NRL 2021 Grand Final betting guide

The NRL Grand Final is one of the biggest sporting events in Australia. As a night-time decider that leads into the NSW Labour Day holiday, it is a pub and nightlife institution – the perfect setting for fans who want to have dinner and drinks over a quality game of footy.

Online bookmakers go all out for the GF. Odds for major markets such as head-to-head betting, first try scorer and the Clive Churchill Medal go live almost as soon as the prelims are finished, while any bookie worth its salt will open a plethora of betting options on carries, tackles and other key statistics once the line ups are confirmed.

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Recommended NRL Grand Final Bookmakers

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What are the best bookies for NRL Grand Final betting?

There are a litany of sports betting agencies on the market right now competing for your hard-earned cash, and they all claim to have the best deals just in time for the football codes’ culminating matches.

How can you tell who you can trust? Luckily, you don’t have to go through the painful – and often costly – process of trial and error to figure out which bookies are legit and which are crooks.

The bookmakers we feature on BettingSite.com.au are licensed, reputable operators that meet the highest industry standards for market value, user features, digital security, bonus offers and customer service. When we bet online, we bet with these guys.

To ensure maximum value on your NRL Grand Final bets, we recommend opening accounts with each of the bookmakers featured on this page. Bookies very rarely offer the same odds from market to market, meaning you are guaranteed to find a better price if you check five or six sites instead of one.

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When and where will the 2021 NRL Grand Final be played?

The NRL Grand Final is usually played on the Sunday night prior to NSW’s Labour Day holiday. The 2020 edition was pushed back a few weeks due to the COVID-19 crisis, but it is expected that the schedule will return to normal in 2021. Every NRL Grand Final since 1999 has been held at Stadium Australia (now ANZ Stadium for sponsorship reasons) in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct.

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2021 NRL Grand Final winner odds

Team	2021 NRL Premiership odds
Penrith Panthers	+400	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Sydney Roosters	+500	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Melbourne Storm	+550	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
South Sydney Rabbitohs	+550	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Canberra Raiders	+900	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Parramatta Eels	+1200	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Manly Sea Eagles	+1400	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Gold Coast Titans	+1600	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Newcastle Knights	+1600	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
North Queensland Cowboys	+2000	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Cronulla Sharks	+2500	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Wests Tigers	+2500	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
New Zealand Warriors	+3000	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Brisbane Broncos	+4000	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
St George Illawarra Dragons	+4000	Best Odds @ Sportsbet
Canterbury Bulldogs	+6600	Best Odds @ Sportsbet

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Head-to-head odds and line betting

A head-to-head to bet on the NRL Grand Final is a simple bet, all you have to do is select the team you think will win the premiership.

Because the match pits the two best teams in the NRL against each other, the odds are invariably closer than they would be in a regular season game.

Line betting gives a team a head start, or a handicap depending on who enters the match as the favourite. Similar to the head-to-head market, the line betting market is much tighter than a regular season match up.

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Clive Churchill Medal betting

The Clive Churchill Medal is awarded to the player adjudged best afield in the NRL Grand Final by the Australia national team selectors. It is typically the most bet-upon exotic in the biggest match of the year.

Bets on the Churchill are most often placed as a futures option prior to the commencement of the game. Live betting markets are also available throughout the 80 minutes, but Australian residents can only access these by ringing a bookmaker over the telephone.

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NRL Grand Final tryscorer betting

Outside of the Churchill, the try scorer betting markets are the most popular NRL bet type for the grand final. The simplistic nature of the market is exactly what makes the investment so popular.

The first try scorer market is as easy as picking the player to cross the stripe first in the grand final. Bookies often run special promotions for these bets, such as a cash-back bonus if your man scores any other try in the first half.

A bet can also be placed on a player to score a try at anytime, as well as on players scoring multiple tries throughout the 80 minutes.

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NRL Grand Final facts

• Some 107,999 fans packed into Sydney’s Olympic Stadium for the 1999 NRL Grand Final between Melbourne and St George Illawarra. As of 2020, it is the largest crowd in rugby league history.
• In 2015, 4.4 million Australians tuned in to watch the NRL Grand Final, a record for the rugby league. That figure eclipsed Australia’s other major football country, the AFL, by almost half a million viewers.
• While 1,887 reads more like a year than a stat, it was actually the record amount of metres run by the Melbourne Storm in the 2007 NRL Grand Final when they hammered the Manly Sea Eagles 34-8.
• Only four men in NRL history have won the Clive Churchill Medal in a losing side: Bradley Clyde in 1991, Brad Mackay in 1993, Daly Cherry-Evans in 2013 and Jack Wighton in 2019.
• Former Raider and Bulldog Bradley Clyde is the only man to win the Clive Churchill Medal on more than one occasion, in 1989 and in 1991.
• The quickest try in NRL history was scored in just two minutes and eight seconds by Canberra Raiders back-rower David Furner in 1994.
• In 2009, Parramatta Eels brute Nathan Hindmarsh laid an NRL-record 64 tackles against the Melbourne Storm, including an incredible 13 in the opening 10 minutes.