It’s the penultimate week of the NRL regular season, and there is still plenty on the line for both the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the North Queensland Cowboys.
The Cowboys cannot catch top-seeded Penrith, who has clinched the minor premiership, but they are still tied with the Sharks at 34 points apiece.
Critical Matchup
This weekend’s rugby betting matchup is also a critical one for the Bunnies, who are one of three teams tied at 28 points for the six through eight seeds.
The Raiders are just a victory back in the nine seed, though, so a final appearance isn’t yet clinched for South Sydney.
Teams’ Performance Recap
Cowboys Performance
North Queensland comes into the Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys betting predictions with momentum after an impressive 48-4 victory over the Warriors.
That huge margin of victory could be critical in any tiebreaker scenario as the Cowboys, Sharks, and Storm are all jockeying for the top four seedings.
Last week’s win was a big one for North Queensland as they bounced back from a 32-18 loss to Sydney two rounds ago. The Cowboys have now gone 8-2 in their last ten games since June 1st.
Rabbitohs Performance
South Sydney fought hard last week against top-ranked Penrith before ultimately falling 26-22. That puts the Rabbitohs to 6-2 in their last eight, with the losses coming to the #1 Panthers and by a golden point (21-20) to a top three team in Cronulla.
Saturday’s Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys betting predictions come in the first and only matchup of the 2022 regular season between these two squads.
South Sydney has won six straight in the head-to-head series, but these two teams usually play each other pretty close, with three of those victories decided by a golden point.
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys Betting Analysis
The Rabbitohs are somewhat surprising -6.5 favorites in this weekend’s rugby betting picks. The teams are in different spots on the NRL ladder, but South Sydney is also at home and has won six straight in the head-to-head series.
NRL Ladder
South Sydney has been especially good at home in Saturday matches, winning their last 12. Another thing the Bunnies do is bounce back well after a loss, not losing consecutive games since the first two rounds of the season.
North Queensland has some value at +165 on the underdog moneyline, considering they’ve won 8 of their last 10. A lot of those victories were against poor teams, though, so Saturday will be a definite boost in competition.
Rabbitohs Trying to Get In
South Sydney finishes their season with the Roosters, who they are currently tied with for the last three spots in the finals.
It could be very easy to see the Rabbitohs looking ahead to that contest, but South Sydney can also not afford three straight losses to close out the regular season.
Penrith rested nearly all their top players last week, so South Sydney keeping the game within four points isn’t as impressive as it looks on paper.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the Rabbitohs can’t get a big win on Saturday as Alex Johnson leads the NRL in tries while Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell are one of the most dynamic duos in the league.
North Queensland Tries to Snap the Skid
The Cowboys beat up on a bad Warriors team last week, putting their last four wins over the Bulldogs, Dragons, and Wests Tigers, who are all eliminated from finals contention.
When North Queensland went up against a team in the top eight, they lost 32-18 against Sydney in round 22.
North Queensland finishes their 2022 season against Penrith, but the Panthers should continue to rest their players in that game after having locked up the top seed.
Saturday’s contest is still an important one for the Cowboys as they try to end the stigma of the six-game slide against South Sydney.
Updated Injury Report
Daniel Suluka-Fifita is ruled out this week for the Rabbitohs, and Hame Sele takes his starting spot. South Sydney is hoping to get Michael Chee Kam back before the finals, but that will not be this week.
Tom Dearden will miss this week for North Queensland, but Tom Gilbert is back in a reserve role.
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs. North Queensland Cowboys Betting Preview
South Sydney has the head-to-head winning streak going ahead of Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys betting predictions, but both teams are in solid form down the stretch and need victories this week for seeding purposes.
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys Betting Prediction
Despite the six-game head-to-head losing streak, six of those games were decided by a single point, and that’s when the Cowboys didn’t have as good of a club as they do now. It may not be a North Queensland win, but +6.5 points are too many. Take North Queensland +6.5
NRL Pick: Cowboys +6.5 (-140)
If you love sports and want more sports betting information follow us as @InsidersBetDig on Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for free betting picks.
