NRL round 6: Panthers unstoppable early – betting tips and predictions
Ivan Cleary’s wonderful Penrith team is already established as one of the greatest in league history thanks to its astonishing run of four successive titles from 2021-2024.
In 2025 as they chased another title, they stumbled early in the year before making a charge that ulitmately ended in a heartbreaking 16-14 preliminary final loss to the eventual premiers Brisbane Broncos.
Many, including this columnist, thought that perhaps their days of total NRL domination would come to an end as they turned over their playing roster somewhat and perhaps had their maniacal desire for success dulled by the four premierships.
Well, that is starkly wrong, at least judging by the way they have started 2026 with five powerhouse wins, as well as having their peerless captain Nathan Cleary seemingly back at the peak of his powers and an early runaway leader in the Dally M award.
The Panthers are the only undefeated team in the competition, but it is not that fact but rather the way they have gone about it that has them as incredibly short $2.40 favourites with Australian betting sites to win the title.
In five matches the Panthers have conceded a miserly 40 points, and 20 of those came in a 48-20 thrashing of western Sydney foes Parramatta. Defence of course was the cornerstone of Penrith’s four titles in a row but even then they were not restricting teams to an average of eight points a game while scoring an average of almost 40.
The Panthers’ glory years by the numbers
| Season | Wins/Losses | Points For (PF) | Points Against (PA) | Differential | PF Average | PA Average |
| 2021 | 21–3 | 676 | 286 | +390 | 28.2 | 11.9 |
| 2022 | 20–4 | 636 | 330 | +306 | 26.5 | 13.8 |
| 2023 | 18–6 | 645 | 312 | +333 | 26.9 | 13.0 |
| 2024 | 17–7 | 580 | 394 | +186 | 24.2 | 16.4 |
Of course, titles are not won March and April and there is a long and brutal season ahead, including the Origin period, before we even reach the finals. The Panthers have staked an incredible early claim but we would not be touching those $2.40 odds about the title. Those who took the roughly $8 before the season though, must be laughing.
The Panthers’ Thursday night clash against the struggling Bulldogs is probably not the pick of the National Rugby League’s round-six action but we have run the ruler ove a contest between the dominant title favourites and a team that is struggling a little under the weight of great expectations for 2026.
Bulldogs v Penrith team news
The highly fancied Bulldogs are wallowing in mid-table with two wins from four matches and their lack of attacking sting is obvious with just 69 points total in those four matches, though their defence has been reasonably solid.
Neither of those factors will be helped by the loss of captain and star centre Stephen Crichton to a grade-5 AC joint injury that will sidelne him for an extended period.
The Bulldogs should be boosted by the return of Harry Hayes from concussion but in contrast the Panthers have virtually a full list of players to choose from.
Read on for our Bulldogs v Panthers tips and winner prediction for their round-six NRL clash.
Bulldogs v Panthers match information
- Kick-off: 7.50pm AEDT, Thursday, April 9
- Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
- Head to head odds: Bulldogs $5.75, Panthers $1.14
- Line betting: Bulldogs (+16.5 points) $1.90, Panthers (-16.5 points) $1.90
- Match total: 46.5 points: over $1.90, under $1.90
2026 NRL premiership betting
$2.40 Penrith Panthers
$8 Brisbane Broncos
$9 Sydney Roosters
$10 Melbourne Storm
$13 South Sydney Rabbitohs
$15 Cronulla Sharks
$17 Canterbury Bulldogs, New Zealand Warriors
$29 Wests Tigers
$34 Newcastle Knights
$41 Redcliffe Dolphins, North Queensland Cowboys
$51 Canberra Raiders
$67 Parramatta Eels
$81 Manly Sea Eagles
$151 Gold Coast Titans
$251 St George Illawarra Dragons
Bulldogs v Panthers betting tips
The Panthers are riding high this NRL season to date and it’s hard to imagine the wounded Dogs keeping pace with them. The Dogs also don’t boast an encouraging record against the Panthers, who have won nine of the past 10 matches between the teams.
In 2025, the Panthers won their first clash 8-6, before the Dogs turned that around to win 28-4 in round 26, but … Ivan Cleary had rested nearly all of his top-liners for that match in preparation for the finals. When they clashed again in he finals, the Panthers ran in eight tries in an easy 46-26 victory.
Panthers by 12 points.
- Canterbury Bulldogs +16.5 points / match total under 46.5 at $2.90 with Australian betting sites.
NRL round 6, 2026
- Thursday, April 9: Bulldogs v Panthers, Accor Stadium, Sydney | 7.50pm
- Friday, April 10: Dragons v Sea Eagles, WIN Stadium, Wollongong | 6pm
Broncos v Cowboys, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | 8pm - Saturday, April 11: Rabbitohs v Raiders, Optus Stadium, Perth | 3pm
Sharks v Roosters, Optus Stadium, Perth | 5.30pm
Storm v Warriors, AAMI Park, Melbourne | 7.35pm - Sunday, April 12: Eels v Titans, CommBank Stadium, Sydney | 2pm
Wests Tigers v Knights, Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney | 4.05pm
* Redcliffe Dolphins have the bye
