Panthers vs Storm NRL Thursday betting tips & odds – Round 22

Round 22 of the 2022 NRL season kicks off in Penrith this Thursday night as the competition-leading Panthers host the Melbourne Storm at BlueBet Stadium.

The Panthers are pushing to close out their regular season with another minor premiership – albeit without Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary in the side – and march on towards another NRL Grand Final appearance. Meanwhile, the Storm have injury concerns of their own that risk derailing the rest of their regular season and finals campaign. Jahrome Hughes is out for a period of time yet to be confirmed, which is testing the depth of the squad.

James Fisher-Harris is the leader of the Panthers forward pack, but he will be missing for the next two rounds as a result of suspension. Matt Eisenhuth has been named to fill the shoes of Fisher-Harris and has done a commendable job when filling in for regulars in this Panthers outfit this season. Viliame Kikau has been named on the extended bench to return from a hip injury, with no guarantee at this stage he will return to the side on Thursday night.

For the Storm, Nick Meaney has cleared his concussion protocols and will play fullback, shifting Cameron Munster to the five-eighth position and Cooper Johns to halfback. Justin Olam also returns to the starting side for Melbourne and will be a wrecking ball at right centre, as he always is.

In 40 clashes between these two clubs, the Storm have been victorious on 28 occasions, proving just how dominant they’ve been in the last decade. However, they have not beaten the Panthers since August of 2021, and before that, their most recent win in this matchup was the 2020 NRL Grand Final. The last time the Storm did beat Penrith, Cleary was absent from the side – a huge factor in the Storm winning on that day. We have also learnt this season that Penrith are beatable in Penrith, which works in Melbourne’s favour.

Given those factors, along with the form of Munster in recent weeks and the troops the Storm are getting back, the visitors are a solid value bet to win on Thursday at a price of $2.55 with BetOnline.

With Munster returning to the left-edge attack of the Panthers, there is a degree of certainty knowing where he will be for a majority of this match. However, no one can predict what the Queensland star does in rugby league. Munster will be running at Chris Smith, a man who is very rarely on the left-edge defence for the Panthers, and even if Kikau returns, he will be coming back from injury. This will be the area Munster looks to target in conjunction with his back-rower Kenny Bromwich. Both have incredible running games and a real ability to find the try line. As such, Munster ($4.50) and Bromwich ($7) are both smart plays to score at any time during the match.

As these two powerhouse clubs will be putting in place the systems they need to succeed in the finals series, defence will be the foundation of their play. Thus, points will be hard to come by for either side, so under 40.5 total match points looks to be the go.

Key matchup: Api Koroisau vs Harry Grant

The battle between these two State of Origin hookers shapes to be one of the best of the entire NRL season. When things get tough, it will be the experience and sheer brilliance of these two adversaries that will shine through. Their crafty ball play from dummy half and their speed around the ruck in critical moments could be what defines this match.

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