The most anticipated match of the weekend, Ryan Papenhuyzen returns to lead the Storm against three-time defending premiers Penrith in a battle between two elite teams.
Best Bet
Melbourne are certainly out to a bet in this one with the line moving to 4.5. Big early season home underdogs are cash money and Penrith have had a torrid travel schedule. Winning off the back of a World Club Challenge is not an easy task.
Penrith are only a 50% proposition against the number as an interstate favourite while no team starts the season better than the Storm, who have won 14 of 15.
The top play in this game though is the under.
There are some huge Round 1 angles at play here. The under in Round 1 hits at 57% since 2008 and is 14-4 across the last three seasons. Night games go under at a clip of 63.3%.
From the Melbourne side, the under is 10-6 when they are underdogs while the under is 7-2 in Melbourne’s last nine Round 1 games.
On the Penrith side, the under is 17-6 when Penrith are an interstate favourite. The under has hit in six straight Melbourne Round 1 games.
Same Game Multi
Ryan Papenhuyzen has 46 tries in 54 starts and is one of the elite tryscorers at his pomp.
Taylan May topped Penrith’s tryscoring tally two years ago. He missed last season and switches positions but he knows his way to the chalk.
Value Bet
The son of Alex Chan, Joe Chan has just one NRL game under his belt but he impressed in the trials and in Super League he had an excellent tryscoring record with nine tries in 26 games, mostly coming off the bench for Catalans. He has been missed here.
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