A handful of punters with online bookmaker Sportsbet Australia will be sweating on Manly winning Sunday’s NRL Grand Final after placing wagers on a special multi – Tony Abbott and the Coalition to win the Federal Election into the Sea Eagles winning the Premiership – way back in August.
At the odds of $6.50, the savvy punters placed their bets on August 22, a time when the LNP were paying $1.08 to salute and Manly $5.50 to win the premiership.
“There was actually more bets on Labor winning the election into the Broncos winning the Grand Final but if Manly get up, it’s fair to say that we’ve witnessed some astute punting,” Sportsbet’s Ben Hawes said.
71% of all money bet on the match has now been placed on the Roosters after a mini surge in support for Manly yesterday. The Chooks are the $1.67 favourites, with Manly the $2.25 outsiders.
Sportsbet is also offering up a double-barrel name bet on the decider, with $5.00 available for any of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Sonny Bill Williams, Frank Paul Nuuausala or Daly Cherry-Evans to score the game’s first try.
In other popular markets, money is coming in 5 to 1 for the Roosters to cover the -2.5 line at $1.92, Jamie Lyon at $13 is the best backed player to score the first try, just ahead of SBW at $19 and Tuivasa-Sheck at $11.
With a tight clash expected, punters will have their losing head-to-head on the GF refunded if the final margin of the game is 10 points or less.
2013 NRL Grand Final winner
$1.67 Sydney Roosters (steady)
$2.25 Manly Sea Eagles (steady)
Line
$1.92 Sydney Roosters -2.5
$1.92 Manly Sea Eagles +2.5
Margin
$2.80 Sydney Roosters 1-12
$3.85 Sydney Roosters 13+
$3.25 Manly Sea Eagles 1-12
$6.00 Manly Sea Eagles 13+
$23 Draw
First try scorer
$10 Michael Jennings
$11 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Jorge Taufua, David Williams
$12 Daniel Tupou, Brett Stewart
$13 Jamie Lyon
$15 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Peta Hiku
$17 Anthony Minichello, James Maloney, Steve Matai
$19 Sonny Bill Williams
$21 Daly Cherry-Evans
Others quoted