NRL Round 5: A more even competition in 2023?

 

 

 

There’s a hope in my heart that 2023 might turn out to be a more even competition than the last few seasons. After four rounds, 13 of the 17 teams are 2-2 or better; among the other four teams are the Eels and Raiders who, you’d think, have realistic finals aspirations. Penrith has lost 2 of the 3 games they’ve played; the Warriors have already won half as many games as they did all last season; the Rabbitohs, Storm and Cowboys, all finalists last year, are only at 2-2; the Titans and Knights, 13th and 14th last year, are also at 2-2. Let’s see what’s happening after another four rounds.

 

Round 4 takeouts:

The Dolphins lost no admirers in going down to the Broncos last Friday night. The Redcliffe-based team showed plenty of fight, flair and persistence in spite of being without a couple of their first choice players and then losing a couple more as the game progressed. Coach Bennett may not have recruited the big names but he has put together a team that is prepared to work for each other and compete for the full 80 minutes. But for one or two strokes of good fortune for the Broncos, we might have had another major upset. The two fullbacks were outstanding: one of them (Tabuai-Fidow) is all energy, good positioning and great speed; the other (Walsh) is one of those ‘gliders’ who caresses the ground as he supports and sets up plays; both showed wonderful defensive skills.

 

The Rabbitohs and Eels were the other big winners out of the weekend. Souths just had to win and did it the hard way but, most importantly, they got there in the end. I think that win will do them a heap of good. What did you do differently, Cody? Likewise the Eels scored what will be a huge psychological boost for themselves after holding and then downing the Panthers. But another acid test comes tonight against the Roosters – win that one and they’re back to 2-3 when 0-5 looked a real possibility a week ago. What a difference ‘the Munster’ makes to the Storm! He rolled out all of his tricks and scored a great try off one of his feints that left defenders grasping at air. And Nicho Hynes is back – and, consequently, how good did the Sharks look!?!?

 

The Cowboys eventually looked ok but aren’t at their best by a long way. The Nanai suspension will hurt, especially with a dangerous away game to the Bulldogs coming up this weekend. Cheers to the Warriors for their continuing good form – take a bow, Shaun Johnson, now make sure you sustain the effort because when you lead, the rest follow. The Knights also showed some steel at last to rack up an important win at home but immediately follow it up with a challenging game against the Sea Eagles at Brookie. The Manly men are coming off a golden point loss last week and will be out to set the record straight. Needless to say, the worries continue for the Dragons, Wests Tigers and Raiders. Jack Wighton is this week’s biggest loser with two reports in one game and now wants to test himself on the open market! Is all well in the capital?

 

Round 5:

And what a start with the Roosters up against the Eels, both without key personnel – Manu for the Chooks and Paulo for Parramatta. As a tipster, this will be an easy one to make a fool of oneself! How much will that win change the mentality of the Eels? Will it give Moses greater self-belief to lead his tribe out of the wilderness? Or are the Roosters itching after a bye and all too ready and willing to slice and dice the Eels? I’m waiting for the Bondi boys to explode while I can’t get too excited about Parramatta – yet. So I’ll go with the Roosters.

 

Tomorrow evening the Raiders host the Panthers and heaven help Canberra. Penrith will be filthy at dropping the points last week and will be raring to go against a Raiders outfit missing their best player in Wighton. I can only see this one going one way – and by a fair margin at that! The Panthers for me.

 

Later on it’s the match of the round when the Rabbitohs take on the Storm. This could be an absolute cracker! Cody Walker decided to play footy last week and his side looked all the better for it. But Campbell Graham is my player de jour, a strong defender who holds the backline together and then knows where to be in attack. Mitchell is also a dynamo waiting to explode – it has to come soon. Or is his knee worse than we’re allowed to know? But the Storm regained a lot with the return of Munster although the absence of Hughes might be telling. I think I’ll have to go with Souths at home as they continue to ride a wave of emotion after the death of a club icon. Souths for me.

 

Come Saturday afternoon and we have the Sea Eagles at home to the Knights. Manly will be lamenting a lost opportunity last weekend while the Knights will look to continue their good form. Manly is developing quite a forward pack – hardworking, strong, mobile – to complement their solid backline – DCE, Turbo, Schuster et al. So although I think there was a lot to like about Newcastle’s effort last week, especially that post half-time burst, Manly look to have too many guns as well as the Brookie factor in their favour. The Sea Eagles for me.

 

Then the Dragons meet the Dolphins in what is a real test for both sides. The Dragons have little credibility at this stage and another loss to the new, understrength franchise will be an absolute disaster. If the Dragons can’t win this one, when will they next be in the winner’s circle? The Dolphins will be down on manpower through injuries and suspension but haven’t they shown grit? If they can pull this one off – away from home and down on personnel – they will be well ahead of where they could possibly have expected to be. But this is the sort of game they need to win, against the odds, to show that they do have the strength we think they’ve shown so far. I’ll be brave and stick with the Dolphins.

 

In the evening it’s the Broncos versus the Wests Tigers in what, logically speaking, can only have one outcome – a healthy Broncos win. Brisbane will have to reduce their error rate from last week but you have to admire their improved defence and dangerous counterattack. Walsh has been a revelation at the back. The Tigers have played a cumulative 20 minutes of good footy in four games – how could you possibly back them? It should be a blowout but stranger things have happened in footy. Nevertheless I’ll go with form and logic to pick the Broncos.

 

The Sharks v Warriors game on Sunday afternoon has the potential to be a great clash. The Sharks looked so much better with Hynes back on the field and this, together with home ground support, should be enough to get the win. But full credit to the Warriors who have put together some good footy, strong in defence and displaying some flair in attack. They won’t give this one away easily. It’s a bit of a cracked record, I know, but Shaun Johnson is the make or break factor for them. The battle of the halves may well tell the tale. I’m a huge fan of Hynes so I’ll go with the Sharks.

 

In the final game, the recently disappointing Bulldogs play host to the not yet convincing Cowboys – a big game for both sides. The Dogs are still gelling as a unit as well as adapting to new coach Ciraldo; they have the personnel; when it clicks it will be very good. Perhaps patience is the word. The Cowboys can quite find top gear but they, too, will be exciting to watch when they finally get there. The greater expectation is on them. Is this a 4-point game? Another loss will hurt both badly while a win just might be the next step towards greater self-belief. I’ll go with the Bulldogs at home.

 

The Gold Titans have the bye.

 

So my winners this week are the Roosters, Panthers, Souths, Sea Eagles, Dolphins, Broncos, Sharks and Bulldogs.

 

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