THE RED ROOSTER

Winners - Penrith Panthers, Cronulla Sharks, Sydney Roosters, Canberra Raiders, New Zealand Warriors, Canterbury Bulldogs, Manly Sea Eagles and The Dolphins. Points - 408 Away wins - 1 Poll - Bulldogs v Tigers

NRL round 20, And the lingering effects of the state of origin are beginning to wear off with sides looking much more like their normal regular season selves but you can see the air of desperation in teams that are currently on the fringe of the top 8 and the air of desperation is well in those teams struggling to avoid the spoon, just have a look at who's sitting on the reserve list for both Canterbury Bulldogs and West Tigers. As ever good luck with your tips Penrith Panthers v Brisbane Broncos (Thu) Origin players return for the Panthers, Nathan Cleary for Jack Cogger in the halves Casey McLean for the Benched Jack Cole at Centre .Isaiah Papali'i and, Liam Martin the new second row pairing replacing the benched Scott Sorensen and Bill Phillips and, Isaah Yeo back at lock with Lindsay Smith moving to the front row in place of the benched Liam Henry. The same goes for the Bro with Reece Walsh returning to the fullback slot in place of the benched Hayze Perham, Josiah Karapani on the wing in place of the Benched Grant Anderson. The Return of Adam Reynolds in the halves where he forms a partnership with Ezra Mam in place of the benched Ben Hunt and Thomas Duffy. Payne Haas Replaces Preston Riki in the front row and Patrick Carrigan returns at lock with Xavier Willison moving to the front row in place of the benched Va'a Semu. Some seriously skewed odds in this particular game with the bookies favouring the Panthers yet if you look at it this is probably the Broncos starting 13 that Michael McGuire would have felt he could put on the field at the start of the season I would anticipate this to be a very close encounter particularly in light of the fact that the last time the Panthers first grade took to the field in Townsville resulted in an unexpected loss. So, it's by no it's by no means a certainty as the bookies might have it that the pan penny Panthers are going to win this game but one of my own rules when it comes to NRL tipping is not to tip against the Panthers and therefore I think they will squeeze out a win in this game Tip –Panther Cronulla Sharks v Newcastle Knights (Fri) - SKY Some shuffling in the Sharks ranks, with Briton Nikora replacing the benched Billy Burns in the second row and Addin Fonua-Blake replacing the benched Oregon Kaufusi in the front row . For the Knights, Cody Hopwood is replaced in the front row by Tyson Frizzel, Bradman Best returns from Origin moving Fletcher Sharpe to the halves and Sandon Smith to the Bench and Francis Manuleleua replaces Thomas Cant in the second row. Two teams with contrasting results last week, the shark is basically surprising everyone including this writer by defeating the dolphins 0=69 at Kayo stadium. By contrast, the Knights were a Kaylin Ponga pass away from defeating S Sydney. Both sides have potent attacking weapons, but the sharks have the by far the better defence of the two sides and could end up in being a high scoring game but it's a game I believe the sharks are going to win. Tip - Shark Sydney Roosters v Melbourne Storm (Fri) Roosters bring back more of their origin starts to the starting line up with Sam Walker back in the halves moving Hugo Savala to Centre in place of Robert Toia. Reece Robson returns at hooker for the benched Connor Watson, and Nat Butcher returns at second row for the benched Salesi Foketi .Both James Tesdesco and Lindsay Collins remain concussed and Angus Crichton with a knee injury. Melbourne has a massive blow losing both Jahrome Hughes from the halves replaced by Trent Toelau and Cameron Munster out injured over the next few weeks Though Harry Grant starts at hooker. Joe Chan is replaced in the second row by Oryn Keeley; Moses Leo replaces the benched Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown on the wing. Two sides needing a win for different reasons the Roosters to maintain their top four position and the Melbourne storm to continue their quest to get into the top 8 there are several absentees from both sides notably James Tedesco for the Roosters I'm the duo of Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster for the storm I believe this to be the tipping factor even though it can be said that Melbourne have definitely had the wood over the Roosters over the past decade or so I think Melbourne's losses considering they also are without Xavier Coates are too much for the club to overcome so I think it may be tight at the end of the day but it should be a rooster victory with one caveat the Roosters are very good at turning the ball over if they continue an error strewn game against Melbourne then it's quite possible that Melbourne could sneak a result here but I doubt it somehow not that it is he Tip – Rooster Canberra Raiders v South Sydney – (sat) Ricky’s Raiders bring in the Origin platers from the start this week, Hudson Young coming into the second row for the benched Ata Mariota and the benched Daine Laurie replaced by Ethan Strange in the halves South Sydney sees the return of Alex Johnson from Injury replacing Dayne Jennings on the wing, and Cody Walkers return from suspension in the halves replacing Jayden Sullivan it was an emotional win for South Sydney on giant arrow day against the Knights an arguably