NRL Round 27 – Prop’s proxy, The Prospector: You gotta love footy!

Prop by the (Red) Sea

 

The end of the regular season is already upon us. As you may be aware, Prop by the Sea has swapped the QRL for the UAE this week and will be away for a few weeks. He is trading Quilpie for Qatar, Logan for Leopardstown and Chinchilla for County Cork as his family tour the UK in honour of the Prop’s late wife, the great Donna O’Hanlon, (the Golden Girl or G-Squared).

 

A lecture on Irish whiskey. It is unclear if Prop was delivering the lecture or listening to it.

 

Prop cooling off in the Persian Gulf

 

The Courier Mail headline this week read, ‘Maguire betting premiership dream on Bronco’s daredevil’, adding that Reece Walsh has been given “a licence to thrill”. I am sure there would be plenty of bookies willing to take Madge’s bet after his erratic performance on Saturday night.

 

Round 26 began predictably enough with a Bulldogs victory over a stubborn Panthers Reserve Grade team. The win came at a cost with the loss of Kiraz, and fans of the Dogs will not be rushing to buy Grand Final tickets on what they saw. The Warriors continue to slide, although they were a fingertip away from a victory at the end. It appeared as thoughParramatta were going to end up like one of Prop’s long-priced, front-running roughies, gallant but caught in the shadows of the post. This time, luck was on their side.

 

The Melbourne v Roosters game was the biggest talking point of the round. The 40-point second half blitz by the Roosters and the Storm collapse was stunning. The Roosters have produced some brilliant performances this year but have also lost to the Titans and Tigers, among others. Melbourne was resting cattle and will not play like that again. What the Chooks do going forward will be intriguing.

 

The Raiders clinched the minor premiership with a hard-fought win over the improved Tigers, Manly won surprisingly easily against the Dragons, and the Broncos accounted for the Cowboys in a try fest in Townsville. The Broncos, like the Dogs, were less than convincing. The Sharks started poorly against the Knights but clicked into gear to win easily in the end. Again, they did not really perform like a team ready to give the premiership a real crack. In the final game of the round, the Titans employed their long-held game plan. In short, start horribly (down 18-0 after 12 minutes). Tick. Get your opposition to relax and descend to your level, (18-all). Tick. Pull their pants down at the end and don’t give the opposition a chance to respond. Nearly but not quite. Lost 36 to 30. Hopefully, Josh Hannay can get a new game plan for next year. The Dolphins are still a mathematical chance for the top 8 but would make little impact if they qualify.

 

Top 8: Melbourne (2), Broncos (4), Cronullargh (5), Panthers (7), Roosters, (8), Manly (9), Tom Dearden (14), Souths (13).

 

Odd fact/Stat of the week: Rugby League in the UAE has a colourful history. The UAE Falcons played their first international match in 2008, losing to Lebanon 48 to 16. In 2009, they played in the Liban Espoir series. They led Liban 16 to 6 before an on-field brawl prompted the referee to call the game off after 56 minutes. Well, it is the Middle East, folks. They won game 2, 34 to 10. In 2012, the Falcons defeated Pakistan 30-26. In 2015, the UAE Rugby League announced it was planning to bid to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. That is when things got really interesting. Sol Mokdad, the director of development of the Emirates Rugby League, was arrested at the behest of UAE Rugby authorities for “unauthorised representation of the UAE sovereignty”. It was also alleged that he was an illegal immigrant. It seems there was confusion of the status of Rugby League as opposed to Rugby Union. Mokdad was forced by the UAERF to relinquish control of the sport to them and admit his “guilt” in organising a Rugby League competition. UAE’s affiliate membership of the Rugby League Federation was cancelled on the same day. Tread warily over there, Prop, and stay away from the Rah Rahs by the sounds of things.

 

Round 27: Firstly, best of luck to any tipster with a chance to win the cash and, more importantly, the prestige of winning their tipping competition. The round presents a minefield for tipsters with teams resting players and everyone having a reason to win with coaches and players retiring, leaving or being sacked. Anyway, for what it is worth, here goes.

 

Thursday night, Melbourne v Broncos. I expect the Storm to bounce back and win. The Reece Walsh ‘licence to thrill’ may be suspended or revoked. Manly should account for the ailing Warriors at home, and Penrith should warm up for the finals with a win over the Saints. The Titans v Tigers clash could go either way. I think the Titans are due for a win but cannot provide any compelling evidence to suggest why. The Bulldogs are unlikely to change position on the ladder whereas the Sharks can leapfrog the Broncos into the top 4. The result on Thursday night will determine if this is possible but their finishing position is still up in the air. Therefore, the Sharks may win. To finish off the regular season, the Dolphins to beat the resting Raiders, and the much improved Eels to beat the Knights who will be glad to see the curtain come down on their miserable season.

 

Footy tipping Comp: No information available on this, unfortunately. Most likely, the Crabman, as his name suggests, has moved sideways rather than forwards. I believe the Councillor was a few rounds late entering the competition, probably due to unnecessary red tape and is presumably out of contention.

 

You gotta love footy!

 

Photos courtesy of Matt O’Hanlon.

 

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