If you are like us, and spend too much time on NRL tipping, only to get a lousy three or four correct, then we why bother and let someone else decide for you and offer you our Alternative NRL Round 1 Tips.
Perhaps you could just follow an expert’s tips, but what’s the fun in that.
And instead of allowing the competition admin to give you the away teams for when you don’t care about who you tip, why not take on board our weekly Alternative NRL Tipping method?
Each week there will be a new theme, and occasionally it will have nothing to do with rugby league. Just the way we like it.
In addition to that is a whole bunch of barely interesting stats for the round of NRL ahead. Impress your friends and / or family by stealing them and sharing.
Good luck with your Alternative NRL Round 1 Tips.
OTHER NRL GEAR
2021 Season Preview & Bold Predictions
NRL Round 1 Tipping Alternative – Gurgler v First Round Form
So here are this week’s alternative tips. The method to how it works is below.
METHOD TO THE MADNESS
Easy.
We’ve taken all the first round results since 1998, worked out the best winning percentage, and whichever team has the higher % is more likely to win.
So that team gets the tip.
The full NRL First Round record is below.
NRL Round 1 Tips – Our Selections
MELBOURNE to beat South Sydney
BULLDOGS to beat Newcastle
PARRAMATTA to beat Brisbane
WARRIORS to beat Gold Coast
ROOSTERS to beat Manly
PENRITH to beat North Queensland
WESTS TIGERS to beat Canberra
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA to beat Cronulla
NRL Round 1 Tips – Barely Interesting Stats
- Souths have very little chance on paper to beat Melbourne – needing to overcome two massive stats. Melbourne v Souths is the most lop-sided fixture in the NRL with the Storm winning 85% of all games since 1998. It is a clear 10% higher than the next worst. Melbourne also have not lost an opening round fixture since 2001. Melbourne feature the most in the top ten lop-sided NRL Fixtures. See the visual below.
- Newcastle have only beaten the Bulldogs once in the last nine meetings. But they have won their last four home matches v Sydney teams, and the Bulldogs have won just six of 28 away games since 2017.
- Both of Brisbane’s two home wins last season came against Sydney sides. That’s 67% of their seasons wins v Sydney clubs. Parramatta won all four matches v Queensland opposition last season and by a margin of 148-28.
- Gold Coast have won just one of their last nine away games to New Zealand. Titans have won their last three Saturday games but prior to that it was one win in 20 games.
- Roosters have lost only three of their last 24 games on a Saturday. One of those losses was to Manly last season. Manly have won just 11 of 39 away matches v Sydney sides since 2015. Four of those nine wins v Cronulla.
- North Queensland have won just two of their last 15 games in NSW.
- Wests Tigers have beaten Canberra just once in eight attempts from 2016 and it was the only time they have scored more than 12 points v Raiders.
- Canberra don’t seem to like cats on a Sunday at home. They have won just one of their last eight home games v Penrith or Wests Tigers on a Sunday. For no good reason, there’s some insight into performance vs types of mascots below.
- Given that Sharks live in the water, it is strange that Cronulla have a poor record at WIN Stadium by the water. They have won just two of eight since 1998. Not that they are playing the Dragons at WIN Stadium but it is interesting enough. Or barely interesting…..
NRL Round 1 Tips – Barely Interesting Visuals
NRL FIRST ROUND WINNING PERCENTAGE FROM 1998
Melbourne never lost an opening round fixture since Cam Smith joined. Sydney teams seem to start off a little slower.
TOP 10 MOST LOP-SIDED NRL FIXTURES
NRL TEAMS v CAT MASCOT TEAMS
We found a barely interesting stat on the Raiders not liking playing cat mascot based teams on a Sunday at home.
So why not do every team’s record v cats since 1998.
Interestingly Dogs don’t seem to mind playing cats. Human based teams don’t seem to like cats, and the felines are a polariser among humans we figure.
NRL TEAMS BEST MASCOT/NICKNAME PERFORMANCE
Taking it one step further, we wondered about which type of mascot/nickname each team performs best against.
The results are mildly interesting…
Other animals combine Rabbits, Horses, Dragons.
