Rugby League was a game that was developed in the working class of England's North but it was the Aussies that adopted it and perfected it. The NRL competition is one of the great competitions in the world because you won’t find a closer competition. At the start of every season you can make a case for any one of the 16 teams to make the final eight and that creates a fair and level playing field. The other thing that means is that there are plenty of even games when it comes to betting on the NRL.

888sport had Manly as underdogs in the game against St George at Brookvale Oval last Saturday night. St George has been clearly the best team in the competition this year and hasn’t put a foot wrong. Even though Manly was at home they had eight of their players backing up from representative duties less than 24 hours earlier. You could even get a 4.5 points head start on the Eagles that were expected to really suffer towards the end of the game.

A long regular season has finally come to an end and now only eight teams remain in the race for the ultimate prize. There have been some very good teams miss out this year with teams like South Sydney, the West Tigers and the Penrith Panthers all probably deserving of finals football. Like most years there are some teams starting to show wear and tear and others starting to show Premiership form.

This week’s NRL finals promise to produce intriguing Rugby League. The first week of the finals saw some very strange results which turned the betting market at online betting agencies like 888sport upside down. Both the Bulldogs and the Storm have the weekend off now with four other teams desperate to book their chance at a Grand Final next weekend.