NRL round 8 odds update and fixture

Round 8 of the NRL kicks off with a cracker on Thursday night between two of the premiership fancies in Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters.

The Roosters have been installed $1.54 favourites for the match switched from Melbourne to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, despite their injury woes.

We would advocate for the Storm at $2.50 but for the knee injury suffered at the weekend by five-eighth Cameron Munster, the Storm’s best player by a fair margin this season.

Elsewhere there appears to be a couple of one-sided games in this round, though we give the Cowboys ($3.65) a chance at big odds on Friday night against Parramatta ($1.29) given the Eels have likely lost halfback Mitchell Moses to a calf injury for an extended period.

The Manly-Newcastle match on Sunday will be important from a premiership perspective given the injury-ravaged Sea Eagles were thumped by Cronulla on Sunday, with the absence of full-back Tom Trbojevic robbing them of spark in attack and starch in defence.

Meanwhile, the Knights were brough back to earth in North Queensland with a 32-30 loss the Cowboys.

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NRL 2020 premiership betting update

In the latest 2020 NRL premiership market from Unibet, the big upward movers have been Penrith, who scored a resounding win against South Sydney to maintain second spot on the NRL table.

The Panthers have move into $8.50 to win the title, as punters and bookmakers have seemingly narrowed the field to six main contenders: Sydney Roosters, Parramatta, Canberra, Melburne, Penrith and Manly.

The Roosters eased slightly in betting after losing hard-hitting lock Victor Radley and back-up hooker Sam Verrills to season-ending knee injuries. That will surely test their depth later in the season.

Headed the other way in betting were the hapless Brisbane Broncos, who are now 100-1 shots to win the title, and the way they have been playing that is was under the odds. It’s doubtful they have ever been 100-1 to win the title this early in a season.

2020 NRL premiership odds

$3.25 Sydney Roosters
$4.75 Parramatta Eels
$7.50 Canberra Raiders, Melbourne Storm
$8.50 Penrith Panthers
$11 Manly Sea Eagles
$17 Newcastle Knights
$23 South Sydney Rabbitohs
$41 Wests Tigers
$51 Cronulla Sharks
$67 North Queensland Cowboys
$101 Brisbane Broncos
$126 St George Illawarra Dragons
$201 Gold Coast Titans
$351 New Zealand Warriors
$501 Canterbury Bulldogs

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NRL round 8 fixture, times and odds

Thursday

• 7:50PM: Melbourne Storm $2.50 v Sydney Roosters $1.54

Friday

• 6PM: Canberra Raiders $1.22 v St George Illawarra Dragons $4.35
• 7:55PM: Parramatta Eels $1.29 v North Queensland Cowboys $3.65

Saturday

• 3PM: Gold Coast Titans $2.55 v Cronulla Sharks $1.52
• 5:30PM: New Zealand Warriors $2.40 v Brisbane Broncos $1.58
• 7:35PM: Wests Tigers $2.63 v Panthers $1.49

Sunday

• 4:05PM: Manly Sea Eagles $1.96 v Newcastle Knights $1.87
• 6:30PM: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs $4 v South Sydney Rabbitohs $1.25

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