a game that they could easily have lost on paper sales are a much stronger side with the inclusion of Cody Walker but souths could easily trip up against the Raiders who have a very good record against S Sydney and are playing at home in the capital added to the fact that the Raiders due to the fact that they have a relatively soft stead schedule still have a very outside chance of making the 8:00 if they can get on a run certainly last week's performance against the Bulldogs had a lot of people thinking where has this been for the last 13 weeks and for that reason I am going to go with Ricky’s Ricky rebounding riders to win this game. Tip – Raider New Zealand Warriors v St George Illawarra (Sat) - SKY The Wahs make a few changes with : Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad replaced by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak on the wing and the return of Origin forwards, Mitchell Barnett in the front row for the benched, Tanner Stowers-Smith and Kurt Capewell in the second row for the benched Selumiela Halasima. The Dragons unchanged from the last game Is this game a foregone conclusion, probably but SGI are in a rich vein of form now and are showing the requisite desperation to avoid the wooden spoon. Though SGI possesses a forward pack of some distinction the floors are elsewhere in the team notably in the halves and in the lack of pace in the side generally which is why Tyrell Sloan despite all his flaws remains in the side. The warriors by contrast are playing at home their origin players are back I believe they will more than match the Dragons in the forwards and they have the pace and physical power on the wings to exploit the Dragon's weaknesses so I would expect a warrior win but I don't think the Dragons are going to go away easily in this game. Tip - Warrior Canterbury Bulldogs v West Tigers (Sat) - SKY The Dogs bring in Enari Tuala at centre for Bronson Xerri and live in hope that Stephen Crichton can make a miracle recovery. In the meantime, his place in the halves is taken by Sean O’Sullivan thought to be one of the options for the future. Bailey Hayward returns at hooker for the benched Kurt Mann. With Jacob Preston in the Second Row for the benched Josh Curran. Wests make few changes from last week with Bunty Afoa replaced by Fonua Pole in the front row, and Jared Haywood replacing the benched Josese Lanyon at hooker but also have Api Korosau in the reserves You might want a nickname this game “the fork bowl” because whoever loses this basically is out of the running for the top 8. This game is absolutely vital for both sides to rekindle their season that's why there's a level of desperation in bringing back some of their key players by naming them in their reserves and you won't know until that the actual game is due to start whether or not they are serious starters be in the starting XIII or from the bench There are off field problems with both clubs a present but based on the last few weeks and excepting last week’s results it's the Bulldogs hello looking are more likely to hold out their opposition and defence will be key in this game. For while you can see West's winning a high scoring game you can't see the Bulldogs doing that, but West displayed a level of ineptitude in their attack against SGI which doesn't inspire confidence regardless of Jerome Lui’s return. Tip – Bulldog Gold Coast Titans v Manly Sea Eagles (Sun) Titans unchanged. Only the one change for the Silvertails with Ben Trbojevic replaced by Ethan Bullemore in the second row). Up until recently this wouldn't have been a game seen as anything other than a foregone conclusion as a win for the silver tiles. But given the two recent losses of the Manly Sea Eagles and Gold Coast only going down to the storm in the last minute this game is now a lot more open than it was. Gold Coast affording to avoid the spoon mainly by contrast are fighting to get back into the 8 which had seemed a lock only a few weeks ago. This game does indeed have upset potential, but I've been bitten before in tipping the Titans to win. The issue with the Titans is and remains consistency for Manly it's about regaining momentum. Tip –Sea Eagle. The Dolphins v North Queensland Cowboys (Sun) -SKY The flattened Fins bring back the origin players, with “the Hammer” Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow replacing , Trai Fuller at fullback, Jack Bostock back to replace Jake Averillo at centre, Selwyn Cobbo replacing the benched Tevita Naufahu on the wing. The cows only make the one change with Thomas Mikaele replaced by Griffin Neame In the front row. This game is a test of Christian wolf's coaching ability now a side that was tipped as potential grand finalists suffered a shock 68 mil defeat last week but good teams don't become bad teams overnight and for the 1st 20 minutes of that game the sides were fairly evenly matched before the sharkies ran away with it. Certainly there is the attacking firepower available to the dolphins in particular with the return of the origin players and this is really a test of the dolphins bounce back ability against the North Queensland side that defeated manly last week at Brookvale which is not an easy task I might add, so this game could end up being a try fest but if it does I am going to take a punt here and simply say that the dolphins will get back in the saddle here and defeat the Cowboys in this match. Tip – Dolphin

