NRL Betting: Wests Tigers can maintain finals push with 1-12 point victory over St. George-Illawarra Dragons

Recommended bet:

Winning Margin – Wests Tigers to win by 1-12 points @ 39/20 (2.95) with Unibet

Wests Tigers take on St. George-Illawarra Dragons at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday afternoon, with the Tigers looking to build on a run of four wins in their last five games that has seen them move to within just a couple of points of the top eight and contention for the finals series.

They face a Dragons team who are currently fifth in the standings and four points better off, but who have lost five of their last six games.  The Dragons were one-time table-toppers and looked like potential minor premiers until the recent downturn in form, but could now be grateful for their points differential of +65 when it comes to hanging on to a top eight finish over the remaining three rounds of fixtures in the regular season.

The Tigers moved to within a couple of points of the Brisbane Broncos with a 22-20 win away to the Canberra Raiders at the GIO Stadium, although they had to withstand a strong fight-back from the Raiders who 16-0 in arrears at one stage.

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The victory over the Raiders also came after a week of uncertainty about the future of coach Ivan Cleary, who eventually put an end to speculation that he would be leaving the club for the Penrith Panthers in 2019.

Meanwhile the Dragons were on the end of an embarrassing 40-4 thrashing to bottom of the table Parramatta Eels at the ANZ Stadium last Saturday night – a massive blow to, what at this stage, are now their top four ambitions.  To make matters worse, English skipper Gareth Widdop dislocated his shoulder and is probably out of action until the finals.

The two teams last met barely a month ago, with the Tigers securing a narrow 20-16 victory at the WIN Jubilee Oval.  It was a defeat that dropped the Dragons to a season-low third in the standings at the time and not much has gone right for them since.

There will surely be a response to last week’s humiliation to the Eels from the Dragons, but the momentum is clearly with the Tigers and they can win this by 1-12 points at 39/20 (2.95) with Unibet.