NRL Panthers vs Bulldogs betting tips & same game multi | 3/6/22

Friday Night NRL will see the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs travel to the foot of the mountains to take on the high-flying Penrith Panthers.

Penrith will be without a host of big names due to State Of Origin commitments, while Canterbury have no players taking part in the mid-season extravaganza.

Penrith still come into the contest as a hot $1.32 favourite and it is a testament to the depth they’ve been able to build over a number of seasons. Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o will all line up for New South Wales and won’t be available, but importantly Apisai Koroisau and Liam Martin will be available after missing the final cut for selection.

Even though they are missing a big portion of their salary cap, they still field a formidable team that will likely have a halves pairing of Sean O’Sullivan and Jaeman Salmon.

Liam Martin may move into the lock forward role as they look to change their style slightly without the irreplacable Isaah Yeo. It could mean they aren’t as free flowing and don’t score as many points, which on a cold night against a Bulldogs team who aren’t an attacking juggernaut means you have to take the unders on the 40.5 points line.

The game plan will be for O’Sullivan to kick into the corners and grind out a win based on their defensive brilliance, bashing Canterbury Bulldogs into submission and forcing them into mistakes.

Charlie Staines will return on to the right wing to replace To’o and he will be the main man in all try scoring markets to get on. While his game isn’t well rounded, he has a nose for the try line having scored 22 tries from just 31 appearances in the NRL.

Canterbury could have been without Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr, but their non selections mean coach Michael Potter will have his two best attacking weapons.

Burton is of course travelling to take on his old club for the first time having won a premiership with them, so he will feature heavily in try scoring multis.

Without Crichton and To’o defending the right-edge, it opens up a chance for Burton and Addo-Carr to both score down that left-side of the field for the Bulldogs.

Canterbury will be hoping Tevita Pangai Jr will be available to play after being a late withdrawal in the last round, which adds another former Penrith Panther to the mix.

Pangai Jr may have had a brief stay, but his performance in last year’s preliminary final left a huge impact on that game. He is the kind of player who will randomly lift when he comes up against a former club and there should be some good value for him in the try scoring markets.

The Doggies are a reasonably long outsider at $3.45 and it once again reflects just how diabolical their season has been. Penrith missing so much talent is an enormous handicap and they can’t get south of $3 in the betting market, showing just how little faith both bookies and punters have in them.

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Key Match Up: Liam Martin vs Josh Jackson

It isn’t a sexy match up, but Liam Martin becomes incredibly important for the Panthers in this game with a potential move to the middle. Up against a Canterbury stalwart Josh Jackson, they are two players who pride themselves on toughness and cleaning up mistakes made by other players. Whether someone hasn’t covered the inside gap in defence or a loose ball is on the ground, both these players fit the bill as a player who fixes those issues. On a cold night where points will be hard to come by, the game will slow down and they become incredibly important.

Penrith Panthers vs Canterbury Bulldogs betting prediction

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