PREMIERSHIP favourites South Sydney are one of the best-backed teams in Round 16, with punters expecting the Bunnies to ride roughshod over North Queensland.

Most, if not all, of the club’s representative players are expected to back up on Sunday afternoon and that spells trouble for the Cowboys, with the Rabbitohs in red-hot form and on a seven-game winning streak.

Punters are predicting Souths will not just win ($1.33) but cover a reasonable line of 8.5 points too.

The eighth-placed Broncos opened a 5.5-point favourite to widen the gap between them and the ninth-placed Canberra to a whopping three matches on the ladder when they host the Raiders tomorrow night.

But there has been support for the Green Machine, with the line moving a couple of points towards the Raiders, who must win to stay in touch with the Broncos as they continue their push towards yet another finals appearance.

The West Tigers are also popular after welcoming back club great Robbie Farah and pinching Moses Mbye off the Bulldogs.

Ninety per cent of money taken on the Tigers’ clash with the Titans has been on the home side.

WIMBLEDON
TENNIS bad boy Nick Kyrgios has his supporters (somehow) ahead of Wimbledon, including one decent wager of $1000 at $21 for the controversial Australian to take out his first Grand Slam.

Not surprisingly, Roger Federer is attracting his usual share of interest but, given his short price (currently under $3), his draw will determine if a flood of money comes for the Swiss Master.

One of the bigger bets Ladbrokes has taken so far, a wager of $650, has been on a somewhat left-field selection in Dominic Thiem at $26.

In the women’s event, French Open champion Simona Halep has been popular despite grass not being her favoured surface.

One punter has had $500 on her at $15 while we have taken a few bets around the $100 to $150 mark on CoCo Vandeweghe at $29.

As usual, Serena Williams will be popular. Seeded 25 for the tournament despite being ranked 183, her pre-draw price sits around $7.

WORLD CUP
IT MIGHT all come down to some old-fashioned “luck of the draw” in the knockout phase of the World Cup.

One side of the draw is far more stacked with powerhouse nations, with a significant impact on the betting.

Argentina, for instance, went from $26 to $13 after scraping through to the final 16 after some nervous moments and poor play in the group stage.

But the odds on the Argentines lifting the trophy would be much shorter had they not been drawn to play France in the first knockout phase.

Spain have not exactly set the world on fire so far in the tournament but they look to have lobbed in the far more favourable side of proceedings and have been heavily backed to make, at least, the final four.

The worst result for Ladbrokes though is Belgium, ahead of Portugal and England.

One punter is out to fill his baguette basket if the French win. Said punter has $5000 on France at $9 to collect a cool $45,000. Another invested $1000 on Mexico pre-tournament at the very tasty odds of $41.

NETBALL
THE bookies are predicting an upset in the next instalment of netball’s “Sunshine Shootout”, with reigning Super Netball champions the Sunshine Coast Lightning ($1.75) favourites to beat the second-placed Queensland Firebirds ($2.05) on Sunday.

The Firebirds are beginning to resemble the powerhouse side we knew in the old trans-Tasman league but the Lightning stormed home to force a draw with GWS Giants in last week’s grand final rematch and will have home court advantage.

West Coast v Collingwood will be a good betting game, with the star-studded Magpies in danger of losing touch with the top four and any hope of playing finals.

The Fever will be doing them no favours as they look to extend their break at the top.

AFL
THE impending return of some key Crows, coupled with the Eagles’ growing injury list, has seen the strife-riddled Adelaide become the best-backed team of Round 15.

The Crows opened a 1½-point favourite but market support on the back of some positive injury news out of West Lakes has seen them backed into a

9½-point favourite.

The suspension of Jeremy Cameron saw a huge shift in betting for the match between Hawthorn and GWS.

Before Cameron’s tribunal appearance on Tuesday for the sickening hit on Lions defender Harris Andrews, 75 per cent of the money was with the Giants.

Since he was predictably rubbed out with a five-week suspension, 75 per cent of the money has been for the Hawks.

Surprisingly, the Bulldogs are given some hope by punters of causing a Friday night boilover.

Money is split 50-50 between the Dogs and Geelong, despite the Cats having won the past 11 matches between these sides.