Saturday’s NRL action features the Knights at home against the Warriors, Latrell Mitchell in his first game for Souths and the defending champions travelling to Penrith. We have a full preview and betting tips for all three games on Saturday in Round 1 of the NRL season below!
2020 NRL Round 1 Saturday Betting Tips
Knights vs Warriors
(Saturday, March 14, 3:00pm)
Saturday’s triple-header begins with two bottom 8 sides from last season looking for a bright start in 2020. The Knights had an up and down season which cost Nathan Brown his job. This team is mainly reliant on Pearce/Ponga producing in attack so that’s the key matchup in this game. In terms of team news, Jayden Brailey will make his Knights debut and they’ll have a few new faces in the centres. It’s a similar story for the Warriors after a disappointing 2019 and they’ll be hoping fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is right to go. He has a foot injury coming into Round 1 so that’ll be something to watch before the final lineups. The good news is the Warriors have won 6 of the last 8 with the Knights and also stormed home from 12-2 down to win 24-20 at this venue in Round 16 last season. However, this is a pretty tough game to predict as both sides were massively inconsistent last year so we’re going with the safe bet in either team winning by under 12.5.
Either Team by Under 12.5
$1.65
Rabbitohs vs Sharks
(Saturday, March 14, 5:30pm)
The major storyline in the Rabbitohs opening round clash with the Sharks will be Latrell Mitchell. He’ll make his Souths debut after crossing from the Roosters and all eyes will be on how he handles the fullback position. They’ll be without Sam Burgess this season and that will mean the younger forwards will need to step up. But they do have some good talent, headlined by Cam Murray. The Sharks enter 2020 without inspirational captain Paul Gallen and they’ll likely find it tough in the next 2 years as Shark Park undergoes redevelopment. They also have plenty of injury concerns coming into Round 1. Moylan and Xerri are out so the pressure will be on Shaun Johnson to stand up. Interestingly, the Sharks haven’t won in Round 1 since 2013 and they’re just 0-7 ATS as an away underdog. So we think Souths will be too good.
Panthers vs Roosters
(Saturday, March 14, 7:35pm)
The Panthers will be hoping for a much better start in 2020 after losing 8 of their first 10 games in 2019. Now they’ll be without James Maloney, Dylan Edwards is injured and James Fisher-Harris is coming off the bench. So hosting the Roosters in Round 1 will be a challenge. Sydney begins their title defence of the last two seasons but the Cooper Cronk era is over after his retirement. Kyle Flanagan takes over the number 7 jersey and interestingly, Angus Crichton will be in the centres to replace Mitchell. They’ll also be without co-captain Boyd Cordner but Siosiua Taukeiaho gets his shot in the starting lineup. Looking at this game, the Roosters back to back titles have been built on defence and we expect a low scoring grind against the Panthers here. Under also has a 7-2 record in the last 9 meetings.
