Thursday night NRL betting tips for North Queensland vs. Sydney

Thursday, March 17 from 8:05pm at 1300Smiles Stadium

THE 2016 NRL season couldn’t have started worse for the Sydney Roosters, which are looking to notch their opening win of the season.

The Roosters looked to have succumbed to off-field dramas early in the season, culminating in two disappointing losses from the opening two rounds. In Round 1 they lost 42-10 to the Rabbitohs and in Round 2 they lost 21-20 to the Raiders.

The Cowboys have started a touch better with a 1-1 record, which is better than their start last season where they ended up winning the premiership.

Johnathan Thurston and the Cowboys won their opening game over the Sharks, but were taken back a peg by the upstart Eels, which thrived with Kieran Foran at the helm.

Take a head-to-head bet with Sportsbet.com.au and if your team loses by eight points or less, you get your money back.

NRL Round 3 Cowboys vs. Roosters betting

Bookmakers are favouring the Cowboys very heavily and we can see the head-to-head line only moving one way.

Cowboys – $1.23
Roosters – $4.20

Even though the price for the Roosters is high, especially for this early in the season, they shouldn’t be winning this game without some of their stars. The current points start line is set at 12 which looks about right, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the Cowboys notched a big number this week.

We think the Cowboys will cover the spread and the Cowboys 13+ looks the way to go at $1.95. This may seem like a tough bet, but the Cowboys are one of the best teams at scoring in chunks and this game could get away from the Roosters in the first half.

Because North Queensland should be scoring plenty of tries in this game, our attention immediately focuses on the try-scoring markets. Punters cashed in bucket loads on Monday night when James Tedesco scored three tries for the Tigers, which pays around $18, and that’s the kind of value punters enjoy.

We are going with something a little different for this game which features the winning margin and the first tryscorer. Sportsbet call this option a scorecast where punters get better odds if they can correctly predict the winning margin.

Cowboys vs. Roosters scorecast lines

All the options listed below feature the Cowboys 13+. For your bet to win, your player must score the first try and the Cowboys margin of victory must be 13 or higher.*

Antonio Winterstein – $11
Kyle Feldt – $11
Michael Morgan – $15
Justin O’Neill – $17
Kane Linnett – $17 at Sportsbet.com.au
Gavin Cooper – $19
Jake Granville – $19
Lachlan Coote – $19
Johnathan Thurston – $23
John Asiata – $31
Jason Taumalolo – $31
Ethan Lowe – $31
Rory Kostjaysn – $41
Matthew Scott – $51
Scott Bolton – $56
Ben Hannant – $56
James Tamou – $56

We like the look of Kane Linnett to score first. He’s a big unit and defenses find it tough to stop him close to the line. As well as the scorecast option we also like a few players to score more than one try.

Kyle Feldt ($5 at Sportsbet) and Kane Linnett ($11) look good choices to score more than two tries. An option at bigger odds is Gavin Cooper at $13. Cooper is no stranger to crossing the white line and he reads Johnathan Thurston like a book.

For multi-bet punters, selecting players to score anytime could be the way to go. Kyle Feldt ($1.72), Kane Linnett ($2.50) and Gavin Cooper ($2.80) are our choices and you can feature all three in your bets and still make a profit.

First away team tryscorer

We’re not fully discounting the Roosters and they will score a try, so we have looked the market for first Roosters tryscorer.

Daniel Tupou is the clear-cut favourite at $3.75 as the Roosters like to feed their outside backs. Shaun Kenny-Dowall should be in a good mood after his hearing cleared him of any wrongdoing and he’s a chance to score first at $6.

There could be value with some of the lesser-fancied players. Jackson Hastings ($11), Mitch Aubusson ($14) and Kane Evans ($14) will all be looking to stand up in this game and they might hit the Cowboys around the ruck.

Full market:

Daniel Tupou – $3.75
Shaun Kenny-Dowall – $6
Latrell Mitchell – $6
Dale Copley – $8
Blake Ferguson – $8
Jayden Nikorima – $9
Mitchell Frei – $11
Jackson Hastings – $11
Mitch Aubusson – $14 at Sportsbet.com.au
Kane Evans – $14
Aidan Guerra – $15
Ian Henderson – $19
Sio Siua Taukeiaho – $19
Jake Friend – $19
Sam Moa – $23
Isaac Liu – $26
Dylan Napa – $26

Updated NRL premiership standings and market

1. Rabbitohs – $9
2. Broncos – $4
3. Bulldogs – $12
4. Tigers – $23 (in from $151)
5. Storm – $11 at CrownBet.com.au
6. Raiders – $21
7. Sharks – $13
8. Cowboys – $7
9. Titans – $151
10. Eels – $17
11. Panthers – $34
12. Warriors – $15
13. Dragons – $67
14. Roosters – $21
15. Sea Eagles – $17
16. Knights – $251