The NRL Round 24 Thread

[THE RED ROOSTER]

NRL round 24 and Indigenous Round Part 2, There's currently a lot of talk in the league about players such as Nathan Cleary and Sam Walker declining to sign new contracts with their existing clubs and wait until the 1st of November to test the market. What fans never understand so much about the situation that sportsmen and women are in is that while the majority of us including myself are at their maximum earning power towards the very end of their career for a sportsman and woman your maximum earning potential is usually towards your late 20s to early 30s and then you've got the rest of your life to have to earn a living after that so I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with people wanting to maximise their earnings now in order to provide for they and their families future.

With the games themselves this round there are at least three games which I seriously need to Mull over because it is very tight as to who is going to win these ones.

Penrith Panthers v Sydney Roosters (Thu) -SKY

The Panthers have Lindsay Smith in at Lock in place of the injured Isaah Yeo. Smith’s front row place taken by Liam Henry. Jack Cogger replaces the benched  Jack Cole in the halves. Chances are though that Dylan Edwards available for the Panthers and this could be significant.

Big Minus for the Roosters is the absence of James Tedesco at fullback; Cody Ramsay has done  a sterling job in his absence but Teddy is talismanic for the Roosters. Nat Butcher joins brother Ethan on the bench as  Spencer Leniu starts in the front row.

 You feel that this is perhaps a bigger game for the Roosters to win than it is for the Panthers bearing in mind that the Roosters have a pretty bad record against Penrith in recent years with just the one win in about 13 matches although I dare to say I was actually at the game that the Roosters did pull off a win at Comms bank.

You would also have to say from a Penrith point of view that they will be missing Isaiah Yeo and they are playing at comms bank which is not as big a fortress for them as will be the newly rebuilt Penrith What could settle the game is the aerial battle in the corners as both sides like to kick on the last tackle so you're talking about a situation where it's Billy Smith versus Brian To’o and mark Nawaqanitawase versus “Milky” Jenkins. Whoever wins this aerial contest ma the deciding factor in this game.

Both teams will want to make this a statement game and that is why it is difficult to pick a winner in this match. But without James Tedesco playing that IMO tilts this game to the Panthers.

Tip – Panther

Manly Sea Eagles  v The Dolphins (Fri)

The Silvertails shuffle their starting XIII : Clayton Faulalo comes in at Full back moving  Lehi Hopoate  over to the wing replacing Blake Wilson with Nathan Brown coming into the front row to replace Taniela Paseka.

Dolphins unchanged

Keiran Foran is finding out the hard way the difference between being a pundit appearing on television or for that matter someone writing an NRL preview on TRL and someone who's actually in charge of a team as a coach and responsible for performance bearing in mind of course that a coach is not simply responsible for team selection and tactics but also has to deal with a lot of other off field issues which affect players in his team. It does remind me of 1 Harlequins RL fan forum in which Brian McDermott said getting certain players out onto the field it was like being a marriage guidance counsellor. It is a hard learning curve for Kieran the manly board clearly saw something in him when he was appointed originally to the job and therefore need to stick with him.

What could be the swing factors in this game are firstly the advantage that the dolphins will have in the forwards and in particular with the players that they will have coming off the bench and secondly the fact that although the dolphins leak points, they're quite capable of scoring points as they came back from a 24-point deficit last week against the Bronx at Suncorp. The fact that they may find themselves 14 -0 down which was the kind of lead that manly built up against Melbourne to no avail will not be decisive.

Tip - Dolphin

Canterbury Bulldogs v South Sydney– (Fri) -SKY

Dogs Unchanged

For Souths the injured Ashton Ward (halfback), is replaced in the halves by Jayden Sullivan, Campbell Graham comes in on the wing for the benched Jye Gray

You really must fancy the Bulldogs in this game the joint will be jumping with Bulldogs fans getting behind their team who were very unlucky not to shade the Roosters last week. Simply put this is a game that the dogs need to win and to a degree it's like a grand final and although the cavernous Accor stadium is usually atmosphere free when the dogs have a large crowd in it and they're playing souths that's simply not the case.

For souths in the absence of Latrobe Mitchell there is a fulcrum of most things creative about that side I again asked the question why Benny seems to avoid playing gyre in his natural position as fullback preferring Matt Dufty sticking him on the wing for the last game and benching him all together. There also appears to be a problem in the halves with Ashton ward out you have a situation where you could use either Jamie Humphries or Peter Mamouzelos in that position instead, he is opted for Jayden Sullivan.

