NRL Thursday Round 3 Same Game multi tips for Storm vs. Broncos

Thursday, March 16, 2017, 8.05pm AEDT, AAMI Park, watch on Fox Sports.

Ladder position:
Melbourne Storm: Top
Brisbane Broncos: Eighth

Season record:
Melbourne Storm: 2-0
Brisbane Broncos: 1-1

Head-to-head betting odds:
Melbourne Storm: $1.57
Brisbane Broncos: $2.40

Line betting odds:
Melbourne Storm: -4 (-111.11 with Sportsbet.com.au)
Brisbane Broncos: +4 ($1.90 with Sportsbet.com.au)

FORGET about getting smashed in your multi by several legs from different games, we’re here to get some serious juice out of the Friday night north v south NRL mega blockbuster between two of the premiership fancies.

The Melbourne Storm, despite being decimated by injuries, appear to have redemption on their minds, winning their opening two matches of the season after falling short in the grand final against the Cronulla Sharks last year.

They are the red hot +550 title fancies with Sportsbet.com.au after their odds were shredded from the original $8 quote at the start of the season.

They will take on a Brisbane Broncos side that will be spurred by the heartbreak of a golden point loss to state rivals the North Queensland Cowboys.

At $11, the Broncos represent great value in the premiership market, but they come up against a Storm side on Friday night that has really looked impenetrable.

The Storm absolutely shredded the New Zealand Warriors on their home turf, holding them scoreless after half time in a 26-10 victory.

With conditions more akin to a swimming pool, it looked like this would be a scrappy affair, but the clean hands and class of the Storm rang true as they ran in four tries to two.

Kenny Bromwich, Cheyse Blair, Suliasi Vunivalu and Cooper Cronk all scored tries as the Storm – helped by an early concussion to Warriors star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck – held New Zealand at bay.

The legendary Cameron Smith scored the 2000th point of his career in a perfect night that yielded four conversions and a penalty goal.

And the Storm will be further boosted by the return of superstar full back Billy Slater for a clash with Broncos luminary Darius Boyd.

Slater has not played a competitive NRL game in more than a year, but reports out of the Storm suggest that he is fit, firing and ready to lay waste to a league that his missed him so much.

At 33, the former Test full back still has plenty to give the Storm – provided he can keep his body – moreso his surgically repaired shoulder – right.

It makes them a daunting task for a Broncos side left reeling by a Jonathan Thurston golden point that left them on the wrong end of a 21-20 result.

With young tyro Cameron Munster biding his time, this tipped to be Slater’s last season and you’d be a fool not to think he plans to go out with a bang.

In yet another classic match between two teams whose results are rarely decided by more than a couple of points, the Broncos traded early blows with James Roberts crossing in just the seventh minute. Boyd went next, leaving the scores tight at half time, thanks to a pair of tries from The Cowboys.

And it stayed closes with Jordan Kahu’s try cancelling out Jake Granville’s cracker.

Remarkably, Thurston sent a field goal attempt wide and then Anthony Milford blew two chances to finish it, leaving the scores locked at 20 when the regulation time whistle was blown.

It was left to none other than Thurston to finish the job and he did, late in the second extra time.

And so that point separates the Broncos in eighth, from second spot, as is the nature of early season results, but a loss to the Storm would see them lagging behind.

Suggested Same Game multi

• Melbourne Storm to win by 1-12 ($2.88)
• Suliasi Vunivalu to score the first try ($7.50)
• Cheyse Blair to score a try at any time in the match ($2.88)

Three leg Same Game multi pays +4500 with Sportsbet.com.au

*Remember, Same Game multis must be placed with Sportsbet.com.au and can only be done on mobile, so make sure you’re either using their m site or download the Sportsbet app in your App Store.

Alright, we’re going the whole hog here. We know the Storm return home for their first game of the season in front of their supporters, but the Broncos are both better than the Warriors and have won one game easily and lost the other against a bitter rival by a solitary point. They will throw everything they can at the Storm, who should be too good to succumb, but won’t have it all their own way in a close one. If you are looking at first try scorers involved in Storm game, it just about begins and ends with Suliasi Vunivalu. The second year superstar is setting a cracking pace, averaging more than one try per game in his early career. He scored the third try against New Zealand, but we reckon he will be champing at the bit to get in on the early action against the Broncos. Has the size, pace and skill to cause havoc on Friday night. And burly Cheyse Blair is on a try scoring spree. He crossed for one of just two tries against the Canterbury Bulldogs in the season opener and then backed that up with a superb effort against the Warriors, crossing for the second try of the match. In red hot form, the $2.88 looks like really good value for a guy who continues to improve and continues to make himself a serious attacking threat for the Storm. Put all three of those legs together and you get a juicy $46. A sneaky fiver will ensure a nail biting night of league and punting and could turn into a lucrative collect for you at the end of the match. Good luck.