THE RED ROOSTER

Not yet.... The worst thing about the Broncos are the patronising comments on SKY. "London will win a game sometime" And what a great second (unconverted) try. It's a lot like saying " Your house has burned down but the Garden Gnome is ok" A team of try- hards more suited to the lower half not the championship does not cut it. The ownership of the club needs to change by next season.

Every single round in this NRL season as a wowzer day and this was the day for Round Nine. Great comeback by Ricky's Raiders, but this result tells you more about Manly's premiership credentials. They should not have lost having built up a lead against a side as depleted as the Raiders were. Yes, they have a great backline but not such a great pack and seem to have a "mental flabbyness" about the team. Pretenders rather than Contenders, likely to extend their regular season by one week. As for the other game, one of the big questions has been is the big three really a big four with the Roosters spoken in nthe same breath as the Panthers, Storm and Broncos. Personally I need a bit more convincing on that in respect of the Roosters, but with the Injuries to Jessie Arthurs and more importantly Adam Reynolds that are long term it puts a question mark against the Bronx. Again I am not writing them off in Round 9, but the time has come forKevin Walters to earn his salary.

Leeds by 36 in a get right non-contest

Winners - Penrith Panthers, Manly Sea Eagles, Brisbane Broncos, Canterbury Bulldogs, Melbourne Storm, North Queensland Cowboys, Newcastle Knights and Cronulla Sharks. Points - 358 Home wins - 6 Poll - 3 or 4

Just leaving this opinion from The Roar here... Full-of-himself-prickly-and-easy-to-rile-is-there-any-point-to-nrl360-without-paul-kent

Interesting you mention that because I had an an animated Rabbitoh impressing on me at Olympic Park station that "it's not team first here, it's cody first and 'trell first and no-one stands up to them" and this was after the game they won . Part of the problem they have in attracting a new coach is the reluctance of experienced coaches to have to come in and muck out the Burrow with a side in need a of a rebuild due to both ageing players and problematic individuals needing to move on along with an board that has not covered itself in glory. The rot kicked in last year after the victory at Suncorp when there were a few people, myself included, who were tipping the Bunnies as premiership contenders. Things went downhill from there and continued this season. I would be surprised if Wayne Bennett came back, for apart from the fact that Benny's last premiership was 14 years ago. There a few fingers pointing in his direction regarding the origin of the poor work culture at Souths.

A bit more straightforward tipping wisse this week. South Sydney v Penrith Panthers This must have looked a prime fixture for TV back in November 2023, Times change and all change at the Wabbits,leave demoralised Bunnies up against the Penny Panthers. Jason Demitriou's departure could spark a Rabbitoh revival but then again this could turn ugly for a side that plays less than the sum of it's parts. - Panthers enjoy their night with Accor ? Manly Sea Eagles v Canberra Raiders Canberra limp into 4 Pines Park with another rookie line up with only Elliott Whitehead's return lifting the gloom for a side well beaten by Sharkies against a Silvertails line up that has players returning and Dally Cherry-Evans avoiding a ban in the line up. Looking grim for the Capital's team - Ricky's Raiders routed ? Brisbane Broncos v Sydney Roosters - SKY Although the Roosters triumphed in the rarified air of Las Vegas. This clash of two nearly full strength sides is at Suncorp and the Bronx are back in form. The Roosters have demonstrated this season at home to the Panthers and Storm they are coming up short against the best the NRL has to offer. This is the last dance for this Roosters side with retirements looming and Teddy at the end of his career and of course a Rooster "rebuild" does avoid awkward questions about Trent Robinson's coaching. - Roosters plucked by Bronx?. Canterbury Bulldogs v West Tigers The clash of two improved teams this year, The Dogs are further advanced than the Tigers in the Club rebuild. Though Benji is rtight to point out that Wests have faced Penrith and the Bronx back to back so that should not be used as the yardstick to judge progress at Concord. That said the Dogs are in form and at home. - Dogs Barking? Gold Coast Titans v Melbourne Storm Queenslanders used to be referred to as banana benders and this game is a banana skin for the Storm who arrive sans the injured Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Xavier Coates . Gold Coast playing well with Keiran Foran taking a lead role and a win across the ditch is some achievement. Storm are the favourites but this is possibly closer than people think. Storm batters the Coast ? North Queensland Cowboys v The Dolphins - SKY Could be close, the Cows have underwhelmed recently against an unpredictable Dolphins side shorn of several key performers. This game will hinge on the Cows inability to convert pressure into points early on and equally bad habit of spotting their opponents a lead, Solve this and they are in business. Dolphins - Who knows what they will do they can score off repeat sets and concede on repeat sets but one thing bedevils the Fins and that is kicking the conversions and the number of missed conversions last season and this, is hurting them - Potentially a high scoring game. Cows ring the bell? Newcastle Knights v New Zealand Warriors A coin toss game, because even without Ponga. The Knights are not a bad side and proved it last week against the Dolphins, They have an enviable Home record at Marathon Stadium. The Wahs by contrast are at a crossroads. was last season a fluke or is this just a blip in form and if Shaun Joihnson is carrying an injury ius there no-one who can fill his boots for a while?. A win for the Wahs and fears are banished, a loss and the narrative that the old Warriors have returned takes hold. - Wahs Nobbled by Novocastrians ? Cronulla Sharks v St George-Illawarra - SKY "The Flanno Bowl"! - The closest game in Australia to a derby as understood in the Northern Hemisphere, with the antagonism between the two groups of fans centered on The Sharks being formed out of St George territory back in 1967 (as evidenced by a spat between two posters either here or on the GRLF IIRC). If you ever stroll up from Cronulla to Wooloware and you go into North Wooloware shopping centre which is a street really You will notice the general store on the corner sports a St George-Illawarra sign. A sign of how split loyalties there is in the shire. So the form book matters not when iot's a local derby and a coach with a point to prove. That said, It's at Shark Park and the Sharkies are in form . I see a lot of both sides when in Australia and have had the priviledge of going to a few of these matches when it was played earlier in the NRL season. I am looking forward to this on SKY. - Sharks win Stoush ?

