Tipping

[Morgan]

I'm going to set this table up for every round so please record your tips here. One can copy and paste the table and then enter your own data or just nominate the winner.

Round 1: 10/3 ~ 13/3​

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Panthers v Sea Eagles	Penrith	They are strong even without Cleary. Keep one Manly player quiet and they are an average team.
2.	Raiders v Sharks	Cronulla	Shonkies missing a halfback or 5/8 and Finucane passed his best but Canberra losing their #7 is a huge blow.
3.	Broncos v Rabbitohs	Souffs	They will slide this year but Brisbane were terrible in the trials.
4.	Roosters v Knights	Rorters	Want to see our ex junior Clune set up Tyson to run at Walker and Keary all game but Newcastle seem poor.
5.	Warriors v Dragons	St George	Because obviously! Personally I'm not going to pick Saints if I don't honestly believe it.
6.	Tigers v Storm	Melbourne	Missing a few key players. Lucky for them they are playing Wests Tigers.
7.	Eels v Titans	Gold Coast	Flip a coin. I think Gold Coast have an edge in forwards and backs but young. Might take a few rounds to gel. Picking them anyway. Parramatta lack star power for me. Moses is the closest they have.
8.	Cowboys v Bulldogs	North Queensland	In the trial I saw against Broncos, North Queensland were very good. Bullgrubs on the other hand were rubbish against Shonkies.

 

[RedV01]

I'm going to set this table up for every round so please record your tips here. One can copy and paste the table and then enter your own data or just nominate the winner.

Round 1: 10/3 ~ 13/3​

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Panthers v Sea Eagles	Penrith	They are strong even without Cleary. Keep one Manly player quiet and they are an average team.
2.	Raiders v Sharks	Cronulla	Shonkies missing a halfback or 5/8 and Finucane passed his best but Canberra losing their #7 is a huge blow.
3.	Broncos v Rabbitohs	Souffs	They will slide this year but Brisbane were terrible in the trials.
4.	Roosters v Knights	Rorters	Want to see our ex junior Clune set up Tyson to run at Walker and Keary all game but Newcastle seem poor.
5.	Warriors v Dragons	St George	Because obviously! Personally I'm not going to pick Saints if I don't honestly believe it.
6.	Tigers v Storm	Melbourne	Missing a few key players. Lucky for them they are playing Wests Tigers.
7.	Eels v Titans	Gold Coast	Flip a coin. I think Gold Coast have an edge in forwards and backs but young. Might take a few rounds to gel. Picking them anyway. Parramatta lack star power for me. Moses is the closest they have.
8.	Cowboys v Bulldogs	North Queensland	In the trial I saw against Broncos, North Queensland were very good. Bullgrubs on the other hand were rubbish against Shonkies.

Match	Winner	Why
1.	Panthers v Sea Eagles	Manly	Penriff without Cleary is like Manly without Trbojevic.
2.	Raiders v Sharks	Cronulla	Without an organising halfback, Wighton is rubbish and so are Canberra.
3.	Broncos v Rabbitohs	Souffs	Ditto
4.	Roosters v Knights	Rorters	Ditto
5.	Warriors v Dragons	St George	Ditto
6.	Tigers v Storm	Melbourne	Ditto
7.	Eels v Titans	Parra	An enire new spine and only one trial. Will take GC a few rounds to hit top form.
8.	Cowboys v Bulldogs	North Queensland	I didn't see Grubs vs Shonkies but I heard Grubs were really bad.

 

[Eric]

Match	Winner	Why
1.	Panthers v Sea Eagles	Manly	Without Cleary Penrith are average.
2.	Raiders v Sharks	Canberra	I believe they still have Sam Williams on the books so the new halfback can't be too bad and they have some serious firepower in the backs.
3.	Broncos v Rabbitohs	Souffs	They will slide this year but Brisbane were terrible in the trials. (Yep)
4.	Roosters v Knights	Rorters	I hope teams can make an execute plans to run over the top of Walker and Keary all game but Robinson will have a plan to combat it and Newcastle are poor.
5.	Warriors v Dragons	St George Illawarra	Because obviously! Personally I'm not going to pick Saints if I don't honestly believe it. (Yep)
6.	Tigers v Storm	Melbourne	Missing a few key players but Bellamy gets the best out of what he has and Tigers are very poor.
7.	Eels v Titans	Gold Coast	Gold Coast have some star players. Parra are well drilled and experienced but I'm going with Gold Coast.
8.	Cowboys v Bulldogs	North Queensland	In the trial I saw against Broncos, North Queensland were very good. Bullgrubs on the other hand were rubbish against Shonkies. (Yep)

