NRL Round 17 Betting Preview: Game Odds, Trends, Analysis for Week Ahead

After being stunned by a golden-point loss to the second-place Sydney Roosters last week, Premiership favourites Melbourne Storm face another difficult task on Friday when they travel to take on a Brisbane Broncos side looking to rediscover their momentum.

The Broncos endured a major form hiccup over the early Origin period, losing back-to-back matches before recovering with a narrow win over South Sydney last week.

They sit third on the ladder, just four points adrift of top-placed Melbourne, and they can close the gap to two with a win at odds of $2.20 AUD in this match.

The Broncos' prospects are helped by the fact Melbourne are likely to be without skipper Cameron Smith. However, the Storm do get back Origin trio Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Will Chambers. They have won their past six matches against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium and are $1.68 to make it seven straight on Friday, according to AustralianGambling.com.au.

The round kicks off on Thursday night with Parramatta, who have edged into the eight after last week's win over the Dragons, taking on the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

The Dogs possess the worst offence in the NRL and have slumped to 13th after a loss to the Warriors last week. They desperately need a win, but the market has them as $2.80 outsiders, with the Eels at $1.45 to record their third straight win over their Western Sydney rivals.

It's a measure of how far St George Illawarra have fallen that they aren't a clear favourite against the Gold Coast Titans in Friday's other match. Having won six of their first seven games of the season, the Dragons have now lost five of their past seven, including their past two against the Bulldogs and the Eels.

The oddsmakers have them as $1.91 equal favourites with the Titans, who have dropped four in a row to slip to 14th. Remarkably Gold Coast's most recent win was against the Melbourne Storm.

The other two teams to have beaten the Storm this year, the Sydney Roosters and the Cronulla Sharks, meet at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

This one will have a real spice in it with second playing fifth. The Roosters have lost their past five matches to the Sharks, but they are $1.72 to break that drought here. Cronulla have lost their last two, including a 35-18 flogging by the Sea Eagles last week, and are $2.15 outsiders with the line at just two points.

Manly have won four on the bounce to surge into the top four and are well-fancied at $1.46 to beat the New Zealand Warriors ($2.75) in Perth on Saturday afternoon.

The Canberra Raiders, meanwhile, have lost three in a row, but they are still given a chance to make the finals despite slipping to 11th.

They host the seventh-placed Cowboys on Saturday night, but they will go into the match as $1.53 favourites given they have home advantage and the Cowboys ($2.55) are without Johnathan Thurston for the rest of the season.

Sunday's games see the Newcastle Knights with an excellent chance to capture just their third win for the season when they host the bottom-place Wests Tigers. The Knights haven't started as a favourite in a game since 2015, but they are $1.80 here with the struggling Tigers at $2.04.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Penrith Panthers sit in a glut of teams just outside the eight and meet at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Penrith are $1.65 favourites, with the Rabbitohs given some chance at $2.26.