The NRL Round 8 Thread

[Farmduck]

74min: Ramien try

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

I just hope me saying that doesn’t mean he is going to miss this one…

No, it won't have any effect

Hynes misses kick

Sharks  40 -- 0

[Farmduck]

FT:   Cronulla  40  Canberra  0

[Anita Bath]

Another round of blow outs in the NRL….only two close games……warriors v titans and knights v dolphins.

[Farmduck]

12 minutes ago, Anita Bath said:

Another round of blow outs in the NRL….only two close games……warriors v titans and knights v dolphins.

Panthers v Cows? I think 6 points is a close game. You can bridge that gap in less than a minute, although the Cows couldn't.

Next week we have Team 5 v 7, 12 v 13, 6 v 9, and 5 possible blowouts. I think it's just the random makeup of the draw mixed with the usual NRL gap between the top 8 and bottom 8.

It comes down, IMO, to A-List players. There aren't enough real game-changers for each team to have more than one or two so when the Storm or Broncos have 3 or 4 of them, the bottom teams will always struggle. And for the bottom teams, you need only two important injuries and their season's gone. Once the Sharks hit 18-0 today there was nobody in that Raiders team who could have turned that around.

From what I've seen this year I think there are 6 possible GF winners - Sharks, Storm, Penrith, Brisbane, Manly and possibly the Chooks. The Cows maybe but they need a lucky streak where half the runners in front of them fall over. Bookies still have the Chooks as 4th favourite which is probably accurate given the cattle they have on their list. According to Sportsbet:

$ 3.25 - Panthers

$ 4.20 - Broncos

$ 6.00 - Storm

$ 9.00 - Easts

$14.00 - Manly and Cronulla

[Anita Bath]

Year on year the number of close games are falling and quite rapidly.

 

[THE RED ROOSTER]

On 24/04/2024 at 18:37, Graham said:

After that it’ll be interesting to see who you tip this week.

 

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.