Bookies have found it tough to separate NSW and QLD in State of Origin Game 1 betting, but that hasn’t stopped Sportsbet offering $4 in head-to-head betting.
Bookies have found it tough to separate NSW and QLD in State of Origin Game 1 betting, but that hasn’t stopped Sportsbet offering $4 in head-to-head betting.
Game One – 8:15pm local time on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at ANZ Stadium, Sydney
NEW South Wales are slender favourites to take out the first leg of State of Origin 2016, which kicks off on Wednesday, June 1 in Sydney.
Online bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au has the home side pegged at $1.85, while Queensland are paying $2 even.
Our readers can get even better odds on the Maroons with our exclusive 2016 State of Origin betting special.
Sign up at www.Sportsbet.com.au and claim a massive $4 head-to-head price on Queensland to win the opener.
Those odds look very tasty indeed when you consider QLD have won nine of the last 10 Origin series.
They look better still when you factor in the away side’s recent improvement at the ANZ, where they have won on two of their last three visits.
Then there’s the mental scars NSW may well be carrying from the 52-6 humiliation in last year’s decider at Suncorp Stadium.
It would appear that wholesale capitulation lingers still on the mind of Blues coach Laurie Daley, who has retained only nine of the players who featured on that dark night in Brisbane.
The list was even shorter before Josh Morris was called back into the squad to replace the injured Josh Dugan.
There will be Origin debuts for Josh Mansour, Matt Moylan, Adam Reynolds and Dylan Walker, while Blake Ferguson and James Maloney are back from the wilderness.
The Queensland 17 has a much more familiar look, despite the retirement of Justin Hodges and the absence of Billy Slater.
There is also some concern over the fitness of Melbourne Storm star Cooper Cronk, who rolled his ankle during training.
But the Maroons have class and experience to burn in the likes of Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Johnathan Thurston and skipper Cameron Smith, who will surpass Darren Lockyer as the most-capped player in Origin history.
Matt Moylan
Blake Ferguson
Michael Jennings
Josh Morris
Josh Mansour
James Maloney
Adam Reynolds
Aaron Woods
Robbie Farah
Paul Gallen (captain)
Boyd Cordner
Josh Jackson
Greg Bird
Interchange:
Dylan Walker
James Tamou
David Klemmer
Andrew Fifita
Darius Boyd
Corey Oates
Greg Inglis
Justin O’Neill
Dane Gagai
Johnathan Thurston
Cooper Cronk
Matt Scott
Cameron Smith (captain)
Nate Myles
Matt Gillett
Sam Thaiday
Corey Parker
Interchange:
Michael Morgan
Josh McGuire
Aiden Guerra
Josh Papalii
Corey Oates – $9
Blake Ferguson, Josh Mansour – $10
Greg Inglis, Michael Jennings – $12
Darius Boyd, Josh Morris, Justin O’Neill – $15
Dylan Walker – $17
Michael Morgan, Matt Moylan – $18
Boyd Cordner, Matt Gillett – $20
Cooper Cronk, James Maloney, Johnathan Thurston – $23
Josh Jackson, Josh Papalii, Adam Reynolds, Sam Thaiday – $26
Greg Bird, Aiden Guerra – $34
Others quoted at www.Sportsbet.com.au
Don’t forget about Sportsbet’s exclusive top-up special for game one of Origin 2016.
If you sign up at Sportsbet.com.au and place a head-to-head wager on Queensland to win, the bookie will bump the odds from $2 up to $4 – that’s double the winnings.
Here’s how you do it: