Javid Bowen scoring bets for Friday NRL, Cowboys vs. Rabbitohs

Ladder position
North Queensland: 2nd
South Sydney: 8th

Head-to-head odds
South Sydney: $3.70 at WilliamHill.com.au
North Queensland: $1.30 at Sportsbet.com.au

Line betting
South Sydney: +10.5
North Queensland: -10.5 paying $1.91 at WilliamHill.com.au

THE North Queensland Cowboys are rolling with the tide this season and are looking like strong contenders to defend their NRL premiership title.

The Cowboys head into this game having won its last two, which included a 36-0 drubbing against the Dragons. The two losses suffered this season came against two good sides in the Parramatta Eels and the Brisbane Broncos, so the form has been good.

The Rabbitohs form hasn’t been quite as impressive. The South Sydney side gave the Roosters its first win of the season last week and the only good win the Rabbitohs have had was against the Knights in round two.

Despite both teams owning similar records on paper, the Cowboys are the much better team and bookmakers have represented those thoughts in the betting markets. The Cowboys are paying $1.30 in the head-to-head market with the Rabbitohs at $3.60, but we’re more interested in one player for the Cowboys who has a distinctive name.

Javid Bowen, the nephew of former North Queensland Cowboy Matt Bowen, is playing just his third NRL game and he has already left his mark on the competition. We look at the tryscoring markets for Bowen and how his game will give the Cowboys its fifth win of the season.

Javid Bowen tryscoring markets

Cowboys’ centre Javid Bowen could be the next superstar to come from North Queensland and he has already impressed in only two NRL games.

The 23-year-old has been battling injuries since signing with the Cowboys, but he has broken through now, scoring twice in two games and scoring first in last week’s game against the Panthers.

With the star power that the Bowen name carries in Queensland, Javid Bowen has coped well with the pressure of living up to his uncle and we think he can continue the legacy. He might not be the star player among the likes of Johnathan Thurston and Lachlan Coote, but he looks a good bet for punters heading forward.

Bowen has shown he can cross the line first and this Friday he is paying $13 to score the first try of the game. The current favourites are teammates Antonio Winterstein and Kyle Feldt at $8.50, but the value is clearly with Bowen at $13 with Sportsbet.com.au.

Bowen is $8.00 to score first for the Cowboys. This option still gives punters good value with less risk. The Cowboys team features many tryscoring chances, but stick with the young Bowen to score first.

Punters might be looking for shorter odds with less risk. Sportsbet offer an ‘anytime tryscorer’ market which gives you much shorter odds, but more chance of cashing.

We expect the Cowboys to break the Rabbitohs defense with ease this Friday which should make for a profitable night for punters.

Anytime tryscorer market:

Kyle Feldt – $1.72
Antonio Winterstein – $1.72
Javid Bowen – $2.50 at Sportsbet.com.au
Michael Morgan – $2.60
Lachlan Coote – $2.60
Justin O’Neill – $2.60
Jake Granville – $3.10
Gavin Cooper – $3.10
Ethan Lowe – $3.60
Johnathan Thurston – $3.60
John Asiata – $4.50
Rory Kostjaysn – $4.50
Jason Taumalolo – $4.50
Matthew Scott – $7.00
Scott Bolton – $8.00
Ben Hannant – $8.00
James Tamou – $8.00

$2.50 looks a good price for Bowen who has scored in both games he has played this season. His fellow centre Justin O’Neill has scored four times from six games so the centre pairing is getting plenty of good ball from the play makers.

Punters are spoiled for choice in the tryscoring markets and can also bet on any player to score two tries or more. Bowen is paying $10 for this option which doesn’t look to be the worst bet considering there should be plenty of tries scored in this game.

Cowboys vs. Rabbitohs game prediction

Playing the Cowboys at home is always a daunting task and the Rabbitohs won’t be bringing much confidence into the game.

We are predicting that the Cowboys win by double digits (-10 at CrownBet.com.au) and our man Javid Bowen to have a cracking game in front of the North Queensland fans. He has a big name to live up to, but he couldn’t have started better and we fancy him to cross the line at least once this Friday.

Cowboys 28 – Rabbitohs 8