NRL Round 16 Footy Form: The stats that matter, what’s been backed and where money is going
TEN of the past 11 matches between the Rabbitohs and Panthers teams at Pepper Stadium have been decided by double figures including each of the past seven. Who will gain the upper hand tonight?
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Check out all the best stats, what’s been backed and where the money is going in order to find a winner.
Panthers V Rabbitohs, Friday 7.50pm, Pepper Stadium
BLOW OUT
10 of the past 11 matches between the two teams at Pepper Stadium have been decided by double figures including each of the past seven.
STRUGGLE STREET
The Rabbitohs struggle to get out of their own half when they play away from home, conceding a tick over 36 tackles inside their own 20 in a match – the worst in the league.
WATCH OUT RABBITOHS
Josh Mansour has scored three tries in his past three games and made four line breaks in his past four games.
MIGHTY MADGE
Michael Mcguire has a great record against Penrith, winning five of his six matches against them. His 83.7 win percentage against the Panthers is his second best against any opponent in the NRL behind Newcastle where he has a 100 percent win record.
Betting summary: Penrith are favourites here with Souths underdogs after three straight losses.
Newcastle V St George Illawarra, Saturday 3pm, Hunter Stadium
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Incredibly the Dragons have an 82.4 percent record at Hunter Stadium. It’s the fourth best 10 game or better overall record of any team at any venue in premiership history.
HOME SIDE BLUES
The Knights have won just three matches at home since round five last season.
HALF TIME TROUBLE
From 14 games this season, the Dragons have led at halftime on seven occasions. They are unbeaten this season when leading going into the break and are yet to come from behind to win this season.
FACE OFF
Nathan Brown will coach his first game against his former club. He coached 151 games for the Dragons from 2003-08 winning 80 games.
Brown played 120 games for St George from 1993-98 and 51 games for the joint venture in 1999-2000.
Betting summary: It’s all one way traffic for the Dragons here with the Red V holding 84 percent of the investments.
Cronulla V New Zealand, Saturday 5.30pm, Southern Cross Group Stadium
MARGIN
Recent history between these teams could suggest this match will either be very close or very one sided. Over the past eight matches, five have been decided by four points or less, while the other three have had margins of 24 points or more.
SHIRE SUCCESS
In the Shire the Sharks have dominated this clash, winning 11 of 16 games, including three of the past four. However, they lost the most recent match in Round 9 last season when the Warriors were able to grind out a hard fought 20-16 road win.
GOLDEN PERIOD
Over the past five seasons (2012-16) the Warriors have won 20 of 27 matches (74%) between the round before Origin 1 to the round after Origin 3 – the best record of any team.
TOUGH TO CRACK
The Sharks strength at home has been their defence, allowing the second fewest run metres per game at home (1256) and missing the third fewest tackles (20.3) per home game.
Betting summary: There has been some light specking for the Warriors to cause an upset.
Bulldogs V Brisbane, Saturday 7.30pm, ANZ Stadium
BOGEY TEAM
The Bulldogs have won just 20 of 48 games played against the Broncos, their worst record against any current opponent. Their record at ANZ however, has been solid winning five of their eight matches at the venue this season, including winning three of the past four.
TAKE THE LEAD
In the past seven meetings between these two sides at ANZ, the team leading at half-time has gone on to win six of seven games.
RED ZONE
The Broncos average a try for every 7.6 tackles they have inside their opponents 20m line, the best red zone ratio of any team.
BATTLE OF THE COACHES
Des Hasler has won just half of his matches coaching against the Broncos, winning 10 of 20. Against Wayne Bennett he has a poor record, winning just eight of 21 matches (38.1%).
Betting summary: TAB bookies can’t separate these two teams in the Head To Head market
Gold Coast V Canberra, Sunday 2.00pm, Cbus Super Stadium
BLOW OUT
Seven of the past eight matches between these teams have all been decided by 12 points or more. Overall, 12 of the 18 games have had 12 points or larger margins, with seven decided by 20 points or more.
SECOND WIND
The Titans have scored 114 of their 295 points in the final 20 minutes of matches – the second most in the NRL during this period, only behind the Cowboys (116). Canberra has also been strong in the second half this season scoring 205 points in this period, which is the most in the NRL.
TEACHER’S PET
Canberra receives the most penalties of any team at nine per game and has made the most of these penalties, scoring 39% of their tries in the set after a penalty this season.
BOGEY TEAM
Ricky Stuart has won just four of 12 matches against the Titans. He has won just once in five visits to Cbus Super Stadium, in Round 18, 2014 winning 36-20. Three of his losses at the venue have been by 10 points or more.
Betting summary: Of the money we have taken for this game has been in favour of Canberra.
Melbourne V Wests Tigers, Sunday 4.00pm, AAMI Park
HALF/FULL DOUBLE
Both teams have been converting their halftime leads into wins in this matchup. Melbourne has held the lead going into the break on five occasions, winning all five. The Tigers have held the lead six times going into the break, winning five of these.
STRUGGLE STREET
Melbourne has struggled the past few seasons backing up the weekend after Origin. They have only been able to win one of their past four matches post Origin (Rd 13 this season) and only two of their past seven matches stretching back to 2014.
HOME SICK
The Tigers have struggled on the road recently only winning three of their past 13 away matches. However the Tigers have won two of their past three matches away from home this season, both by single figure margins.
TRY TIME
Kevin Naiqama has four tries in his past three games against the Storm. He has made five line breaks to go along with his tries.
Betting summary: Melbourne are very popular with multi players
North Queensland V Manly, Monday 7:00pm, 1300 Smiles Stadium
TURNING TABLES
After losing six straight against Manly from mid-2011 until early 2014, the Cowboys have now won their past four against the Sea Eagles – their best ever winning streak against them.
TRAVEL SICKNESS
Manly concede the second most run metres away from home at 1369 per game.
HOME SIDE DOMINATION
Since 2014 the Cowboys have won 28 of 33 games (almost 85 percent)at home, the best home record of any team in that period. In those 33 games they have averaged almost 30 points scored per game.
THREE FOR THREE
This is the third season in a row where the Sea Eagles have lost three straight away games.
Betting summary: Punters willing to take the shorts about the Cowboys. They are popular in the Head To Head market as well as those taking multis.
Originally published as NRL Round 16 Footy Form: The stats that matter, what’s been backed and where money is going
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