The 2022 season is just around the corner, and it's set to be far more competitive than the 2021 edition.
With teams from outside the bottom eight set to improve, and the new rules to speed up the game now ingrained in the competition, it could see more teams become competitive.
While the usual suspects will be floating around the top, it doesn't mean it'll be a two-horse race for the minor premiership as it was last year, and with best betting sites NZ, there is no reason you can't find plenty of value by tipping the minor premiers correctly.
Here are the favourites for the 2022 NRL season.
Penrith Panthers
The Penrith Panthers have been right at the top of the competition for the last two years and finally turned it into a premiership at the end of 2021 with their grand final victory over the Melbourne Storm.
Penrith have only lost a couple of players out of their grand final winning side, and after consistency throughout 2021, it's something Ivan Cleary will be looking to keep going this time around.
Nathan Cleary finished second in last year's Dally M race and is the key, but his State of Origin teammates - led by Brian To'o, Jarome Luai and Isaah Yeo - also have important roles to play if Penrith are to hang around the top once again.
Sydney Roosters
The Roosters had major problems last year, spending plenty of time with a monstrous injury list which saw them struggle to put a competitive team on the park.
Despite that, they somehow kept winning. A mix of youngsters who got better as the season went on, combined with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and James Tedesco leading the way, saw them finish fifth.
This time around, Luke Keary will return from spending most of the season out injured, while they have a chance to go somewhere near full strength in their backline.
It's a team who always find success, and should be somewhere near the top with any luck in 2022.
Melbourne Storm
The Storm have been a picture of consistency for more than a decade.
Craig Bellamy's side haven't missed a finals in almost two, apart from 2010 when the Storm were stuck with salary cap problems preventing them from playing for competition points.
Despite the exits of Nicho Hynes, Dale Finucane and Josh Addo-Carr, this is a team who will once again be near the top and are among the favourites to take out the regular season prize.
Whether they do or not is another question, and will rely on Bellamy pulling something out of the bag, particularly with the potential loss of Tui Kamikamica in the middle third, however, it'd take a brave man to bet against the successful club.
