NRL 2025 Round 1 Las Vegas – Betting Tips, Odds & Predictions

The 2025 NRL season is already upon us, and is set to kick off in style with two games in Las Vegas. Overall there are four games taking place in Sin City, with a Super League clash and a Jillaroos vs England international women’s game also pencilled in, but we’re going to focus on the two games which kick-off another big year in the NRL – the Raiders vs the Warriors, and the Panthers vs the Sharks. Check out our NRL betting tips and predictions for those two games below.

Neither the Raiders nor the Warriors are expected to be a powerhouse this season, but one of them will be getting their season off to a strong start in Vegas. For the Raiders, 2025 is an opportunity to take a step forward after just failing to make the finals last year, with their poor points differential ultimately costing them a spot in the eight despite winning 12 games. But they lost a few players to the Super League last season and will quite possibly be a worse team this year than they were last, and given their 2024 record was already probably inflated relative to their talent, this might be a tough season for Ricky Stuart’s chargers.

The Warriors, meanwhile, finished a few spots further back from the Raiders last year after making the top four the year prior, but in contrast to their Round 1 opponent they have good reason to believe they can bounce back this year. They made a pivotal off-season acquisition in picking up James Fisher-Harris, while Tanah Boyd could also be a key inclusion. They are a bit of an unknown heading into the year, but their best case scenario should see them very much in contention for the finals, and they should be able to knock off the Raiders to get their year off on the right foot.

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Warriors to win	$1.65
	Warriors -2.5	$1.91
	Warriors 7+	$2.25

Predicted Squads

Canberra Raiders: 1. Kaeo Weekes 2. Savelio Tamale 3. Matthew Timoko 4. Seb Kris 5. Xavier Savage 6. Ethan Strange 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Corey Horsburgh 9. Tom Starling 10. Joe Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Zac Hosking 13. Morgan Smithies 14. Owen Pattie 15. Simi Sasagi 16. Josh Papali'i 17. Ata Mariota 18. Danny Levi 19. Trey Mooney 20. Ethan Sanders 21. Chevy Stewart 22. Jed Stuart

New Zealand Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Taine Tuaupiki 3. Ali Leiataua 4. Adam Pompey 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Luke Metcalf 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Wayde Egan 10. Mitch Barnett 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Marata Niukore 13. Erin Clark 14. Dylan Walker 15. Jackson Ford 16. Demitric Vaimauga 17. Leka Halasima 18. Samuel Healey 20. Te Maire Martin 21. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava 22. Bunty Afoa 23. Edward Kosi

The Panthers did it again in 2024, winning an incredible fourth consecutive Grand Final in 2024 to secure their legacy as one of the greatest teams of all time. They knocked off a Storm team that finished two games ahead of them in the home and away season by a margin of eight points, but the boys in purple head into the year as favourites after the reigning Premiers lost a couple of key players in the off-season in Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris. Still, they are a pretty clear second in the betting, and even without the two aforementioned Premiership stars they will likely find themselves right up the pointy end of the ladder.

The Sharks, meanwhile, have a lot to live up to after they finished third last season and made their way through to the Preliminary Finals – only to be beaten comfortably by Penrith. There was a clear gap between the top two and the rest and that Prelim showed it, but Cronulla will be keen to show that they have closed the gap in the off-season. Realistically they probably have – while the Panthers got a little weaker, the Sharks picked up a big name in Addin Fonua-Blake, so they certainly aren’t without a hope in this one. But even so, the Panthers have a long way to fall before anyone aside from the Storm catches them, and in a high-quality affair they can pick up their first of what will likely be many wins in 2025.

Bookmaker	James’ Tip	Odds
	Panthers to win	$1.67
	Panthers -2.5	$1.91
	Under 40.5 total match points	$1.85

Predicted Squads

Penrith Panthers: 1. Dylan Edwards 2. Casey McLean 3. Izack Tago 4. Luke Garner 5. Paul Alamoti 6. Jack Cole 7. Nathan Cleary 8. Moses Leota 9. Mitch Kenny 10. Lindsay Smith 11. Scott Sorensen 12. Liam Martin 13. Isaah Yeo 14. Daine Laurie 15. Isaiah Papali'i 16. Matthew Eisenhuth 17. Luron Patea 18. Brad Schneider 19. Mavrik Geyer 20. Jesse McLean 21. Luke Sommerton 22. Blaize Talagi

Cronulla Sharks: 1. Will Kennedy 2. Sam Stonestreet 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Kayal Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Oregon Kaufusi 11. Briton Nikora 12. Teig Wilton 13. Cameron McInnes 14. Daniel Atkinson 15. Sifa Talakai 16. Braden Hamlin-Uele 17. Tom Hazelton 18. Tuku Hau Tapuha 19. Mawene Hiroti 20. Billy Burns 21. Jayden Berrell 22. Hohepa Puru

• The Panthers have won seven of their last eight games against the Sharks by an incredible average of over 30 points.
• The Panthers are always an extremely strong defensive team, and five of their last six games of season 2024 yielded a total of 40 points or less.
• Though the Raiders split their games at 12-12 last year, they made a habit of losing big, with 10 of those 12 defeats coming by more than the eight-point line set for this game by betting sites.

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