I doubt we will be at Ebbsfleet next year regardless. I live in West Kent, Kent like South London is easy to go through but not across. So for me getting to a ground in North Kent involves TWO changes of train and no delays because of tight connections, which fortunately did not happen this year. though did last year.... Getting to Plough Lane by contrast, is taking a train to London Bridge then underground to Tooting Broadway. Getting to Richmond RFC involves changing trains at Waterloo for a fast and frequent service. Both of the latter venues are actually easier and quicker to get to. I did not get home yesteray until 22:15. If the game had been played at 19:30pnm the original start time, I would have been watching it on live stream like most of you did as the trains do not run that late in my area, which is why I and many others were campaigning to get the kick off time moved forward and to the club's credit they listened and while a 6.00pm kickoff may not seem much to many readers of this thread. It was the difference allowing me to attend this fixture as a Season Ticket holder. Remember London is a regional club with many attending living north of the River Thames who would be equally inconvienienced. So for the Broncos where and when with a disparate fan base is important.

The emotion pf the Jai Arrow day seems to have pulled Souths thrpough against the Knights in a tight finish and while on the subject of tight finishes, could North Queensland's overtime win at Brookvale presage Fozball running out of steam?

As someone who was at the ground and now on his way back, the crowd. Though not bad, and boosted by about 400 free tickets is not as big as the crowds at Plough Lane. Live streaming is not the same as being there.

London 68 (32) Doncaster 18 (4) Doncaster scored first in both halves one of the things that is noticable anout the Broncos season is the slow starts Having said that London soon decures dominance in the first half with a quick PTB and big exit sets going up and down the field for 32 unanswred points. It did degenerate a bit due ti the referee allowing some late hits that went unpunished especially on James Meadows .Alex Walker, who had a solid game at fullback was upended and James took offence a melee ensued a Meadows and one Doncaster player got a yellow and the main offender for Doncaster a red. This continued in the second half and in the interest of fairness it was RCG who handed out the most egregious head high tackle before the end, a penalty but no more in the eyes of the referee who must be a graduate of the school of rough a##e rugby. The second half as I wrote, started with two Doncaster tries and if you give Doncaster field position they are good enough to make you pay. That led to the return of RCG and Havili and momentum changed with London reasserting dominance on the scoreboard which at one point had narrowed to 32-14. Darren Lockyer was present and I could not get my camera out quick enough to capture a photograph if the Brains trust comprising the part-owner, the current head coach and the two former London head coaches.