Tip – Dogs

Cronulla Sharks v Canberra Raiders– (Sat)

Two changes for the Sharks, with KL Iro replacing the injured Jesse Ramien at centre and suspended  Addin Fonua-Blake replaced by Oregon Kaufusi in the front row.

For the Raiders, unsurprisingly, Corey Horsburgh is replaced by Ata Mariota in the front row with Savelio Tamale who has been in and out with his form this year replacing Simi Sasagi at centre Matt Nicholson comes into the Second Row and the touted Owen Pattie replaces Tom Starling at Hooker.

Ricky's recoiling Raiders are still a strong side if you consider that at the press conference following the defeat at home to the Knights Ricky was stating that  he'd be blooding a lot of youngsters I do not notice too many within this team

For the shocks in many respects as Craig Fitzgibbon said this was a reality check losing the local Derby to St George Illawarra. Fitz will be wanting to see a reaction from the Cronulla players because losing to SGI whilst understandable in the circumstances has reopened a lot of the doubts about Cronulla and final stages and therefore, they will be needing to seek a performance in this game to silence the doubters.

This could actually end up being quite a high scoring game because I can imagine that Canberra, we'll be throwing the ball around a little bit more in this game with nothing to lose in it and while it may create more opportunities for the Raiders it'll also create more opportunities for the sharks as well who are a very good counter attacking side. Trap game for the Sharks

Tip – Shark

Paramatta Eels v North Queensland Cowboys  (Sat) – SKY

For Paramatta, Te Hurinui Twidle replaces the injured  Isaiah Iongi at fullback ,Junior Paulo comes in for Sam Tuivaiti in the front row, and Tallyn Da Silva  replaces Ryley Smith at hooker .

Only one change for North Queensland with Reed Mahon.ey replacing the benched Soni Luke at hooker.

Conceding a 30-point deficit as it currently stands in points differential to the Bulldogs. North Queensland will be desperate to win this game they certainly have the players to do it but they are away from home. The Parramatta side who has nothing really to play for in this game I think the question really is which Parramatta team is turning up are we talking about the team that turned up for the first half against souths in which case the cows will make up their points differential very easily or will it be the team that played the second-half against souths in which case the cows are potentially going to suffer a decisive defeat.

The attitude of the Parramatta side and how they turn up and play will be key in determining the outcome of this match. There's not much doubt that North Queensland need to win this game the hammering that they took from the Roosters and the impact that it's made on their points differential has turned what would have been a much more comfortable progression into the top 8 into a situation whereby they're looking over their shoulder at the Bulldogs and others

Will this be enough for a cowboy win well I always go by the basis that it is the side that needs to win at this stage in the season that is most likely to do so

Tip - Cowboy

Brisbane Broncos v New Zealand Warriors (Sat) – SKY

Bronx starting XII unchanged

Wahs also unchanged

both sides unchanged for this encounter at Suncorp, for the Broncos this is surprising. The pressure is on the Bronx because I think they've won one of their last twelve games or something very similar to that and there is now a lot of pressure on Michael McGuire which you would find surprising for a premiership winning coach but nevertheless when you're a coach of the largest club not just in Queensland but in Australia altogether expectations are different.

For there was the question really is going to be will there be a reaction from last week's open quotation marks hour of power close quotation marks against Penrith. Certainly, the emotion of that day and the performance of the haka beforehand fired up the warrior’s forwards and for 60 minutes in the game they totally dominated against Penrith but then they seem to run out of steam will the hull side have a reaction in QLD. Certainly, one thing is for sure that the Wahs will have a lot of support in the stadium from expat Kiwis.

Tip  - Warrior

Newcastle Knights v Gold Coast Titans (Sun)

For The Knights, Bradman Best starts at Centre with Flecther Hunt returning to the bench as does Harrison Graham making way for Phoenix Crossland at hooker.

Some changs for the Titans Lachlan Ilias is in the halves with AJ Brimson moving to centre to replace the benched Jaylan De Groot Sam Verrills is benched being replaced by Oliver Pascoe at hooker.

This is a game that Newcastle Knights would be expected to win against the Gold Coast team who actually do need a result at the end of the day because whilst there's been a lot of progress under Josh Hannay coaching, the last two results from the Titans have been disappointing not so much in the fact that they've actually lost against sides who needed the points against them but in the manner of the defeat and the size of the margin of defeat and there is a danger for the Titans that the whole season my wealth fizzle out.

