CRIPPS NOW FAVOURITE FOR BROWNLOW MEDAL
NRL
DEBATE may be swirling around who will be captain of Queensland’s State of Origin side but punters and bookies appear more certain about who will win rugby league’s showpiece series in 2019. Ladbrokes bookies predict NSW will lift the trophy, with the Blues $1.50 to retain their crown and the Maroons – decimated by form, injury and more retirements from the glory days – now out to $2.60. That means that Roosters and Blues skipper Boyd Cordner could be on his way to another historic club and state captaincy double.
It may have taken a Latrell Mitchell long bomb to propel the Roosters to a golden point win over the Storm in the topof-the-table clash last week but the hard-fought nature of their victory mattered little to Ladbrokes who shortened the Chooks from $3.50 to $3 to go back to back. Melbourne lost few fans and remain $5 in the premiership market.
AFL
WINNING the Brownlow Medal is something that only very good players do, but to claim “Charlie” while being part of a cellar-dwelling club is a special achievement reserved for champions of the game. Gary Ablett Jr was able to take home the AFL’s best-and-fairest gong while with Gold Coast in 2013 and Carlton’s Patrick Cripps could soon join him as a bona fide stud among duds. The Blues captain has long stood out in a poor Carlton side. As he propelled his team to its first win of the season at the weekend, the Ladbrokes bookies made their move. They think Cripps is the type of player who could poll heavily enough in a poor side and subsequently wound his odds
into $4 to make him the new outright Brownlow Medal favourite.
He sits ahead of past winners Patrick Dangerfield ($5) and Nat Fyfe ($9), with Lions ballmagnet Lachie Neale ($7) sandwiched in between. While the Blues are long odds to make the finals, they are longer odds than a week ago to record the most losses.
After a hat-trick of wins for the Gold Coast thrust them from a season opening price of $1.40 out to a season high $5, the Blues were crunched into $1.60 following four defeats. They’ve eased back to $2.40, with the Suns firming back to $3.75. Collingwood’s romp against the
Lions, coupled with the Eagles’ home loss to Port Adelaide, saw the Magpies assume outright premiership favouritism at $4.50, followed by Geelong ($5) and the Eagles ($5.50).
SUPER NETBALL
THE Super Netball season gets under way this weekend and the Ladbrokes betting market suggests we are set for a very competitive campaign. Much like their AFL counterparts, the Giants have always promised plenty but are yet to taste the ultimate success in Super Netball after losing in the grand final in 2017 and failing to make the decider after winning the minor premiership last year.
They are favourites to finally claim that elusive premiership in 2019 and are at $4 but there is not much between them and West Coast Fever at $4.50, Collingwood at $5 and the Melbourne Vixens at $5.50. The Sunshine Coast Lightning have made a habit of surpassing expectations with two premierships from as many
seasons, and they have been underrated by the bookies again in 2019.
They may have lost some talent, but still have the likes of new captain Laura Langman, Karla Pretorious and Steph Wood, as well as an outstanding culture, and are great value to claim a third-straight premiership at $7.50.
The NSW Swifts ($10) and Queensland Firebirds ($11) are both expected to struggle, while the Adelaide Thunderbirds, who failed to win a game last season, are the extreme outsiders again at $21.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
IT IS down to four teams in the Champions League, and not the four sides we expected at the start of the competition. Barcelona is the only side remaining that were considered among the leading fancies, and are now favourites at $2.50 following their comprehensive win over Manchester United in the quarter-finals. They meet Liverpool in the semi-finals and are favourites to progress to
their first Champions League final since 2015. Liverpool lost to Real Madrid in the final 12 months ago and are $3.50 to go one better.
The big story this season has been Ajax. They have beaten Real Madrid and Juventus to qualify for this stage of the competition and are $5 to claim their first Champions League title since 1995 after being $251 when betting opened. Rounding out the final four is Tottenham at $5.
POLITICS
LABOR remain the outright favourite in the federal election market but there has been a move towards the Coalition in the past week.
Labor are out to $1.27, the longest they have been for months, while the Coalition are back into $3.75 after being $5 less than a fortnight ago. One Ladbrokes punter remains confident Bill Shorten will be our next prime minister and last Wednesday put $10,000 on Labor to win at $1.18.