Tipping

[Chris M]

I thought I'd get in early with this. Given the train-wreck that was my tipping last week.

​	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs	Storm	Getting 2 of their big guns back and Souths were terrible in round 1.
2.	St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers	Dragons	Lesson learned from last week. No taking the foof off the throttle. Kikau won't be able to run riot against our centres as he did against Manly.
3.	Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles	Manly	They weren't "bad" against Penrith. Just Penrith were really good while Roosters were terrible in round 1.
4.	Gold Coast Titans v New Zealand Warriors	Gold Coast	Robbed against Parra. Looking like they'll be hard to beat this year.
5.	Cronulla Sharks v Parramatta Eels	Parra	When it's hard to call, always smart to tip against the Shonkies.
6.	North Queensland Cowboys v Canberra Raiders	Canberra	Were pretty good against the Shonkies though dry weather will suit NQ. Tough call.
7.	Newcastle Knights v Wests Tigers	Newcastle	Were good against Rorters and Tigers are poor.
8.	Canterbury Bulldogs v Brisbane Broncos	Broncos	2 poor winners from last round. I still they'll fight it out for the spoon but going with Brisbane. A little more strike power in the backs.

 

[Eric]

Round Two Tipping​

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs​	Storm	Souffs will be much better with Mitchell but not enough to win.
2.	St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers​	Penrith	I'm sorry. It hurts me to say but they were really good against Manly. Much better than we were against NZ.
3.	Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles​	Manly	They weren't "bad" against Penrith. Just Penrith were really good while Roosters were terrible in round 1. (ditto)
4.	Gold Coast Titans v New Zealand Warriors​	Gold Coast	Warriors without SJ is like Xmas without Santa clause. GC get their highly regarded 5/8 back.
5.	Cronulla Sharks v Parramatta Eels​	Parra	When it's hard to call, always smart to tip against the Shonkies. (ditto)
6.	North Queensland Cowboys v Canberra Raiders​	NQ	Canberra are onto their 3rd choice halfback. Too difficult to overcome. NQ will improve dramatically.
7.	Newcastle Knights v Wests Tigers​	Newcastle	Were good against Rorters and Tigers are poor. (ditto)
8.	Canterbury Bulldogs v Brisbane Broncos​	Broncos	Grubs to "bring Brisbane down to their level" but Brisbane will get up in a tight game.

 

[Morgan]

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs​	Storm	Munster in for Melbourne is bigger than Mitchell in for Souths. Melbourne by 20.
2.	St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers​	St George	I'm going for an upset. Ben Hunt and Amone are going to be much better. The interchange forwards to get a rocket this week. Working on ways to bring Sloan into the game more often which will trouble Penrith a lot.
3.	Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles​	Manly	Roosters are going to be fired up after that pathetic effort last week but not enough to win.
4.	Gold Coast Titans v New Zealand Warriors​	Gold Coast	Don't see how Warriors are in with a chance without Johnson.
5.	Cronulla Sharks v Parramatta Eels​	Parra	I don't know if it's "hard to call". I think Eels do it easily.
6.	North Queensland Cowboys v Canberra Raiders​	NQ	A 3rd choice halfback is a lot to overcome. North Queensland should be much better this year. Next year when the salary cap begins to bite, they might be in some trouble.
7.	Newcastle Knights v Wests Tigers​	Newcastle	Were good against Rorters and Tigers are poor. (ditto)
8.	Canterbury Bulldogs v Brisbane Broncos​	Broncos	Haas carries the Broncos forwards so they can hold their own against the Dogs but Broncos outside backs to run riot against poor opposition.