Roosters not getting a cushion until about 20mins from the end after Parra had indeed gone in front from a line break two minutes after the restart. The game was a bit of a knockonathon and it boiled down to who could take the chances on offer and the Roosters exploited the Parra right edge defence. Signed off with "The Giraffe" getting a trademark ariel try off a Hugo Savala kick.before adding a third try a fitting hat-trick in his 300 game.. Sealing a laboured Roosters win with the scoreline looking more comfortable than the game actually was FT - 28-12 Now off to the BIG game London Broncos v Doncaster at Kufflink. Nothing beats League Live.

Jason Ryles has started Jonah Pezet instead of Mitchell Moses and regadless of the outcome, that is the right call to have made. The game itself has been all Roosters for the first 15 minutes and Cody Ramsay performance so far makes you think the full back problem for the Roosters may have been solved when Teddy goes in the near future. Marky Mark is of course, at club level, a an offloading genius but not at international level as we all saw in the Asjes. Roosters have not turned posession into points and Paramatta are but a line break away from the lead. All to play for in the second half. HT- 4-0

Dogs-Gone.. 16-40 and Critter carried off Could not have gone worse for the Bulldogs.

0-22 at thebhalf for the dismal Dogs, already you feel its too much for them to overcome in the second half. the defence which had been riock solid in recent weeks making three fundamental errors. Not playing to the whistle for the savage try, "Critter "coming out of the line creating space for for the Martin try and four standing around leaving a unopposed leap fothe third try. Throw in the knock ons and penalties and its no wonder Critter is blowing up on field. Dogs next to have a fork in their top 8 credentials?

Wowzer that is a turn up for the books, it was always a tight call and you could make a case for a Sharks win but this is an absolute tanking 0-66. The Dolphins have been speared and no side that has conceded 50 plus points in the regular season has ever gone on to be premiers. Incidentally this is at Kayo in Redcliffe and not Suncorp as I put in the preview which in some respects is even worse for the Dolphins. Much will be made of the Origin players being held in reserve, but if you looked at the starting Fins XIII that's still a fair side being put out. Congratulations to the Sharks but "the bad fins" are back big time.

Winners - New Zealand Warriors, The Dolphins, Canterbury Bulldogs, Sydney Roosters, Newcastle Knights, Manly Sea Eagles, Melbourne Storm Points - 360 Home wins - 5 Poll - 5 Teams

