Prop by the Sea
You Gotta love Footy Round 13
I thought this week there would be no Courier Mail Bronco headline but on Monday- there it was – ‘Why Broncos need to bring back Alfie – admittedly it was in smaller print at the bottom of the page BUT! Surely, I thought surely this was not some State of Origin 2000 style request. Alf to bolster the aging halves! Maybe more on the Broncos later.
Round 12 started off with a match on Friday night between the Bulldogs and the Dolphins and we all expected the Bulldogs, given their previous performances, to most probably be too strong. But the Dolphins showed real grit and actually ended up pumping the Bulldogs 44 points to 8, meaning the Bulldogs have lost both games they have played in the wet. A tremendous win for Redcliffe.
There were two games on Saturday and the first saw the Eels up against Manly. Again. I thought Manly, given their recent performances, would be too strong, but the Eels came out and were just too good for a disappointing Manly. Nobody could have predicted the second game on Friday when the Knights turned around their poor form the last four weeks to banish the Panthers to the bottom of the ladder. They ran out 25 points to 6 winners and clearly the coach was more than happy with his side’s performance.
On Saturday night the Roosters ran out comprehensive winners over the Sharks. This was hard to see coming given the Sharks were at full strength and the Roosters were sadly depleted. But Tedesco showed great leadership and their hard walking forward pack completely dominated the Sharks in what was a very, very poor performance by Cronulla them.
The final game on Sunday, whilst never reaching any great heights, was great entertainment and interesting because it was close. The conditions were not really conducive to fast and open Rugby League and the Raiders ran out deserved winners over the Warriors. At home, the Warriors would not have been overly happy with the result as thee the Warriors have been playing to full houses this year and it was another great crowd in poor weather that turned out who would have headed for home disappointed.
So, the origin shortened Round 13 starts on Friday night with the Dragons up against the Knights. The Dragons are coming off the bye and the Knights are coming off a win. Very hard game to pick and it will be impacted by the origin players who make it back, but I think the Dragons at home might be too good for the Knights, especially given they showed some form last week.
On Saturday the first 1st. Up on the beautiful Gold Coast, we have the Titans against the Storm. This should be a game that the Storm should win, especially as the Titans have half their forward pack in the origin. I cannot see the Storm letting this one go, however the Titans? Likewise, in Townsville, the Cowboys are up against the West-Tigers, and it will be interesting to see how their Origin players back up. The Tigers have shown much more this year, and they will certainly give the Cowboys a run for their money. The final Saturday night game has the Sea Eagles up against the Broncos. You just cannot pick these two sides. But it certainly a case where they both must win. Manly were extremely poor last week and the Broncos were even poorer the week before, so it is hard to know where to go on this one.
Sunday has three games. First up, the Rabbitohs are at home to the Warriors. I think the Rabbitohs at home might just be too good for the Warriors as they will be back close to nearly full strength. The Panthers play the Eels and as we have said for a couple of weeks now, the Panthers just have to win. They do have a number of players involved in Origin and it will be interesting to see which of those back up. The final game of the round is the Roosters up against the Raiders and this should be a cracking good game. I think I’ll stick with the home side here, the Roosters, although with all these games it really is a wait and see for the Origin players to come back. The Bulldogs, the Dolphins and Sharks all have byes in this round.
Origin
I was lucky enough to attend the Origin last night and it was a tremendous QLD crowd. However the game did not go the way that most of the 53,000 strong crowd wanted it to. NSW got on top early and if not for poor kicking the score would have been worse for Queensland at half time. It seemed to me that Coates had a penalty try denied and a sin bin was given to To’o on half time. Many Maroon supporters in the crowd thought that it would have been a penalty try. I also felt in the minute before half time a sin bin was warranted when NSW laid all over Qld. The Queensland side never really got into the match even though the score allowed them to stay close. Harry Grant didn’t have his best game, and I thought big Tino did not cart the ball up enough to give Queensland that control of the middle ground of the field. On review of the statistics however, he did do a mountain of defence. I am not sure that Cotter is the man for the job on an edge and is better suited to the middle so maybe we need to look to a place an edge player – maybe Su’A — back in the team. Anyway, as always, the next game should bring the sunlight back to Queensland which of course we now have to win.
Top Eight (in order)
4 Melbourne 5 Cronullaargh 6 Souths 7 Cowboys 8 Broncos 9 Manly 11 Roosters 17 Penrith
Fact / Stat for the day- 27 years since NSW have won two straight at Lang Park! Make that 12 hours!
Tipping Stats- After 0/5 a duck egg-this week I am making no comment!
After 0/5 You gotta love footy!
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8Grubby half marker out of 10 Prop, keep up the good work and 0-5….. I would like it on the record I got 4-5 so I’m back LOL
Ok no need to panick as this is all we need to do for game 2, Hammer to fullback, Cobbo on wing Val to Centre, Pongs to bench. Dearden starts st hooker and Harry comes off bench and yes Pongs and Harry on bench. Big red in for Cotter, Cootter to Bench and Furnrr gone. One all thank you. I have gone all home sides this weekend, enjoy and see you all in Perth
Put me down for a duck egg last weekend too, Prop. Long distance tipping is no easier than close to the action. I’m in canard country at the moment but won’t be ordering it because they sure know how to charge for it here -a bit like the Burgundy and Cote de Rhone wines we’ve been tasting (which are delectable).
Well GHB you have proved what your teachers said about you years ago – you are suffering from oppositional defiant syndrome as that is the only way you could tip 4/5!! But it is a start and you should be proud! Ion the other hand Ian I think your excuse of being overseas is lame! We can’t pick them here!!! On origin I’m thinking Cobbo in, cotter on bench – mo out – kafusi in And DCE go lead us victory!