 

[GCRV]

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs​	Storm	Munster in for Melbourne is bigger than Mitchell in for Souths. Melbourne by 20.
2.	St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers​	St George	I'm going for an upset. Ben Hunt and Amone are going to be much better. The interchange forwards to get a rocket this week. Working on ways to bring Sloan into the game more often which will trouble Penrith a lot.
3.	Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles​	Manly	Roosters are going to be fired up after that pathetic effort last week but not enough to win.
4.	Gold Coast Titans v New Zealand Warriors​	Gold Coast	Don't see how Warriors are in with a chance without Johnson.
5.	Cronulla Sharks v Parramatta Eels​	Parra	I don't know if it's "hard to call". I think Eels do it easily.
6.	North Queensland Cowboys v Canberra Raiders​	NQ	A 3rd choice halfback is a lot to overcome. North Queensland should be much better this year. Next year when the salary cap begins to bite, they might be in some trouble.
7.	Newcastle Knights v Wests Tigers​	Newcastle	Were good against Rorters and Tigers are poor. (ditto)
8.	Canterbury Bulldogs v Brisbane Broncos​	Broncos	Haas carries the Broncos forwards so they can hold their own against the Dogs but Broncos outside backs to run riot against poor opposition.

• Melbourne
• Penrith
• Manly
• Gold Coast
• Paramatta
• Canberra
• Newcastle
• Brisbane

 

[RedV01]

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Melbourne Storm v South Sydney Rabbitohs	Storm	Specials even though Souffs are probably going to fire up.
2.	St George Illawarra Dragons v Penrith Panthers	Dragons	In these circumstances, I can't pick against the Dragons but the bench forwards had better fire up when they come on.
3.	Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles	Manly	Too good for the overrated Rorters
4.	Gold Coast Titans v New Zealand Warriors	Gold Coast	Looking like a tough team to beat this year. SJ is NZ's best player and he is out.
5.	Cronulla Sharks v Parramatta Eels	Parra	Parra because opposite to St George.
6.	North Queensland Cowboys v Canberra Raiders	Canberra	NQ might surprise a few but I'm still picking Canberra.
7.	Newcastle Knights v Wests Tigers	Newcastle	Because Tigers are piss poor.
8.	Canterbury Bulldogs v Brisbane Broncos	Broncos	Both won. Both were bad. Donkeys have more improvement in them than the Grubs.

 

[Chris M]

Melbourne have definately come back to the field. Judging by this game and last.

 

[Eric]

Melbourne have definately come back to the field. Judging by this game and last.

Both teams were average. Melbourne will get better.

 

[RedV01]

Souffs are a two trick pony. Barge straight through the middle or pass out the back with the fullback making numbers.

First of those is easy to defend against. Second harder but with strong defence in the middle, allowing those outside to slide across easier, second can be stopped far more often than not.

 

[GCRV]

So far from what I've seen in both rounds is that St George, Melbourne and Penrith are the only consistently good teams. Penrith are consistently good, period while Melbourne and St George have a tendency to either take the foot off the accelerator or forget to turn on the ignition at the start of the game.

 

[GCRV]

I read someone said Canberra would struggle with their third choice halfback. That has definately been the case thus far.

 

[Morgan]

Wests Tigers vs Newcastle is a poor game. Newcastle missing their two best players but still winning easily.

 

[Eric]

I noticed in the Broncos - Dogs game, in the first half Dufty actually ran at defenders when presented with a straight line and seemed to be trying to break the tackle. As a result he was getting pushed back much less than he used to for us. He used to dive at the feet of defenders. Josh Kerr should take note.

 

[Morgan]

Round three tips:​

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks	Dragons	Better team. Better halves and better outside backs. Forwards are pretty equal. If McCullough is out, they may have an edge in the forwars but not enough.
2.	Wests Tigers vs New Zealand Warriors	Warriors	Because Wests Tigers are a rabble. Warriors should have Sean Johnson back. Plenty of attacking firepower.
3.	South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters	Rabbits	Hard one but I think Souths might fire up a little more.
4.	Penrith Panthers vs Newcastle Knights	Panthers	Apparently Ponga will probably be out another week. Newcastle can get away with it against Wests Tigers but not against Penrith.
5.	Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels	Storm	Because Parra were obviously grossly overrated coming into the season. They are an average side.
6.	Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans	Titans	Another tough one. Flipped a coin.
7.	Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys	Cowboys	A little soon to be excited over the Broncos. They narrowly beat an out of sorts Souths and a poor Dogs. Cowboys to bring them back down to earth.
8.	Manly Ses Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs	Sea Eagles	I expect a much better display from Manly. Too good for the beleaguered Dogs.