NRL round 19, And the business end of the season but also one of the last rounds that are affected by state of origin. What I've done in this round is include where the teams stand in the ladder and this should be a bit of a guide to tipsters as to who is most likely to want to play their origin players and who will be a bit more relaxed about it. West Tigers v New Zealand Warriors (Fri) – SKY Injured Apisai Koroisau is replaced at hooker by Josese Lanyon. Origin returnee Jarome Luai replaces Jock Madden in the halves with Samuela Fainu in the second row in place of the benched Tony Sukkar. For the Wahs, The Origin players are rested, James Fisher-Harris returns in the front row in place of Mitch Barnett Selumiela Halasima comes into second row in place of Kurt Capewell and Alofiana Khan-Pereira replaces Dallin Watene-Zelezniak on the wing. Tigers are in 12th spot having won 2 games in the last 10 with the Wahs in Second spot four points behind Penrith with a game in hand. A desperate situation for West tigers who won only two of their last nine games. Defeat here against the warriors will effectively end the season for the tigers a season that started promisingly. As is the norm in Tiger Town news breaks that Jarome Luai has been told he can leave a year early ostensively so that the Tigers can fir some of their younger players under the salary cap. Contrast that situation with that of the Wahs coming off the bye week. This is on paper a game that New Zealand should win to maintain their pressure on the Penny Panthers. Tip – Warrior The Dolphina v Cronulla Sharks (Sat) – SKY Both sides playing their cards close to their chests here with a final decision on the origin players probably on game day No changes for the Dolphins named on Tuesday, but all the Origin players are named in the reserves except for Jack Bostock who failed his HIA after origin. Sharks make just the one change with Jayen Berrell replacing the benched Hohepa Puru at hooker, but they also name their origin players in the reserves. Both sides sit in 5th and 6th spots in the ladder two points behind the top 4. The winner could go 4th if the Knights lose . The loser will be four points behind with games running out. Arguably the game of the round between the Dolphins and Cronulla sharks at Suncorp and again that will go a long way to deciding who will end up in the top 4. I think you can take it as read that injuries aside the origin players named in reserve in both clubs will be on the pitch at some point in time during this game. It's a game I would like to tip the sharks but then again that's exactly what I did when they played the Roosters away and it remains the knock against the Sharkies that they really aren't able to beat the very top sides particularly away from shark park. Tip - Dolphin Canterbury Bulldogs v Canberra Raiders (Sat) – SKY No changes for the Dogs. Hudson Young and Ethan Strange named in the starting XIII for Ricky’s Rested Raiders Savelio Tamale is replaced by Sebastian Kris on the wing. Zacl Hosking moves from Second frow to lock to replace Jayden Brailey with Noah Martin filling his former spot in the second row. Bulldogs are in 10th Spot two points out from the tip 8. Ricky’s Raders are in 13trh Sport six points adrift of the Top 8 . A loss effectively ending the season of the 2025 minor premiers. Another crunch game for both clubs the Bulldogs after an ordinary start to the season are now within striking distance of the top 8. The Raiders minor premiers from last season are 6 points away from the top 8 but owing to the guarantees of the draw are in position to perhaps go on a winning run. What's changed for the Bulldogs recently has been a reversion to the form of last season in the sense that while they're still not scoring a lot of points defensively, they've tightened up and the dogs have started winning tight games. Now you might look at this and assume that the Raiders would stand a great chance against the Bulldogs simply on the basis that they've got younger players and they have the ability to exploit line breaks but against that you have to consider the psychological blow that this side has suffered ever since that fateful game against the Bronx in the playoffs. In plain English last year, the Raiders got the bounce of the ball this year the bounce of the ball is against them. Tip – Bulldog Sydney Roosters v Paramatta Eels – (sat) – SKY All change at the Roosters as although is Teddy was named as the starting fullback for the Roosters but failed his HIA post origin. Spencer Leniu replaces the similarly concussed Lindsay Collins in the front row, and Salesi Foketi replaces Nat Butcher in the second row. Origin returnees Sam Walker and Reece Robson are replaced by Hugo Savala and Connor Watson in the Halves and Hooker positions with Billy Smith covering Savalas former position at Centre and in turn Daniel Tupou covering Smith’s old spot at wing. As is the case with those on a year’s interlude before their eventual destination Jonah Pezet is replaced by Origin returnee Mitchell Moses in the halves., with the Injured Sean Russell replaced by Araz Nanva at centre. Roosters are in third sport two points clear of the Dolphins in fifth. The Eels sit in 14th Sport and will have an eight-point cushion over the Dragons with an upcoming bye round to negate the one SGI are on. For once it’s a reasonable gamble by Trent Robinson in resting some of his Origin players