NRL Round 6 Betting Preview: Game Odds, Trends, Analysis for Week Ahead

The Brisbane Broncos' season hits a bit of a crossroads Thursday night when they host the Sydney Roosters at Suncorp Stadium having lost three of their first five games of the National Rugby League season.

The Broncos have missed the finals just twice in the past 25 seasons, but they look vulnerable in 2017 having fallen to the Melbourne Storm, North Queensland Cowboys and, most recently, the Canterbury Bulldogs. All three of those losses were by one or two points.

The Roosters are coming off their first loss of the season, an 18-12 defeat by Manly last week, and enter this match as $2.03 AUD outsiders, according to AustralianGambling.com.au. They have lost their last three matches in Brisbane. The Broncos are $1.80, and with the line at just +1.5 in the Roosters' favor it is expected to be the tightest match of the round.

Friday night's two matches are expected to be relatively clear-cut with the second-from-bottom Newcastle Knights at $2.54 at home against the back-in-form Canterbury Bulldogs, who are $1.54.

The later match sees South Sydney, thrashed by the Cowboys 20-6 last week, head to Penrith to take on the Panthers. Both teams may be 2-3, but the oddsmakers have the Panthers at $1.60 with the Rabbitohs at $2.38.

Saturday afternoon footy at Brookvale will surely attract a good crowd as the Manly Sea Eagles, fresh from knocking off the Roosters, are $1.50 on the betting lines to end the St George Illawarra Dragons' three-match winning streak. The Dragons may be sitting second on the table, but punters think that's an early-season anomaly, and they are $2.62 to win their first game at Brooky in nine years.

The Canberra Raiders' season is getting back on track after a shaky start and they are $1.42 to win when they travel to Gold Coast to play the struggling Titans, who are $2.90 having not won in seven matches at home.

Further north, the North Queensland Cowboys are expected to make light work of the bottom-of-the-table Wests Tigers. The Cowboys have won 15 of their past 17 matches at their home ground and are at $1.14 to rack up another win, with the Tigers at $5.85.

Sunday's matches are expected to provide better entertainment for the neutral with the New Zealand Warriors at $1.74 hosting the Parramatta Eels ($2.12) in what is an important match with both teams at 2-3.

The round finishes off with a Grand Final re-match from last year between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla Sharks on Sunday evening at Melbourne's AAMI Park.

The Storm, who are clear premiership favorites, are unbeaten and favoured to continue on that path at $1.44, with the Sharks at $2.82 having won three of five matches to date. Cronulla have lost all seven matches at AAMI Park.