Roosters, Sharks favoured to make NRL preliminary finals

Although the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks lost badly in the opening week of the NRL finals, rugby league bookmakers favour both sides to bounce back and win in this weekend’s semi-finals.

The Roosters went down 30-10 to the Penrith Panthers on Friday night and will now face the Manly Sea Eagles for a spot in the preliminary finals.

PlayUp puts the Roosters at $1.62 to beat the Sea Eagles, who came from behind to rob sixth-placed Canterbury Bulldogs of their first finals win since 2015.

The Sharks suffered an even tougher loss, falling 37-10 to a clinical Melbourne Storm outfit on Saturday night.

They will now play the North Queensland Cowboys on Friday to keep their season alive.

Cronulla are paying $1.58 at BetOnline to bounce back and win their first finals game in eight attempts, while the Cowboys are $2.40 underdogs to upset the Sharks.

Interestingly, both teams in each semi-final have split their 2024 meetings against each other.

The Roosters defeated the Sea Eagles 34-30 in July but lost 21-14 in their opening match of the season, while the Sharks fell 30-22 to the Cowboys in their most recent clash but thrashed them 42-6 earlier in the year.

Penrith will face the winner of the Sharks and Cowboys in the preliminary finals, and the Storm will take on either the Roosters or Sea Eagles.

Two-horse race in NRL Premiership odds

Outright betting for the 2024 NRL Grand Final still overwhelmingly favours the Panthers and Storm ahead of the next weekend of finals action.

Here’s how the title odds are looking at Bet365:

• Penrith Panthers – $2.30
• Melbourne Storm – $2.40
• Sydney Roosters – $13
• Cronulla Sharks – $15
• North Queensland Cowboys – $19
• Manly Sea Eagles – $19

The Panthers are chasing their fourth consecutive NRL Premiership, while the Storm are hunting for their first title since 2020.

NRL betting sites