NRL: Australia Odds-On Favourites Over Kiwis
April 29th, 2014 by TJ DilferAustralia will go into Friday’s Trans-Tasman Test with a side that is largely unchanged from the one that lifted the World Cup last year, and they will go into the Test as firm favourites against a New Zealand side that includes six fresh faces, and that looks to be short on experience.
It’s Rep Week in the NRL, and a chance for fans to catch their breath a little bit, but there’s an intriguing Test brewing for the Friday night. Australia go in as the favourites with some pretty short $1.08 odds, and that’s probably where the consensus is – after a mauling in a World Cup final that wasn’t all that close at all, the Kiwis are in a rebuilding phase, where Australia have been able to pick on form, and are in the enviable position of picking pretty much the same team on form. There has been controversy, of course, in the build-up, and it has, of course, involved Sonny Bill Williams, who will not be part of the New Zealand side for the Test. He’s still upset about the (slightly odd, we thought) allegations and investigation at the World Cup that saw his name splashed all over the papers. His sulk leaves the New Zealand side without a genuine superstar – and at a time when they could do with one!
Filling the holes will be a cast of relatively unknown faces, including Manly fullback Peta Hiku alongside Isaac John, Ben Henry, Siliva Havili, Martin Taupau and Kenny Bromwich. In fact, there are only five survivors from the World Cup final team. The Kiwis are keen to emphasise that this is an exciting time for the national side, with young players given an opportunity to shine. But is the reality that they will be up against it when they take on a very strong Australia side? They’re facing odds of $7.50, and that tells its own story…
The bookies, in fact, have the line drawn at more than 22 points in Australia’s favour, which is to say they favour the Aussies heavily. That’s less of a margin than the World Cup Final, though, and that hints to us at a little bit of uncertainty about those fresh Kiwi faces – they’re a bit of an unknown quantity. And all the right noises have been coming out of the New Zealand camp in the past few days: those young players will be eager to snatch the big opportunity that’s come their way, and whilst we don’t think they’re worth backing to win it at $7.50, we’ve got our eye on an Australia win by 12 points or fewer – that’s a $4.20 bet on Sportsbet right now…
So enjoy the break from the NRL, but make sure you’ve got the odds you need for the Trans-Tasman Test from Sportsbet, and when you’re ready to take another look at the NRL odds, we’ve got them for you, too!
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