2026 NRL – Prop by the Sea: Round 9 – You gotta love footy!

 

 

Round 8 started with a game on Thursday night that had the Tigers at home at Leichhardt up against the Raiders. The Tigers are continuing their good form and were too strong for Canberra, running out comfortable winners with 33 to 14. They may have a problem with Api out next week, but other than that, they are playing an exciting brand of rugby league. The Raiders had no answer for them, and coach Stuart did complain about the tough travel life they have had over the last 2 1/2 weeks.

 

 

The first Friday night game had the Cowboys at home running out comprehensive wins over the Sharks. It was a fair turn around in form by the Cowboys, who were extremely poor the week before, but came out and blew the Sharks off the paddock and got straight into the groove. I wonder about the Sharks and their ability against the top sides, and the Cowboys form is just so patchy, you cannot get a decent read on them. But at least in this game they did show something. The second Friday night game had the Broncos running out comfortable winners over the Bulldogs, 32-12. An understrength Bronco side proved to out-enthuse and completely outplay a fairly lackluster Bulldogs 13. The Broncos defended stoutly, and were able to repel various Bulldogs attacks and were just too strong for them. Reynolds really directed them around the park with all his guile and was a major difference between the two teams.

 

 

Anzac Day started off with the traditional clash between the Roosters and the Dragons. Very little could be said about this match, other than that the Dragons were deplorable and desperately need the bye, which they will get this week. The Roosters flogged them by 62 points to 16, a great disappointment to the Dragon’s crowd who turned up, who must dream of the almost Forgotten Years of the 11 straight. As they say, a dragon that doesn’t breathe fire is just a lizard, and that’s what the Saint George team is at the moment.  The second game saw an entertaining match where the Warriors proved to be too strong for the Dolphins. The Warriors were able to control the match after wresting control in the 60th minute. The Dolphins just cannot seem to finish teams off after establishing an 18–6 lead after 20 minutes. The final game on Saturday night was a complete humiliation of the Storm by the rampant Rabbitohs. Latrell Mitchell, demonstrating both the Power and the Passion, was in full flight and unable to be handled by the Storm in what has been one of their poorest performances for many years. All credit to Souths, but one has to wonder where the Storm’s next win will come from. At the press conference, the taciturn Wayne Bennett was no different than normal, but Bellamy looked completely lost at the Cold Cold Change that has enveloped his side this year. Where will he take his team from here? Interestingly, Captain Harry Grant shot down any talk about the coach. Sadly, that was one of the better aspects of Melbourne’s overall performance. Mitchell won the Man of the Match ANZAC medal and gave a great speech on accepting that after the match. 

 

 

There were two games on Sunday. The first one went completely to script, with the Panthers completely blowing the Knights off the park, running out comfortable winners 44-12 and certainly remaining as the King of the Mountain in this competition. The final game saw Manly ending up as comfortable winners over the Eels. The game was Back on the Borderline at the break, as Fogarty kicked a field goal to give Manly a 7-6 lead. The second half saw Manly prevail, and they were just too strong and ran away to record their fourth win on the trot. I still would not be getting too carried away with Manly, mainly because they have not really played any of the top sides yet, although you can only beat who you play, and under Foran, that is what they are doing.

 

 

Round 9 starts on Friday night, with the Bulldogs at home to the Cowboys. It is difficult to tip either of these sides, because the Bulldogs have been poor and the Cowboys have been inconsistent. If we stick with home sides, maybe it is going to be the Bulldogs, although they will need a bit of Bullroarer instilled if they are to win. Taumalolo is equalling JT’s record for the greatest number of games for the Cowboys. This is a credit to him as a middle forward over his entire career. For me though, I will take the Cowboys. The second game is as equally hard to choose, as the Dolphins are at home at Lang Park to the Storm. Normally, this would just be a Storm selection. However, it is really complicated by the fact that the Storm are in such poor form and Only the Strong supporters will stick with them. Some changes have been made, including McDonald being pushed up into the starting lineup, but the Storm really need to find their teeth and bite hard if they are going to win this one. Redcliffe for me.

