Almanac Rugby League – NRL 2022 Round 9: Loving the upsets!

 

 

If Round 7 produced a couple of welcome upsets, Round 8 gave us four, yes, FOUR!!!! Even so, a quick peek at the ladder shows that those results haven’t changed the overall picture too much – Penrith and Melbourne at the top, nine teams in a muddle in the middle, and five making up the numbers.

 

Fans of the Roosters, Eels and Raiders are likely to have the deepest worry lines after last weekend; those following the Sharks will be hoping their loss was a blip after an encouraging start to the year; Cowboys fans will be whooping and a-hollerin’; the Rabbitohs faithful should be smiling – for now at least; and Broncos backers might be getting their hopes up a bit more on the back of last week’s great defensive effort. But, honestly, the cream is at the top and the rest is pulp.

 

I can’t see Round 9 providing us with too many thrills. The Bunnies with mojo are likely to have too many options for the Broncos to counter tonight. With Haas and Capewell missing, it just got harder for Brisbane.

 

If the Raiders don’t beat the Bulldogs tomorrow evening, expect Ricky Stuart to spontaneously combust! How can a team that looks so good on paper be in such poor form? The Doggies might fancy themselves in this one – I don’t! Later on, the Eels need a renaissance of form to regain their earlier impetus but can they do it against the Panthers? Perhaps Parra need to think back to that Preliminary Final last year for a bit of incentive. At the very least the Eels need to put up a good showing.

 

The Sea Eagles were better than last week’s scoreline suggests, having played most of the match a man down. This week their starting lineup features ‘the triple Trbojevics’ which the local supporters will love! As much as the Wests Tigers have shown some improvement of late, I can’t see them troubling the home team. If the Roosters have been disappointing, the Titans have been even more so. We’re all expecting the Chooks to crow sooner or later but is anyone in their right mind expecting anything explosive from the Gold Coast lads? The Roosters for me. The Cowboys have been the surprise packet so far while the Knights have fallen away terribly after such a good start and have heaps of injuries. All too predictable in this one, I fear.

 

On Sunday, the scintillating Storm will be just too good for the Dragons. It will be Ben Hunt v the world but perhaps the margin might be more modest than the Storm’s last couple of outings. Finally, the Warriors will cruise with the Sharks for a while but, sooner or later, the lads from the Shire will strike and win going away.

 

So my winners this week (after a modest four last week) are the Rabbitohs, Raiders, Panthers, Sea Eagles, Roosters, Cowboys, Storm and Sharks.

 

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About Ian Hauser

A relaxed, Noosa-based retiree with a (very) modest sporting CV. A loyal Queenslander, especially when it comes to cricket and rugby league. Enjoys travel, coffee and cake, reading, and has been known to appreciate a glass or three of wine. One of Footy Almanac's online editors who enjoys the occasional editing opportunity to assist aspiring writers.

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