 

[GCRV]

Round three tips:​

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks	Dragons	Better team. Better halves and better outside backs. Forwards are pretty equal. If McCullough is out, they may have an edge in the forwars but not enough.
2.	Wests Tigers vs New Zealand Warriors	Warriors	Because Wests Tigers are a rabble. Warriors should have Sean Johnson back. Plenty of attacking firepower.
3.	South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters	Rabbits	Hard one but I think Souths might fire up a little more.
4.	Penrith Panthers vs Newcastle Knights	Panthers	Apparently Ponga will probably be out another week. Newcastle can get away with it against Wests Tigers but not against Penrith.
5.	Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels	Storm	Because Parra were obviously grossly overrated coming into the season. They are an average side.
6.	Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans	Titans	Another tough one. Flipped a coin.
7.	Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys	Cowboys	A little soon to be excited over the Broncos. They narrowly beat an out of sorts Souths and a poor Dogs. Cowboys to bring them back down to earth.
8.	Manly Ses Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs	Sea Eagles	I expect a much better display from Manly. Too good for the beleaguered Dogs.

• Dragons
• Warriors
• Roosters
• Panthers
• Storm
• Titans
• Cowboys
• Sea Eagles

 

[Chris M]

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks	Dragons	McCullough is a big loss. I think the coach has a plan with the smaller, more mobile pack.
2.	Wests Tigers vs New Zealand Warriors	Warriors	Sean Johnson is still out but Hastings was their only decent player last week so it was a tough one but going with NZ.
3.	South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters	Rorters	Souffs are poor. The Melbourne v Souffs game was poor for 60min. Both teams. Melbourne were ripe to be picked off but no.
4.	Penrith Panthers vs Newcastle Knights	Panthers	Newcastle get Ponga back so it would have been close but Penrith get Cleary back.
5.	Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels	Parramattta	Melbourne on a third choice hooker and were quite poor last week. I expect Parramatta to win this but Melbourne will be had to beat for the remainder of the season.
6.	Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans	Titans	Gold Coast are just a little better all over the park.
7.	Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys	Cowboys	They were pretty good last week.
8.	Manly Ses Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs	Sea Eagles	Dogs and Broncos were as bad as each other last week. Manly to fire up and put a score on them.

 

[RedV01]

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks	Dragons	McCullough is a big loss. I think the coach has a plan with the smaller, more mobile pack.
2.	Wests Tigers vs New Zealand Warriors	Warriors	Sean Johnson is still out but Hastings was their only decent player last week so it was a tough one but going with NZ.
3.	South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters	Rorters	Souffs are poor. The Melbourne v Souffs game was poor for 60min. Both teams. Melbourne were ripe to be picked off but no.
4.	Penrith Panthers vs Newcastle Knights	Panthers	Newcastle get Ponga back so it would have been close but Penrith get Cleary back.
5.	Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels	Parramattta	Melbourne on a third choice hooker and were quite poor last week. I expect Parramatta to win this but Melbourne will be had to beat for the remainder of the season.
6.	Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans	Titans	Gold Coast are just a little better all over the park.
7.	Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys	Cowboys	They were pretty good last week.
8.	Manly Ses Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs	Sea Eagles	Dogs and Broncos were as bad as each other last week. Manly to fire up and put a score on them.

1. St George
2. New Zealand
3. Roosters
4. Penrith
5. Melbourne
6. Gold Coast
7. Brisbane
8. Manly

 

[Eric]

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks	Dragons	McCullough is a big loss. I think the coach has a plan with the smaller, more mobile pack.
2.	Wests Tigers vs New Zealand Warriors	Warriors	Sean Johnson is still out but Hastings was their only decent player last week so it was a tough one but going with NZ.
3.	South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters	Rorters	Souffs are poor. The Melbourne v Souffs game was poor for 60min. Both teams. Melbourne were ripe to be picked off but no.
4.	Penrith Panthers vs Newcastle Knights	Panthers	Newcastle get Ponga back so it would have been close but Penrith get Cleary back.
5.	Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels	Parramattta	Melbourne on a third choice hooker and were quite poor last week. I expect Parramatta to win this but Melbourne will be had to beat for the remainder of the season.
6.	Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans	Titans	Gold Coast are just a little better all over the park.
7.	Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys	Cowboys	They were pretty good last week.
8.	Manly Ses Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs	Sea Eagles	Dogs and Broncos were as bad as each other last week. Manly to fire up and put a score on them.