 

[Chris M]

Match	Winner	Why
1.	Panthers v Sea Eagles	Manly	Without Cleary Penrith are average.
2.	Raiders v Sharks	Canberra	I believe they still have Sam Williams on the books so the new halfback can't be too bad and they have some serious firepower in the backs.
3.	Broncos v Rabbitohs	Souffs	They will slide this year but Brisbane were terrible in the trials. (Yep)
4.	Roosters v Knights	Rorters	I hope teams can make an execute plans to run over the top of Walker and Keary all game but Robinson will have a plan to combat it and Newcastle are poor.
5.	Warriors v Dragons	St George Illawarra	Because obviously! Personally I'm not going to pick Saints if I don't honestly believe it. (Yep)
6.	Tigers v Storm	Melbourne	Missing a few key players but Bellamy gets the best out of what he has and Tigers are very poor.
7.	Eels v Titans	Gold Coast	Gold Coast have some star players. Parra are well drilled and experienced but I'm going with Gold Coast.
8.	Cowboys v Bulldogs	North Queensland	In the trial I saw against Broncos, North Queensland were very good. Bullgrubs on the other hand were rubbish against Shonkies. (Yep)

No time for my own comments but:

1. Manly
2. Canberra
3. Souffs
4. Rorters

5. St George Illawarra (who'd a thunk it?)​

6. Storm
7. Titans
8. Cows

 

[GCRV]

No time for my own comments but:

1. Manly
2. Canberra
3. Souffs
4. Rorters

5. St George Illawarra (who'd a thunk it?)​

6. Storm
7. Titans
8. Cows

Same except #1 Penrith.

Manly's attack won't be able to breach Penrith defence even though Penrith will be much worse in attack without Cleary.

Looking for Saints to win by 20+.

 

[Morgan]

Manly look a little "heavy". Move them around and they might run out of steam pretty quickly. Penrith defence is still very formidable.

 

[Chris M]

I was going to say Manly lack a Plan B if Trbojevic is heavily marked but then...... They still have a long-range try in them. Penriff defence will be hard to crack all year.

 

[RedV01]

I was going to say Manly lack a Plan B if Trbojevic is heavily marked but then...... They still have a long-range try in them. Penriff defence will be hard to crack all year.

Maybe it's Penriff's defence or maybe Manly really do lack a plan B. Shut Trbojevic down and they are easy beats. I know it's easier said than done but Penriff showed it can be done.

 

[Morgan]

Penrith will be hard to beat for sure but I feel we have more strike power in the backs than Manly. Manly centres are average. I know Suli couldn't get selected ahead of either of them which is bizarre judging by tonight's game. They have fast wingers but Ravalawa might put the fear of god into either of our wayward juniors.

In the forwards Manly looked a little too big and after the opening exchanges, couldn't go with the smaller Penrith players.

Bottom line, I'm confident we can beat Manly. Penrith will be tough but I'm far from writing us off against Penrith.

 

[Chris M]

Penrith will be hard to beat for sure but I feel we have more strike power in the backs than Manly. Manly centres are average. I know Suli couldn't get selected ahead of either of them which is bizarre judging by tonight's game. They have fast wingers but Ravalawa might put the fear of god into either of our wayward juniors.

In the forwards Manly looked a little too big and after the opening exchanges, couldn't go with the smaller Penrith players.

Bottom line, I'm confident we can beat Manly. Penrith will be tough but I'm far from writing us off against Penrith.

