St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm Betting Tip Storm -4 handicap – 27th September 2020

Much-changed Melbourne can still beat the Dragons

Zac Lomax / Dragons ©imago images / AAP 12.09.2020

Australia St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm Australia
27th September 0705hrs
Rugby League – Australia – NRL
Pick Draw
Bookmaker Bet365
Odds: 9/5 odds taken 0112 GMT, Wednesday 23rd September

The Melbourne Storm have locked down second-place in the NRL ladder for the season, so the only thing that they await to see is who they meet in the first week of the knockouts.

They have been astounding once again this season and they round off the regular campaign with an away game against St George Illawarra.

The Dragons are in the bottom half of the table and the worst that they can end up is fourth from the bottom, which is where they start the final round.

Bet at Bet365

 

St George Illawarra Dragons Preview – Dragons limping towards the end of the season

The end of the season probably can’t come quick enough now for the St George Illawarra Dragons as they are on a four-match losing streak.

They were heavily beaten last weekend by the Newcastle Knights, going down on the wrong end of a 42-18 scoreline.

It has been six defeats in their last eight league fixtures now for the Dragons who are on a W6 L13 record for the season.

This is going to be a big ask for them to get the win, but they are the 3/4 odds-on favourites for the contest* (odds taken 0112 GMT, Wednesday 23rd September).

That’s because the Melbourne Storm are making the most of the opportunity to rest some key players.

Our betting prediction:
Melbourne 1-12 winning margin
5/2

Bet at Bet365

(odds taken 0112 GMT, Wednesday 23rd September)

 

This will be the first and only meeting between the two teams for this season. When they met in August last year, the Storm ended a 16-14 win at the Dragons.

The Dragons have taken a W2 L6 record in their last eight in the head to head against Melbourne.

There is obviously a big discrepancy between the two and the number of points which have been produced by each in matches.

The Dragons are averaging 18 points per game this season which is well down on that of the 26 per game that the Storm have come up with.

The Dragons have also conceded 10 points more per game on average this season than Melbourne have done.

 

Melbourne Storm Preview – Storm to take a breather?

There’s absolutely nothing in this game for the Storm who will finish second when the final ladder is called for the season.

So they can rest their key players, getting a good breather ahead of their finals campaign which will start against either the Parramatta Eels or the Sydney Roosters.

The Storm are W16 L3 for the season so far and only the Roosters have scored more points than they have done in this campaign.

This fixture at the Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Sydney and it is a venue where Melbourne have won five of their previous seven visits.

Across their last three games, Melbourne have scored a total of 108 points (and incidentally the Dragons have conceded 102).

So even though the Storm are turning up with a much-changed starting lineup, will they run rampant?

Melbourne are 11/10 underdogs in the match outright* (odds taken 0112 GMT, Wednesday 23rd September).

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Melbourne Storm actually have a totally new back line out for this one, that’s the extent of the changes that they are making.

They also have a totally new back row as well. So this is going to be a test of the quality of their depth.

Melbourne have bigger targets ahead of them of course than picking up a meaningless win in this game.

But they may not be worth writing off and a Melbourne Storm -4 isn’t a bad option at a 9/5 quote in the handicap for NRL betting* (odds taken 0112 GMT, Wednesday 23rd September).

 

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm Betting Advice

It’s hard to know what to do with this game from an NRL betting perspective because of all the sweeping changes that Melbourne are making.

Those are understandable changes as well, but they are still worth a look at the -4 handicap at that 9/5 quote* (odds taken 0112 GMT, Wednesday 23rd September).

 

Key Facts – St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm Betting Tip

  • St George Illawarra Dragons are on a four-match losing streak
  • St George Illawarra Dragons have won 2 of their last 8 against Melbourne
  • Melbourne Storm have won 7 of their last 8 fixtures

 

The Dragons had a really tough time of things against the Newcastle Knights last weekend. That will have knocked more stuffing out of them.

So we think that they are worth a pass at an odds-on quote for a home win against a team who won’t be let down by their back-up support.

So we will consider the Melbourne Storm 1-12 winning margin for 5/2* (odds taken 0112 GMT, Wednesday 23rd September).

 

The best betting odds for St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm

St George Illawarra Dragons to win: 12/1 at Bet365
Draw: 13/5 at Bet365
Melbourne Storm to win: 10/11 at Bet365