NRL Round 22 – Prop in the Canefield: You gotta love footy!

 

 

Even though you’ve gotta love footy, the Olympics are a special time each four years. On Monday night I had the good fortune to MC a dinner for the School Sport Australia’s Gold Coast games. The guest speaker on the night was former gold and silver medallist from the 2004 Athens Olympics Brooke Hanson and she gave a wonderful insight into what being an Olympian means and what it’s all about. What an excellent speaker!

It was also great to see well known Almanacker and famous Queensland AFL Hall of Famer, umpire, former bookmaker, historian and all round good bloke Murray Bird now working in Melbourne with a program called Rookie Me. He thanked me for letting the crowd know he was a bookmaker because he had about 20 teachers asking him for a decent tip. Feel free to send me one this weekend, Murray!

 

Round 21 started off with two predictable wins. The Warriors were too good for the Tigers and put the Tigers well and truly back into last place. The Warriors at home look good but it’s difficult to see them causing too much trouble to anybody going further into the comp as they are too inconsistent. Likewise, in the second Friday night game, the Storm were just too strong against the Eels. You’ve got to give it to the Storm. They play well within themselves but just block other teams out. The return of Munster will also make a difference as he gets back to top fitness. It was interesting to see Bellamy going off in the second half even when his team had the game comfortably won. I waited for the presser to see what Bellamy would say and he said it was about his disappointment in the way they came out of their own territory and their loose passing. Hard to believe when most coaches are just happy to have a win!

Saturday’s first game, and a critical one for the Broncos, was an extreme let down. The Broncos were very poor.  They just are not doing the work required to be a force in the premiership.  Haas short kicking, Mam missing basic tackles to name two questions of where has it all gone wrong?  Just before half-time, and with two quick tries, I think most people thought the Broncs were on track and back in the game. However, they came out in the second half and delivered up the same slop. Poor defence and poor tackling technique were the hallmark of a side expected to shake the competition. It’s not good enough and the bookies blew them from 15s to 51s. Canterbury continues to impress but, again, they have a weakness in the middle of the field, especially in the yardage game. If you compare both clubs’ stocks at the start of the season you see clearly something is just not right at the league’s biggest club.

The Cowboys proved too strong for the Sharks in the second game on Saturday. It was also a very entertaining game and the Cowboys might be running into some form. A hat-trick to the veteran Feldt was a high point. They had a run of injuries that did not help yet were able to continue the freefall of the Sharks. The final game on Saturday was one that I was eager to watch with the Roosters playing Manly. Manly can feel a bit hard done by as they were forced to replace players through head injuries. The Roosters prevailed but it was only just and they are awaiting the return of Manu this week.

That took us to the Sunday matches where we had three games. The first saw the Penrith Panthers completely outplay St George. Cleary delivered a masterclass and Penrith look like they are still the team to beat in this competition They throw the ball around. They put pressure on every play and they push forward. They don’t make mistakes and when they get the ball, they control it for long periods of time. No wonder Bellamy goes off at his team’s silly mistakes as he is well aware that you cannot feed turnovers to the men from the mountains. The second game on Sunday night placed the Titans against the Dolphins in a match the Dolphins really needed to win to be in the eight and, after an early 14 point lead, it looked like that’s the way the game would go. However, the 2024 Titans are showing a new pluck under coach Hasler.  21 unanswered points to win the match and another second half rout of the Dolphins. So, if we are to say the Broncos have a chance of making the eight, then so to do the Titans. The final game for the round had the Raiders up against the Rabbits in Canberra with all eyes glued on the possibility of a Rabbit revival. Needless to say, they were very disappointing with not much more needed to be said when you’re beaten comfortably by the Raiders. Canberra, admittedly, were at home where they are a better side but no excuse can be made for this poor effort by Souths.

 

Round 22 starts tonight with the Tigers up against the Cowboys. Even at Leichhardt Oval – the home of the Tigers –  if you’re expecting to be in the end part of the season you don’t lose to the Tigers no matter where it is played. The Cowboys, even with their HIA worries, are expected to win this match and it should be comfortable.  Likewise, on Friday night, the Warriors are up against the Eels and the Warriors, as inconsistent as they are, are still a strong chance of making the 8 given their draw and a bye. If that is to be the case to continue up the ladder, they desperately need to win this match. They should be able to beat the Eels who are down on confidence and with lots of injuries. I can’t see them troubling the Warriors who are at home.

The final Friday night game is of interest to see if the Dolphins can show something against the Roosters who should be able to march all over the top of the them. However, we have seen on a number of occasions where the Dolphins have been surprisingly good when least expected. Their second half leakage must be front and centre in Bennet’s first aid kit. It is crunch time for the Dolphins as they sit on 24 points at the bottom of the eight, but there are a number of teams just beneath them and their run to the finals is very tough.

Three games on Saturday start with the Titans playing the Broncos and the loser of this game is definitely out of the running for the eight. I’m not sure who to tip. The Titans put periods of football together and go okay just as the Broncos put terrible bits together and play poorly. The Broncos should be doing better than they are but time will tell whether they are a serious contender or the biggest one hit wonders since Right Said Fred nearly made it with “I’m too Sexy”. I think the Broncos will get the Titans, but with zero confidence.

The second game has the Storm against the Dragons and again the Dragons won’t have any firepower to put the Storm out. The Storm will be too strong. The final game sees the Sharks against the Rabbitohs and the Sharks should win. No, they need to win this game or they run the risk of falling out of the top 4 and potentially the 8. As many people know, I don’t think they can hold the top 4 spot, however the Rabbits have now got no chance of making the finals so their season may drop off.

Sunday has two games. The Panthers are up against the Knights and again the Panthers will be far too clinical for the Knights and should be able to put them away quite easily, especially given they are playing at home. The final match of the round has the Bulldogs versus the Raiders. This is a crunch game for the Bulldogs because it gives them the potential to go very close to the top 4.  Likewise, it’s a crunch game for the Raiders because it gives them the potential to also get into the eight. You would have to think on recent form and with Canterbury at their traditional Belmore home ground and with the spirit of the ‘Dogs of War’, they will be too strong. Manly fortunately have the bye and could end as high as 5^th, such is the tightness of the ladder.

So, my selections are Cowboys, Warriors, Roosters, Broncos, Storm, Sharks, Panthers, and Bulldogs

My season prediction positions after Round 12:  Penrith 2nd, Broncos 13th, Melbourne 1st, Souths 15th, Roosters 3rd, Cowboys 6th, Newcastle 10th and St George 9th.

 

Odd Rugby League field facts!  

One of my readers asked me the question recently about ‘the scoot’.  What happened to ‘the scoot’? Who can forget the days of the scoot when teams might do four or even five scoots from wing three-quarters bursting out of dummy half and charging up field attempting to get a quick play the ball.  It’s all but disappeared from the game.  The reason for this was a slight change to the rules in 2005 where referees were allowed to call a submission tackle allowing the defensive player to stay on the ground on their opponent for longer, thus slowing the play the ball down.  It was a good change because the scooter was often taking the ground first and the defender was continually penalised for being too slow releasing the ball carrier.

Interestingly Harry Grant would be regarded as a hooker who runs a lot from dummy half whereas Cameron Smith, the hooker before him at Melbourne, was a more creative sort of a player who didn’t scoot a lot from dummy half. Their data for the 2017 and 2023 seasons is very close and what I found amazing was there is a clear Bellamy blueprint for his teams.

 

You gotta love footy!

 

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