Well as my mea culpa on this I have to say I bottled out of some picks with mixed results. I did think having seen the Manly game on SKY that Gold Coast were due a win but did not think this would happen acroiss the Ditch. Though the Warriors had a try disallowed in the closing minutes. WOW game no 1 was the Dragons collapse against the Roosters in the Sam Walker show. I thought the Roosters would edge this game as they did last year by 2-4 points not 42. reading the game on LU on the train into Central London. I think the line "Keary challenges the line but the line does not challenge him" sums up the Dragons defensive effort. Your Melbourne Storm are one of the three top sides in the comp and when the click as Melbourne did Friday they sweep away the opposition. Though the Bunnies were in it at 10-6 and then once the Storm took the foot off the pedal in the second half with three repeat tries before the stom put the foot back on the pedal so to speak. Souffs were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. In the game at 4 pines park, Maika Sivo getting sin-binned for the last 10 when parra were just two points behind snuffed out the Eels challenge. Still not convinced by Manly though. Parra in crisis. The Bronx over Wests was an easy pick. The Penny Panthers quelled au unprising from the Cows in the second half. Killing off the revival. If Aussie fans samg it would be to the tune of "that's why we're champions" by the Panthers. North Queensland as seems to be the norm, spot the opposition a lead. They haul it back against the ordinary sides but not against the better teams. I regret not tipping the Knights but the Dolphins are the hardest team in the NRL to predict with two unconvered tries ion the last five minutes making things interesting. WOW game no 2 was the Nicho Hynes show in the capital for the Sharkies, I am almost a believer in their premiership credentials after that awsome performance but the next four games beginning with the Shire derby and then Storm , Roosters, and Panthers will show us if that's true or not. Sad time for Ricky's 500th game as an NRL coach as combining the two games Sharkies scored 72 unanswered points on the faders.

Not even the the unconverted try. I feel sorry for the commentary team trying to find something to talk about. If I was SKY or IMG I would be pressing the RFL to bring a charge of bringing the game into disrepute against the ownership of London Broncis because it does the Super League or the game of Rugby League no favours to have this embarrassment of a club so far off the pace on national TV...

40-0 and 29 minutes left...

Comedy defence gifting possession to Castleford 36-0 and not 5 minutes into the second half..

Another try 30-0 This is such a total mismatch that it us embarrassing for the sport as much as embarrassing for London Broncos.

Now 24-0..

Correction now 18-0..

Well yes if you look at the mathematical possibility of relegation. They are.making heavy weather of burying London and are not going to the playoffs. London get three repeat sets and the whole set seems to be in slow motion. 12-0 now.