I think Penrith's greatest strength is their defence together with an excellent kicking game. They kick into the corners and swarm in defence so the other team is always under pressure. It's obviously a very effective tactic if not unoriginal. So how can Saints counter it in 9 days? One idea might be to do the Ben Hunt to Sloan cross field kick they did in the first trial. It's a little high risk but may be worth it early on to keep Penrith guessing. Another tactic may be spread the ball when outside of the 20m because the way Penrith swarm in defence when the other team is working away from thier line means Penrith are definitely short on the edges. Other than that, really not sure.

In attack their centres gave the Manly centres a bath but I'm not overly concerned about that. I'll back our centres, possibly in front of any others in the competition. If our forwards at least hold their own, giving the back 3 a little time to not be pinned in the corner, I think Penrith are definately beatable.

 

[Chris M]

Same except #1 Penrith.

Manly's attack won't be able to breach Penrith defence even though Penrith will be much worse in attack without Cleary.

Well, this is precisely what happened.

 

[Chris M]

Fast and hard running Raiders outside backs are causing havoc for the Shonkies. A model Dragons could emulate with our outside backs.

Shonkies have a problem with their halves. Two 5/8s rather than a half and a 5/8. Plus, Melbourne let Finucane go at the right time. At least judging by this game thus far but they have him on big money for another 3 years so..... Well, I won't say "good luck to them."

If it keeps going the way it is, GCRV will only rely on Gold Coast to get a win for a perfect record. I reckon the other games are very likely to go the way everyone picked.

 

[Morgan]

Things to take out from Canberra vs Shonksters

• Big, fast, hard running outside backs from Canberra had the Shonkies on the backfoot badly in the first half.
• As shown by the Shonkies comeback, a hooker who causes two or more mistakes a game due to bad passing from dummy half is untenable.
• Steven Price still an assistant coach at the Shonkies. A shrewd move by Fitzgibbon. Not as if Price is going to get promoted to head coach again.
• Not sure what to make of the Shonkies. I think not a top 8 team unless they have an ace up their sleeve. Their backline is really quite average.

 

[RedV01]

Thoughts on Souffs vs Donkeys thus far:

• The last time we'll see Josh Mansour in the NRL.
• Yes, Staggs is playing and no way in hell I'd swap him for Lomax!
• Cody Walker and Damien Cook are passed their best.
• Mitchell probably won't be enough for Souffs to trouble the top 8.

 

[Morgan]

Thoughts on Souffs vs Donkeys thus far:

• The last time we'll see Josh Mansour in the NRL.
• Yes, Staggs is playing and no way in hell I'd swap him for Lomax!
• Cody Walker and Damien Cook are passed their best.
• Mitchell probably won't be enough for Souffs to trouble the top 8.

Thanks for the the report. It was a really poor game. I clocked of shortly into the second half.

 

[Eric]

Thoughts on Souffs vs Donkeys thus far:

• The last time we'll see Josh Mansour in the NRL.
• Yes, Staggs is playing and no way in hell I'd swap him for Lomax!
• Cody Walker and Damien Cook are passed their best.
• Mitchell probably won't be enough for Souffs to trouble the top 8.

It's probably worth noting the Charity Shield is just a glorified trial. Just because we won doesn't mean we should be making celebration plans for grand final day just yet. Looks like Souffs are badly on the slide unless Mitchell can work a miracle.

 

[RedV01]

The only thing near equal to Saints winning is the Sydney Rorters struggling. I know its early days but Rorters look absolutely piss poor and as far as I know, they at full strength.

 

[Chris M]

The only thing near equal to Saints winning is the Sydney Rorters struggling. I know its early days but Rorters look absolutely piss poor and as far as I know, they at full strength.

They are really struggling. Apart from that one obstruction, they didn't look like scoring. Sam Walker a FutUYa sUPersTar LOL. If it keeps going like this, NSW Cup next week.

 

[Morgan]

They are really struggling. Apart from that one obstruction, they didn't look like scoring. Sam Walker a FutUYa sUPersTar LOL. If it keeps going like this, NSW Cup next week.

It's just not getting any better for Sam Walker. Last year I was surprised by his very public statements about how the Broncos screwed up by not signing him. Came across as an arrogant little f**k.

 

[Chris M]

It's just not getting any better for Sam Walker. Last year I was surprised by his very public statements about how the Broncos screwed up by not signing him. Came across as an arrogant little f**k.

In that case, he is playing for the right club.