Panthers vs Broncos NRL Rd 6 betting tips & odds – Good Friday

The Brisbane Broncos will make what is arguably the toughest road trip in the NRL to take on the Penrith Panthers at BlueBet Stadium to close out a blockbuster night of Good Friday footy. The Broncos have been rocked by the one-match suspension of forward pack leader Payne Haas through off-field issues. In both their 2021 matches, the Broncos managed to get up and go with the Panthers, beaten by only 14 points in total.

The loss of Haas has pushed punters well away from the Broncos, who have drifted from $7 out to as far as $10 with online bookmakers. Penrith on the other hand have been backed heavily, moving from $1.10 into as short as $1.05. Recency bias would suggest Penrith are the better of these two sides over history, but Brisbane have won 23 of their 39 contests. To find a Broncos win in the history books, you’ll have to travel back to Round 22, 2019.

Penrith have been nothing short of dominant to start this year, yet to record a loss, with all games bar one being by a margin of 13+ points. Given the loss of Haas for Brisbane, the return of Penrith to their home ground and Nathan Cleary improving in his return from injury, the Panthers covering the -22.5 line looks a solid play in this match.

The line for total match points is set at 40.5 points with BetOnline. When playing lower-quality sides akin to the Broncos, being the Bulldogs and Knights, the Panthers have well and truly exceeded the 40.5 match points. The Broncos have also displayed an ability to score points against some of the competition’s top teams, most notably against the Roosters last week where the Broncos scored 20 points of their own. Look for the total match points of 40.5 to be exceeded in what’s expected to be a dry night in Sydney’s west.

The Penrith left edge of Viliame Kikau, Izack Tago and Taylan May have scored tries at will so far this season. Matching up on the Broncos defensive right edge of Kotoni Staggs and Selwyn Cobbo, Penrith will look to take advantage of the pair as they have missed an enormous 25 tackles in five matches this season. Kikau missed out last week against the Dogs, and he surely can’t go without two weeks in a row, while May should also get across the strip. Those two are $1.52 and $2.50 respectively in the anytime tryscorer market at Neds.

Key matchup: Cleary vs Reynolds

The battle of the halves will be most interesting as Nathan Cleary returns from off-season shoulder injury, while Adam Reynolds is tasked with saving the Brisbane Broncos from a poor stretch of form in the NRL. Reynolds will need to step up more this week than ever to lead this Broncos side around BlueBet Stadium, where his kicking game will be imperative to limit the impact of the Penrith outside backs.

Panthers vs Broncos best bet

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