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League of Inches Best Bets - NRL Preliminary Finals 2026

Joel Johnston

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Last updated: Thu. 24 Sep. 2026 21:19

Joel Johnston 24 Sep. 2026

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Top picks: Farnworth, Bostock, & Young as anytime try scorers
Penrith Panthers tipped to win by 13+ points
Finals experience and attacking stars highlighted in expert analysis

Herbie Farnworth of the Dolphins scores a try. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

NRL Preliminary Finals Best Bets: Our Top 4 Bets This Weekend

We're down to four teams and two games, so there's nowhere to hide now.

The preliminary finals are here, with the Dolphins and Roosters kicking things off on Friday night before Penrith and Newcastle fight for the other spot in the Grand Final.

NRL Preliminary Finals Best Bets: Our Top 4 Bets This Weekend
Herbie Farnworth Anytime Try Scorer
Jack Bostock Anytime Try Scorer
Penrith Panthers 13+
Dom Young Anytime Try Scorer

We've gone through both games and pulled out the four bets we like most this weekend. There's plenty of try-scoring talent on show, particularly in that Friday night game, while we're expecting Penrith's finals experience to eventually tell against a Newcastle side that has already exceeded just about every expectation this season.

Here are our top four bets for the NRL Preliminary Finals.

Bet	Odds
Herbie Farnworth Anytime Try Scorer	$2.40
Jack Bostock Anytime Try Scorer	$3.25
Penrith Panthers 13+	$2.05
Dom Young Anytime Try Scorer	$2.60

Herbie Farnworth Anytime Try Scorer

This is the one I couldn't go past. Getting better than even money for Herbie Farnworth to score in a preliminary final at Suncorp feels like a price worth taking, particularly in a game that has all the ingredients to open up.

The Dolphins come into this fresh after the week off, while the Roosters have Sam Walker returning and enough attacking quality of their own to turn this into a proper Friday night shootout. If that happens, Farnworth is exactly the player I want on my side.

The interesting thing with Herbie is that you can't really reduce this to a simple centre-versus-centre match-up. He gets himself involved everywhere, and with a Grand Final spot on the line, I'd expect him to be as busy as ever.

Jack Bostock Anytime Try Scorer

Skip is looking towards the other side of the Dolphins backline and backing Jack Bostock to find the line.

Bostock gets the match-up with Billy Smith and, at $2.62, there's enough value there to make him one of our favourite try-scoring plays of the weekend.

We spent plenty of time talking about just how much attacking talent will be on the field in this game. Both teams have dangerous outside backs, both can score quickly once they find momentum and conditions should hopefully allow them to play some open football.

If the Dolphins get the opportunities we're expecting, Bostock should get his chances.

Penrith Panthers 13+

Sorry Hampo, but I'm not overthinking this one. Newcastle have been incredible over the past couple of weeks and deserve enormous credit for reaching a preliminary final after where this club was 12 months ago. The problem is that what they produced against the Warriors simply won't be enough against Penrith.

The Knights completed at around 70% and missed more than 50 tackles last weekend. They defended their own line well and found a way to win, but Penrith are a completely different proposition once you continually give them possession and field position.

We've seen this Panthers side do it too many times. They absorb pressure, wait for mistakes and then gradually strangle teams out of games.

Newcastle will have to improve considerably just to stay with them, and I think eventually Penrith pull away.

Dom Young Anytime Try Scorer

Hampo isn't letting us finish this without getting some Newcastle representation in. At $2.65, he thinks Dom Young is simply too big a price to score and, even if you're expecting Penrith to win comfortably, the two bets don't necessarily contradict each other.

Newcastle have been one of the competition's most dangerous long-range attacking teams and they don't necessarily need sustained possession inside the opposition 20 to create points. Give Young one opportunity in space and he can turn it into six.

Penrith obviously present the toughest defensive assignment Newcastle have faced during this finals run, but nearly $3 for one of the Knights' biggest attacking weapons to score is enough for Hampo to get involved.

Verdict

2026 NRL Preliminary Finals

The League of Inches best bets for the Prelim Finals

Herbie Farnworth

Anytime Tryscorer

$2.40 - 2 Units

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Jack Bostock

Anytime Tryscorer

$3.25 - 1 Unit

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Penrith 13+

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$2.05 - 1 Unit

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Dom Young

Anytime Tryscorer

$2.60 - 2 Units

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