Melbourne’s dominance over South Sydney is legendary and we are not about to see a change of course anytime soon.
Best Bet
Melbourne -7.5 ($1.90)
It has been a domination almost unparalleled in the NRL: Melbourne just own South Sydney. The Storm have dominated the Rabbitohs when Souths were on their knees. They dominated Souths when the Bunnies were lifting the trophy. This is a one-way go. The Storm have won 25 of the last 28 meetings including the last six. The last clash saw the Storm win 50-0. Six of the last nine have seen the Storm win by more than eight points.
The Storm get plenty of talent back this week with Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Jesse Bromwich all returning. Brandon Smith and Christian Welch are both out hurt but this is a major net positive for the Storm. Souths get Latrell Mitchell back but the Rabbitohs seem a long way from being able to make the Lachlan Ilias situation work.
Melbourne have covered six straight at AAMI Park and considering South Sydney’s struggles in Melbourne, the Storm should be covering a very reasonable line.
Same Game Multi
Melbourne Win/Ryan Papenhuyzen Try/Cameron Munster Try ($8.25)
Melbourne should have too much class for Souths with the Rabbitohs never winning in Melbourne.
Ryan Papenhuyzen has 31 tries in 41 starts and scored in 7 of 10 starts in 2022. He has scored four tries in three games against Souths.
Cameron Munster has scored in three of his last five against Souths and is reportedly the fittest he has ever been in his career.
Value Bet
Justin Olam First Try Scorer ($15.00)
Justin Olam scored 23 tries in 46 games across 2020-21. He has scored in four of five against South Sydney. The South Sydney centre pairing are defensive liabilities and a bullocking runner like Olam can take advantage of that.
