Almanac Rugby League – Magic Round 10: The footy gods are in sync

 

 

 

The Sunday just gone was Good Shepherd Sunday in the Christian calendar and the Lessons for the day included Psalm 23. Verse 5 concludes with the words, ‘my cup runneth over’. Obviously the footy gods were attentive and joined in the spirit of the day as they served up yet another weekend of great footy and one of the upsets of the season. Perhaps we’d all be well advised to get bigger cups if this continues to be the pattern of the year. After all, we’ve yet to reach the midpoint of the minor round let alone include the finals series.

 

Round 9 wrap:

The Cowboys are now officially in deep trouble after their belting by the Sharks and yet another key player suspended for a lengthy period. Two wins and massive points differential outside the top eight, it’s hard to see them coming back from such a poor start to the season. The Sharks power on! Have the Eels now done enough for us to say that they’ve turned the corner? I think so. The Knights are on the precipice. The Rabbitohs are not far off peak efficiency. They held a undermanned but very game Brisbane at bay before the weight of class told, running away to score an impressive win. Question marks over the Broncos? Too early to tell.

 

The Raiders responded to the threat of irrelevance with a fortuitous win over the fast-finishing and unlucky Dolphins. Both sides need to do more to be in the top eight. Are the Sea Eagles under the pump? I fear so. They have a must win clash with Brisbane tomorrow night. The Titans are enigmatic – which is not good enough to be a genuine threat.

 

But what about the Tigers? (Who deserve a paragraph of their own.) Those footy gods must have feeling generous; maybe it was simply time for a change of fortune to the competition’s worst side. But full credit to them for a really gutsy effort. Luke Brooks went a long way to shaking off the monkey that has been imposed on his back by many sideline experts. A salutary lesson for Penrith, methinks.

 

The Warriors also got a kick in the pants, and deservedly so as they put on their worst performance of the year. The Roosters may not be convincing but they’re not going away either. I continue to think that they’re only one good pass away from a blitzing run through the mid-season. The Dragons and Bulldogs were underwhelming and kept our interest only because of the closeness of the scoreline. No great threats here.

 

Magic Round 10:

And so the caravan moves to Brisbane for the annual Magic Round. Could the NRL take a leaf out of the AFL’s book where their recent Gather Round in South Australia featured the odd game at one of the better suburban grounds as well as one in the Adelaide Hills? Magic Round could, perhaps, include one or more of CBus Super Stadium, Kayo Stadium or Sunshine Coast Stadium.

 

We start tomorrow night with the Bulldogs and Raiders, neither of whom was all that convincing last week. Canberra showed a lot of emotion after the ‘Wighton week’ that was. Can they continue to ride that wave? The Doggies are missing the finishing power and overall energy of The Foxx. They seem to have to make sure their opponents don’t score too many because they haven’t got a lot of point in themselves. Both sides remain in contention for the finals even though I doubt that both will make it. I think the Raiders may be on the way back so I’ll go with them.

 

Then it’s the ‘traditional’ Broncos v Sea Eagles clash in the evening. Manly are struggling but it’s not just about Tom Trbojevic. John Schuster is out of form at the moment and that is hurting them big time. Brisbane had a setback but I think they’re better positioned to overcome shortages in personnel. Staggs needs to rediscover his talents after a couple of modest efforts. I’ll stick with the Broncos.

 

Saturday’s triple header starts with the Warriors up against the Panthers with both sides coming off losses last week. You’d expect the Panthers to be very hungry in those circumstances but the Warriors also have something to prove after their dismal showing against the Roosters. Given a dry track I expect the speed of the Panthers to prevail.

 

The twilight game features the Sharks playing the Dolphins. The former are in great form; the latter are mercurial. The Dolphins have to stop conceding big leads; the Sharks have to be wary of their opponent’s ability to run hard for the full 80 minutes. With Hynes in scintillating form, I can’t go past the Sharks.

 

The feature game is the Rabbitohs v Storm clash. These sides don’t like each other all that much so expect plenty of niggle and chest pumping. The Rabbitohs are developing into the form side of the competition with a strong pack and a zippy backline. As long as Walker concentrates on the footy they’ll continue to prosper. Melbourne just won’t give up even though they’re not the power they were. You tip against them at your peril. Well, I think it’s a perilous week because I think the Bunnies will have too many guns.

 

Sunday is also a triple header with the Wests Tigers versus the Dragons first up. Toss a coin here! The Dragons will start favourites but you can’t help but feel that things aren’t right behind the scenes which must impact on the players. (Now there are stories of the Raiders chasing after Ben Hunt!) They show flashes of form on the field but there are too many quiet minutes in between. Can the Tigers do the unthinkable and chalk up two in a row? For their sake, I hope so but I can’t see it. I’ll go with the Dragons.

 

The Roosters meet the Cowboys in the late afternoon and I can’t see the northerners emerging from their slump against a side just waiting to finally put it all together. There’s little to say here other than, ‘put your hard earned on the Chooks‘.

 

The round concludes with the Eels against the Titans, two teams that have been threatening in recent times without being really convincing. I look at the team sheets and think that the Eels have more strength and finishing capabilities. I just don;’t think that the Titans can score enough points to win no matter how well they might defend. Go with the Eels.

 

The Newcastle Knights have the bye.

 

So my winners this week are the Raiders, Broncos, Panthers, Sharks, Rabbitohs, Dragons, Roosters and Eels. (I got 6/8 last week.)

 

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