 

 

Saturday has three matches. The first one has the Titans at home against the Raiders. According to the local newspaper, Hannay has instilled new defence into the Titans, and over the last five rounds that has apparently been evidenced. A bit of Short Memory here of course, as they were flogged in Round 1. They will need to be on song against the Raiders, who have speed to burn, but have also been inconsistent and out of form. It would be great to see the Titans win this one at home and I’m going to hop on the back of my local side. The second Saturday game has the Eels at home to the Warriors and unfortunately, I cannot see the Eels winning this one. They have played a couple of decent games, but they have a long injury list and do not seem to be able to go the distance, tending to Put Down the Weapon late in their games. The final game on Saturday has the Roosters at home to the Broncos in what should be a tremendous clash. Although the Broncos have a long injury list, they welcome back Walsh and Carrigan and that really strengthens them up. Reynolds is in excellent form at the moment, and even Big Gordie has had No Time for Games bagging Reynolds or the Broncos. Their forwards are hard working, so it should be a cracking match. It’s also a type of trial for Sam Walker, to see if he can put his name up there as a potential Origin player for Billy Slater. A very interesting game. I am going to stick with the Broncos away from home.

 

 

There are three games on Sunday, with the first one pitching the Knights with Ponga back in the side, against the Rabbitohs. Given the form Souths are in, I just think they will be too good. Not only has Mitchell been outstanding over the last couple of weeks, but Dufty, back from England, has really shown some form that has made a real difference to them. They also have a back row that works harder than Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers, and if you compare the two sides, I think this will make a significant difference. The second game is the Sharks at home to the Tigers. As I mentioned before, Api is out suspended for the Tigers, and that is a big loss, but so too are Bula and Pierce-Paul. Both have been in excellent form over the last couple of weeks. The Sharks have been very poor and really need to Stand in Line this week if they are to win. I’m going to stick with the Tigers this week, as they make or break whether they are serious contenders this season. The final game has the Panthers at home to Manly. Whoah! Foran has led the Sea Eagles to heights that nobody could have expected a month ago, however, I think this week will bring them back to earth with a thud.

 

 

Last week’s embedded music clue was of from the great other Australian pub rock band, Midnight Oil. Given I had mentioned Khe Sanh for ANZAC Day, I put US Forces in the sentence. It is an iconic anti-war song off the 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 album and is rated as one of Australia’s great songs. Whilst it was a major protest song, Peter Garrett in 2018 said times had changed when discussing US bases and troops in Australia. I wonder what he thinks now. See if you can find this week’s clue.

 

 

The Sacked Coaches 13 

Given all the concerns around coaches at the moment I thought we should pick a team of sacked Coaches.

1 Ivan Cleary (sacked by Penrith) 2 Wayne Bennett (sacked by  Brisbane) 3 Trent Barrett (sacked by Manly- he walked out on the Bulldogs before he was sacked) 4 Paul McGregor (sacked by St George) 5 Chris Anderson (sacked by Cronulla and left both the Storm and Roosters before being sacked) 6 Kevin Walters (sacked by Brisbane) 7 Ricky Stuart (sacked by Cronulla and sacked himself from Parra) 8 Tim Sheens (sacked  by Wests Tigers twice ) 9 Geoff Toovey (sacked by Manly) 10 Paul Langmack (sacked by Souths)  11 David Furner (sacked by Canberra by his older brother to let Rick in!) 12 John Cartwright (sacked by Gold Coast) 13 Des Hasler (sacked by Canterbury, Manly and the Gold Coast) .

Only Cleary and Sheens did not play for Australia, but both have coached at multiple clubs, been sacked, won 4 premierships and lost 2 each, and never won a premiership as a player. 

 

 

Round 9 Tips

Cowboys Dolphins Titans Warriors Broncos Souths Wests Tigers Panthers 

I have tipped all 4 Queensland teams to win!

 

 

I beat the Prop Tipping Comp Leaderboard

1 Banksy (40) 2 Gerry, Flying Mattress (39). Banksy is still definitely not tipping his Dragons.

The top ESPN score at the end of Rd 8 is 50 which only 1 tipster has.

 

 

My Pre Season Top Eight 

1 Penrith 4 Rabbitohs 5 Roosters 7 Brisbane 8 Cowboys 9 Cronulla 10 Bulldogs 16 Melbourne 

 

 

 

Rugby League is no longer on Vacation- It is a Quest

 

 

You gotta love footy.

 

 

 

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