for if you look at the team list from Tuesday you would still think there is enough in the Roosters line up to beat Parramatta. With Parramatta the move by Jason Ryles is to bring back Mitchell Moses in the halves in place of Jonah Pezet where you would have thought in the last game the Jonah Pezet / Ronald Volkmann axis in the halves worked particularly well. As with the West Tigers, the fact that you've got a player that is in transit to another club mitigates against that player playing in the side as opposed to a player who will be with you in the following year. Though it's interesting to note had Parramatta been in the contest for the 8 would Pezet have remained in the side? Tip – Rooster South Sydney v Newcastle Knights (Sun) For Souths the suspended Cody Walker is replaced in the halves by Jayden Sullivan. Matt Dufty comes in at fullback instead of the benched Jye Gray, Campbell Graham comes in on the wing for Edward Kosi with Cameron Murray in at lock for the benched Lachlan Hubner Tallis Duncan switches from second row to centre replacing the benched Latrell Siegwalt Euan Aitken takes his spot in the second row. The Knights welcome back both Origin players in Kaylin Ponga at Full back who pushes Fletcher Sharpe into the halves and Sandon Smith onto the bench. Bradman Best returns at centre in place of the benched Fletcher Hunt. Trey Mooney comes in for Jacob Saifiti in the front row. And Souths are in eighth sport four points adrift of the Top 4 , Newcastle in Fourth sport with a two-point lead over fifth placed Dolphins. A lot of emotion in this game for sale Sydney with the Jai Arrow situation and the desperate need to get a win to stay in the eight. They are up against a night side who have ground out tough wins recently. Souths are without Cody Walker, Latrell Mitchell and Alex Johnston. Wayne Bennett obviously expects quite an open game that is why he has installed Matt Dufty as fullback instead of joy grey. This may backfire on Souths because as I've said previously in this forum the knock against Dufty always was his defence and that's why he never quite made it in his career how do I the St George-Illawarra and the Canterbury Bulldogs. If it comes to a shootout between souths and the Knights, then its advantage Knights Tip - Knight Manly Sea Eagles v North Queensland Cowboys (Sun) The Silvertails bring back their Origin players Haumole Olakau'atu replacing the benched Corey Waddell in the second row and Toluta'u Koula replacing Clayton Faulalo at centre with Kobe Hetherington replacing the benched Simione Laiafi in the front row North Queensland unchanged. Manly in seventh sport 4 points shy of the Top 4 . The cows coming in off the bye week are in ninth sport also 4 points adrift of the Top 4. After last week's performance against the eels the question is has the fosball bubble burst and will the silver tiles be going to the type of tailspin that the bulldog suffered last season at the back end of the season. This has the makings of being a very high scoring game and if I was a punter I might be well be tipping the Cowboys to win this one however the game is being played at Brookvale and you have to allow the silver tiles the luxury of having at least one bad day at the office which occurred at comms bank stadium last week. Tip – Silvertails Melbourne Storm v Gold Coast Titans (Sun) Big reshuffle for the Storm after the last outing at Brookvale, the Origin starts are back bust significantly so is Jahrome Hughes in the halves replacing the benched Tyran Wishart. Jack Howart and Nick Meaney are the new centre pairing replacing Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown and the benched Joe Chan. Moses Leo is replaced by Manaia Waitere on the wing and Alec McDonald replaces Ativalu Lisati in the second row. Origin players back for the Titans, with the only other change Dean Ieremia on the wing in place of the benched Jaylan De Groot . Melbourne 4 points off the top 8 in 11th Sport. Titans feeling the Dragons hot breath in 15th spot with SGI on a bye week a defeat would leave them just 4 points clear of the Spoon. The return of Jerome Hughes for the storm is mega he basically is the most important member of the triumvirate that's formed with Harry Grant and Cameron Munster. The storm may still be missing Xavier Coates but nevertheless should have more than enough to dispose of the Titans. The Titans really do need to get a result or two as spoonbowl against the Dragons is looming one jarring statistic though about the Titans is that every time we think that they've turned a corner when they win a game they lose the following week and they've done this on eight straight occasions so to be honest even if they were to get a result down in the Victorian capital I wouldn't put my money on them beating the Dragons next week. Tip - Storm

I love it when an outliying tip comes right, But was struggling with why in the last 20 minutes the Knights were not getting Dom Young more involved in the game and also eschwing the opportunity of a repeat set.

Paramatta win a game more noted for Parra Power in the second half than being a Silvertail Shocker 23-14 with Jonah Pezet getting the deciding try and drop goal at the end to rub it in. Paranmatta simply wanted it more. This game was an absolute corker and you should watch the highlights on You Tube. Jason Ryles sleeps easier tonight as the Sydney Media hunt their next coaching target.