Bets of the Week: 2-4 October 2026

Our best bets for 2-4 October 2026, led by the Roosters in the NRLW Grand Final, plus the NRL Grand Final, UFC 332, AFLW and NFL Week 4, with racing picks once fields are final.

Welcome to BettingPro’s Bets of the Week: the team’s best plays for 2-4 October 2026. The NRL and NRLW Grand Finals on Sunday, Epsom Day at Randwick and the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Saturday, UFC 332, AFLW Round 8 and NFL Week 4.

How last week’s card settled: one winner and one place. The Socceroos held Brazil 1-1 in Townsville, which landed the handicap, and Extragalactic ran second in the Manikato to pay the place. Everything else lost. The Dolphins, our Bet of the Weekend, went down 36-20 to the Roosters, Penrith lost to a 12-man Newcastle, Brisbane beat Fremantle by seven in the AFL Grand Final, Guest House ran sixth in the Golden Rose and Beiwacht ninth in the Manikato. Full accounting on last week’s card.

🏆 Bet of the Weekend: the Roosters to win the NRLW Grand Final. A second straight perfect regular season, 26 regular-season wins in a row, and a 20-10 preliminary final win over Canberra. Their only defeat in 2025 was this fixture, the Grand Final, 22-18 to Brisbane. This week the record and the form point the same way, which was not true of the picks that cost us last weekend.

A note on prices. Our odds feed does not currently cover the Australian football codes or racing, so this card carries selections and reasoning but no quoted prices. We will not print a number we cannot verify. Check the live price at a bookmaker before backing any of these.

This Weekend’s Best Bets: Full Roundup

🏉 NRL Grand Final – Roosters v Knights (Sun 4 Oct, 7:30pm AEDT, Accor Stadium)

The Roosters finished fourth and have scored 82 points in their last two finals, 46-10 over Cronulla and 36-20 over the Dolphins. Newcastle finished seventh, a year after the wooden spoon, and have won three finals in a row away from home by conceding 34 points across all three.

The Roosters have won all five meetings since 2023, but four of the five were decided by four points or fewer, including 23-22 in round 21. This is the fixture where a one-sided record describes close games rather than a gap in quality, which is the lesson we took from last week.

Team news. Phoenix Crossland was banned for four matches on Tuesday night for the hip drop that broke Nathan Cleary’s leg, so Newcastle have to replace their first-choice hooker. The Roosters named Connor Watson at 14 pending his concussion exemption.

Our pick: Roosters to win, with a Roosters win inside 12 points as the better market. The extra two days, the higher seed, the better attack and a Newcastle side without its first-choice hooker all point to the Roosters. The margin is where the history of this fixture is most useful. Full breakdown in our NRL Grand Final preview, and best-on-ground candidates on the Clive Churchill Medal page.

🏉 NRLW Grand Final – Roosters v Broncos (Sun 4 Oct, 4:00pm AEDT, Accor Stadium)

A rematch of last year’s decider, which Brisbane won 22-18 for the only Roosters defeat of 2025. The Roosters have not lost a regular-season game since, finishing minor premiers with another perfect season, and beat Canberra 20-10 in their preliminary final. Brisbane beat the Gold Coast 20-8 in theirs, with four first-half tries.

Our pick: Roosters. This is our Bet of the Weekend. The best side in the competition two years running, against the one team that has beaten them. If they win both Grand Finals, the Roosters join Brisbane as the only club to take the NRL and NRLW premierships on the same day. Grand Final day details are on our NRL Grand Final hub.

🏇 Epsom Day – Royal Randwick (Sat 3 Oct) and the Turnbull Stakes – Flemington (Sat 3 Oct)

Randwick stages two Group 1s, the Epsom Handicap and the Flight Stakes, plus The Metropolitan, a Group 2 this year after its downgrade. At Flemington the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes opens the VRC spring, a key pointer to the Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup.

Epsom Handicap: Autumn Boy (barrier 1), with Attica each-way. Last year’s Caulfield Guineas winner was second to Sheza Alibi in the Makybe Diva last start and has McDonald back from the inside. Attica, the Spring Champion Stakes winner, gets in on 51.5kg. The danger is the unbeaten New Zealand mare Well Written, first start in Australia. Full field on our Epsom Handicap page.

