NRL Round 10: An early cull

 

 

Just a couple of quick comments about Round 9: 1. Tipping is a hazardous business; 2. The number of serious injuries to date this season seems to be unusually high; 3. The frequency of high scoring games continues to surprise; 4. The number of genuine premiership contenders can be counted on the digits of one hand.

 

Which leads me into my theme for the day: who are the contenders, the pretenders and the rest? Firstly, the contenders: I’d say that there are four, possibly five genuine contenders. In no particular order, they are Penrith, Melbourne, the Roosters, Cronulla and Brisbane. Probably in that order at a guess. And, if I was to be particularly courageous, I’d say that there are only three – Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters. These three are simply allround, relentless machines with few weaknesses. At their best, the Sharks can be dazzling; at their worst they can be flaky (no pun intended). Brisbane is now in serious injury territory and will struggle through the Origin period without Reynolds.

 

Then there are the pretenders. In this category I’d place Manly, Canberra, North Queensland and the Dolphins. Lots of talent, good on their day but not up there with the heavyweights. You’d like to see them do well but it’s not going to happen. After that group comes the rest. Simply making up the numbers, I’m afraid. Newcastle and the Warriors probably the pick of this lot but still not even in contender range at this stage.

 

Round 10 starts tonight with the Dolphins hosting the Sea Eagles at Lang Park. The Dolphins have a solid following and will draw a big crowd in their own right but Manly will not be without their fair share of supporters. The Dolphins had a gritty, surprising win in Townsville last week while the Sea Eagles threw away a 20-point lead at Brookie to go down to the Raiders. Although I admire what the Dolphins are achieving, I think that loss will sting the Sea Eagles into action and I expect them to win this one.

 

Tomorrow evening it’s the Panthers at home to the Bulldogs – one way traffic with the Panthers to win big. Then the eviscerated Eels play the battered Broncos in the battle of the last man standing. It’s hard to see the Eels doing well without Gutho while I think the Broncos retain sufficient firepower to cope with the home side. Get on Brisbane.

 

Saturday afternoon sees the Wests Tigers host the Knights. The Knights were admirable in their win over the Warriors and deserve favouritism against their humble adversary. I just can’t see the home side matching the up front mongrel of the Knights and their outside backs will finish off the job set up for them by a dominant pack. Newcastle for me. Then the Dragons take on the Rabbitohs, a sorry sight to contemplate when both sides are at such a low ebb. Once upon a time this would have been Match of the Round and I’d feature the artwork of John Campbell. But, out of respect for John and his marvellous talents, I’ll just rely on words this time around. Souths have Murray and a couple of others out and Mitchell in; the Saints just can’t put the final scoring plays together to get them over the line. My gut tells me that the return of Mitchell might inspire the Bunnies sufficiently for them to get home. Then the real Match of the Round has the Storm at home to the Sharks. Here’s where I think the flake will show. Bellamy is building another squad that, on paper, looks good but nothing special and yet they are just so hard to beat. I learned my lesson a few weeks ago when I tipped against them, so I won’t repeat the error. It’s Melbourne in a real scrap.

 

On Sunday the Roosters meet the Warriors, the former in imposing form, the latter in in real strife. Only one outcome here – the Roosters easily. No further correspondence…Then, finally, the hard luck Titans play the out of form Cowboys with relevance on the line more than anything. Isn’t is sad how the Cowboys have fallen from contenders to pretenders in a month of poor form? Meanwhile Des Hasler is making progress with a modest squad but has injuries to contend with and a paucity of real star power to get the wins. The Fifita saga just doesn’t go away and that won’t help this week’s cause. But they might still have just enough to get over the line through the likes of Brimson and Foran, so I’ll go with the Titans.

 

The Raiders have the bye.

 

Next week: Women’s State of Origin, Game 1.

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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