No such problem in terms of motivation for the Knights who continue on having one at Suncorp and having one down in the capital in recent weeks they can maintain momentum and put pressure on the on the top 4 hoping for one of the top four sides to trip up somewhere.

Tip –Knight

West Tigers v St George-Illawarra (Sun)

Despite coming from the bye week, there is a lot of shuffling around in the Tigers starting XIII with  Livai Saukuru replacing Heamasi Makasini at centre, Fonua Pole comes into the front row for the benched Alex Seyfarth and Tony Sukkar replaces the benched Sione Fainu in the second row. Some tigers are playing carrying injuries such is the extent to which Wests want a win.

For the Dragons, Damien Cook starts at hooker surprisingly in place of the benched  Jacob Liddle. Now while I have the utmost respect for Cook as a professional, SGI appear more dynamic with Liddle in the side. More understandably, Setu Ti comes off the bench to replace Mathew Feagai on the wing with Feagai making the reverse journey.

The game you have all been waiting for West Tigers against St George Illawarra at Campbelltown. Now you might think neither side has anything to play for here and in terms of the ladder this is true but one thing that does need to be stated about this game is it's a bit of a litmus test for who is the worst team in the NRL. Because last season Newcastle Knights finished bottom with a ladder but they were not the worst team in the NRL they just got into a death spiral under Adam O'Brien. You could say the same for the tigers under Benji because after a five and two start to the season, they have won just two games since and if we were going on recent form then the tigers would be the wooden spoonists and not SGI.

One of the big things that has been missed out in the recent tiger turmoil is the issue of Benji’s coaching now I think it's a fair point that's been made by a certain pundits that a lot of fans myself included, look at Benji as Benji the player and I freely admit he was one of my favourite players of all time and tend to ignore Benji the coach who seems not to understand what his best starting XIII actually is. In a press conference recently during the Adam Doueihi affair Benji actually admitted he is getting coaching help from elsewhere and the hint is it's coming from Shane Flanagan the former SGI coach which is a bit of an irony in this particular game but is also a wee bit dangerous for the Tigers in the sense that Flanagan is also an Isaac Moses client.

At the end of the day, I think the emotion of the derby win will take something out from SGI who will fall short against a rested Tigers side with a point to prove for if they do not win this game there will be another week of Tiger turmoil in the media.

Tip – Tiger

[Irish Saint]

Good morning all Voss and Ennis on commentary.

Panthers in their Indigenous jerseys.

[Futtocks]

Morning all!

[Irish Saint]

Morning Futtocks 

[Irish Saint]

First six again and zRoosters cough it up on first play.

[Irish Saint]

Alamotti to To'o who knocks on in his defence difficult pass to take..

Edwards has returned for Panthers wearing no. 20.

[Irish Saint]

10 minutes gone remains scoreless.

[Irish Saint]

Ramsey let's Cleary kick bounce. Roosters escape.

[Irish Saint]

To'o with try 100 although goes up to bunker as no try.

 

[Futtocks]

Foot in touch, but Penrith still look the likeliest to score first.

Edited August 13 by Futtocks

[Irish Saint]

After all that try disallowed as To'o foot on line.

Panthers retain possession as they were unaware tackle count had restarted?

[Irish Saint]

Cogger kick forces line drop out.

Edited August 13 by Irish Saint

[Irish Saint]

Roosters go short Jenkins collects.

[Irish Saint]

Roosters under severe pressure.

[Irish Saint]

Roosters defence holds out 18 tackles inside 20.

[Futtocks]

DCE scoots through and scores!

[Irish Saint]

Cherry-Evans ooens the scoring

Roosters 4-0

[JimBronco]

I'm thinking Penrith won't be Grand Final winners. 

[Irish Saint]

DCE linked with Hull.

[Irish Saint]

Walker adds the two 6-0 21 minutes gone.

[Irish Saint]

Watson spills pass Panthers ball 35 out.

[Irish Saint]

Walkwe interception of Lussicks pass 5 metres out.

[Irish Saint]

Walker with kick "Cleary saves the day"

Short drop out Roosters back on attack

[Irish Saint]

Watson held up

[Irish Saint]

Walker kick Markey Mark leaps highest but "forgot the baseball glove"