down 24-0. By the end of the game that score had extended out to 42-6, handing the Cowboys their third loss of the season and their third loss in three weeks. Things don’t get any easier this weekend when they come up against the Panthers. The three-time reigning Premiers have lost just two games this year and will potentially be buoyed by the return of Nathan Cleary from a hamstring injury, an inclusion which would obviously bolster the team which beat the Tigers 22-6 last week significantly. The Cowboys haven’t lost yet on their home turf this year, but in their third game for the season this will be tough for them.

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Panthers to win	$1.33
	Panthers 7+	$1.70
	Panthers -9.5	$1.89

Predicted Squads

North Queensland Cowboys: 1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Kyle Feldt 3. Valentine Holmes 4. Tom Chester 5. Semi Valerie 6. Tom Dearden 7. Chad Townsend 8. Jordan McLean 9. Reece Robson 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. Kulikefu Finefeuiaki 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Reuben Cotter 14. Jake Granville 15. Griffin Name 16. Sam McIntyre 17. Thomas Mikaele

Penrith Panthers : 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Sunia Turuva 3. Izack Tago 4. Paul Alamoti 5. Brian To'o 6. Jarome Lua 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 10. James Fisher-Harris 11. Scott Sorensen 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo 14. Daine Laurie 15. Lindsay Smith 16. Liam Henry 17. Luke Garner

The Dolphins just keep hanging around. Last year they started surprisingly positive before gradually tumbling down the ladder, and while that will likely happen again this year they are doing a good job of continually outperforming expectations. Following a 14-point loss to the Broncos which snapped a three-game winning streak, they bounced back in emphatic fashion with a 44-16 defeat of the Eels last Friday night. Wayne Bennett continues, as he has for so long, to get the most out of his team, and at 4-2 they now look like a legitimate chance to compete for finals. A win against the Knights this weekend would be a nice help to those chances considering the two will quite possibly be competing for similar spots come season’s end. Having said that, it hasn’t been quite the start to the season that the Knights would have liked. They find themselves at 2-5 and 15th on the ladder seven games in, and though a lot of those losses were competitive ones, they were dreadful in going down 36-12 against the Bulldogs on the weekend. That kind of performance against a team in as reliable form as the Dolphins are will likely see another hefty loss this weekend, and Kalyn Ponga suffering ligament damage to his foot in that loss won’t help them to avoid that. Ponga’s prognosis is still unknown at the time of writing but he won’t be playing this weekend and likely for some time after that. With the reigning Dally M Medalist out of a team already in some average form, this looks like a good opportunity for the Dolphins to continue their strong start to the season. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Dolphins to win	$1.45
	Dolphins -6.5	$1.91
	Dolphins/Dolphins half-time/full-time double	$1.95

Predicted Squads

The Dolphins : 1. Trai Fuller 2. Jamayne Isaako 3. Jake Averillo 4. Tesi Niu 5. Jack Bostock 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Isaiya Katoa 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Jeremy Marshall-King 10. Tom Flegler 11. Kenny Bromwich 12. Euan Aitken 13. Max Plath 14. Josh Kerr 15. Sean O'Sullivan 16. Ray Stone 17. Mark Nicholls

Newcastle Knights: 1. David Armstrong 2. Greg Marzhew 3. Dane Gagai 4. Bradman Best 5. Enari Tuala 6. Tyson Gamble 7. Jackson Hastings 8. Jacob Saifiti 9. Jayden Brailey 10. Leo Thompson 11. Dylan Lucas 12. Kai Pearce-Paul 13. Adam Elliott 14. Phoenix Crossland 15. Daniel Saifiti 16. Brodie Jones 17. Mat Croker

This will be the second time in a month that the Raiders and the Sharks have played one another, after the home side won 36-22 in Cronulla late in March. Since then they have gone from strength to strength, beating the Rabbitohs by 12 points and then last weekend, the Cowboys by 36 points in a dominant display. The Raiders, meanwhile, have had a much more mixed bag of results. After that loss at the hands of the Sharks they thumped the Eels in an impressive performance, before just edging out the Tigers in a less convincing win. Then last week, they were no match for the Broncos, going down 34-10 to take their record to 4-3. They return to their home GIO Stadium this weekend, but the way the Sharks are playing at the moment it’s difficult to imagine the home side getting up. The Sharks have lost just a solitary game all year, and oddly that came when they got thumped by the Tigers. But since that loss they’ve been excellent every week, and should be able to notch up their sixth win of the season to conclude Round 8. 

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Sharks to win	$1.38
	Sharks -8.5	$1.91
	Sharks 7+	$1.72

Predicted Squads

Canberra Raiders: 1. Chevy Stewart 2. James Schiller 3. Matt Timoko 4. Seb Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Simi Sasagi  8. Josh Papalii 9. Danny Levi 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Ata Mariota 13. Morgan Smithies 14. Tom Starling 15. Emre Guler 16. Trey Mooney 17. Pasami Saulo

Cronulla Sharks: 1. Will Kennedy 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Kayal Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall  7. Nicho Hynes 8. Thomas Hazelton 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cam McInnes 14. Jack Williams 15. Toby Rudolf 16. Sifa Talakai 17. Braden Hamlin-Uele 

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