Flight Stakes: Bangkok Hottie (barrier 3). The Tea Rose winner over 1400m at Randwick, beating the favourite Striking Alibi. Only seven fillies accepted, so bookmakers pay two places. Full field on our Flight Stakes page.

The Metropolitan: Aethelwulf (barrier 4). Four wins in a row, the latest the Newcastle Gold Cup over 2300m, and 4kg less than The Euphrates, the Kingston Town winner and main danger. Full field on our Metropolitan page.

Turnbull Stakes: Sir Delius (barrier 9), with Cosmic Crusader each-way. Last year’s winner, fourth in the Makybe Diva over a mile, and back up to the 2000m he won over. Half Yours, last year’s Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup winner, starts his spring from barrier 14. Full field on our Turnbull Stakes page.

🥊 UFC 332 – Silva v Wang (Sun 4 Oct, main card 11:00am AEDT)

Natália Silva, the No.1 contender at 20-5-1, meets Wang Cong (10-1) for the vacant women’s flyweight title after Valentina Shevchenko withdrew injured. Our pick: Silva to win. Twenty-six professional fights to Wang’s 11, and she was already booked for a title fight before the change of opponent. Wang’s first UFC title fight is the biggest step up of her career. Over five rounds between two fighters with few losses, the method and rounds markets are worth a look once the price settles. Full card and start times on our UFC 332 preview.

🏈 AFLW Round 8 – North Melbourne v Sydney (Sun 4 Oct, 1:05pm AEDT, Arden Street Oval)

The game of the round, first against fourth with both on 6-1. Our pick: North Melbourne. The back-to-back premiers have a percentage of 243.6 to Sydney’s 131.5, beat Melbourne 65-34 last round, and are at home. The ladder and every Round 8 fixture are on our AFLW hub.

🏈 NFL Week 4 – Chiefs at Raiders (Mon 5 Oct, 7:25am AEDT)

Both are 3-0 and top of the AFC West. Our pick: Kansas City. Las Vegas have had the easiest schedule of the five unbeaten teams, .111 on Sportradar’s measure against .333 for Kansas City, and the Chiefs have the better points differential, +38 to +34. It is the record most likely to be overpriced this week. The rest of Week 4 in Australian time is on our NFL week-by-week predictions.

Bets of the Week Multi Builder

If you are building the weekend into one ticket, the four legs that fit together are North Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, both Roosters sides on Grand Final day and the Chiefs on Monday morning. The NRL Grand Final is the leg carrying the risk. The multi, with reasoning, is on the Weekend Mega Multi page.

Sport-by-sport builders are on our NRL multi, NFL multi, football multi and cricket multi pages. The AFL same game multi returns with the 2027 season.

Where to Place These Bets

For same game multis on Grand Final day, Ladbrokes and Neds have the deepest NRL and NRLW markets, including tryscorer and margin bands. For Epsom Day and the Turnbull once the fields are in, Ladbrokes and Neds lead on tote guarantees. bet365 has the widest coverage of the NFL and UFC markets. Compare the price at two or three before you take it. Full reviews are in our best betting sites in Australia guide.

FAQs

Why are there no odds on this week’s card?
Our odds feed does not currently cover the Australian football codes or racing, and we do not publish a price we have not verified. Every selection above is the bet we want; click through to a bookmaker for the live price before you back it.

What is on this weekend?
Epsom Day at Randwick and the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Saturday, the NRLW and NRL Grand Finals at Accor Stadium on Sunday, UFC 332 on Sunday morning, AFLW Round 8 from Thursday to Sunday, and NFL Week 4 from Friday to Tuesday. Daylight saving starts on Sunday in NSW, Victoria, the ACT, Tasmania and South Australia.

When do you post racing best bets?
Once fields and barriers are declared, which is midweek for a Saturday meeting. We do not post a racing selection before the field is final.

Are these picks tipped to win, or value plays?
Both. Each Best Bet is the selection our analysts rate as the most likely winner at a fair price. Where we think the market has a game wrong, we say so in the reasoning, as we have on the Chiefs.

More from BettingPro

• NRL Grand Final preview · NRL Grand Final hub · Clive Churchill Medal
• Sydney Spring Carnival · Melbourne Spring Carnival
• UFC 332 preview · AFLW hub · NFL predictions