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks	Dragons	Obviously
2.	Wests Tigers vs New Zealand Warriors	Warriors	Can't pick Tigers even though I expect them to be really fired up. Unless they actually want the coach gone ASAP.
3.	South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters	Souffs	I think some of their big outside backs might trample Keary and Walker.
4.	Penrith Panthers vs Newcastle Knights	Panthers	Knights have won 2 in a row but haven't been that good.
5.	Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels	Parramattta	As above but it's wrong. They are on their 4th choice hooker and Parra aren't a basket case.
6.	Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans	Titans	Tough one but Canberra missing some key players.
7.	Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys are going to bring Broncos back down to earth with a thud. On paper, Cowboys are a better team.
8.	Manly Ses Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs	Sea Eagles	Manly because Grubs are rubbish. Again.

 

[GCRV]

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	St George Illawarra Dragons vs Cronulla Sharks	Dragons	Obviously
2.	Wests Tigers vs New Zealand Warriors	Warriors	Can't pick Tigers even though I expect them to be really fired up. Unless they actually want the coach gone ASAP.
3.	South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters	Souffs	I think some of their big outside backs might trample Keary and Walker.
4.	Penrith Panthers vs Newcastle Knights	Panthers	Knights have won 2 in a row but haven't been that good.
5.	Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels	Parramattta	As above but it's wrong. They are on their 4th choice hooker and Parra aren't a basket case.
6.	Canberra Raiders vs Gold Coast Titans	Titans	Tough one but Canberra missing some key players.
7.	Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys	Cowboys	Cowboys are going to bring Broncos back down to earth with a thud. On paper, Cowboys are a better team.
8.	Manly Ses Eagles vs Canterbury Bulldogs	Sea Eagles	Manly because Grubs are rubbish. Again.

I might have gone with Parra if I knew Melbourne were on their 4th choice hooker but no, I simply don't rate Parra.

 

[Morgan]

Tipping Round 4​

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Gold Coast vs Wests Tigers	GC	Because Wests Tigers are useless.
2.	Cronulla vs Newscastle	Shonkies	Because last week their forwards dominated ours and Newcastle have a few injured or suspended.
3.	Penrith vs Souths	Penrith	Of course. Early days but they are looking like specials to be there on GF day again.
4.	New Zealand vs Brisbane	Brisbane	NZ were atrocious last week.
5.	Manly vs Canberra	Canberra	Many were atrocious last week as well.
6.	North Queensland v Canberra Sydney Roosters	NQ	Were obviously very good last week.
7.	Melbourne vs Canterbury	Melbourne	Some big guns returning and Dogs were terrible last week.
8.	St George Illawarra vs Parramatta	St George	Because I'm going to hold my breathe until Parra let them win.

 

[GCRV]

Tipping Round 4​

	Match​	Winner​	Why​
1.	Gold Coast vs Wests Tigers	GC	Because Wests Tigers are useless.
2.	Cronulla vs Newscastle	Shonkies	Because last week their forwards dominated ours and Newcastle have a few injured or suspended.
3.	Penrith vs Souths	Penrith	Of course. Early days but they are looking like specials to be there on GF day again.
4.	New Zealand vs Brisbane	Brisbane	NZ were atrocious last week.
5.	Manly vs Canberra	Canberra	Many were atrocious last week as well.
6.	North Queensland v Canberra Sydney Roosters	NQ	Were obviously very good last week.
7.	Melbourne vs Canterbury	Melbourne	Some big guns returning and Dogs were terrible last week.
8.	St George Illawarra vs Parramatta	St George	Because I'm going to hold my breathe until Parra let them win.

1. Gold Coast
2. Cronulla
3. Penrith
4. New Zealand
5. Manly
6. North Queensland
7. Melbourne
8. Parramatta (if there are changes before kick off, I might change my opinion but with the team picked as of now....... )