NRL Round 7: Are we close to the first cull?

 

 

Is it too early to posit the notion that we’re about to experience the first ‘cull’ of the season? Have we reached a point where another loss will place certain teams too far off the pace to feature in September? There are several matches this weekend where this may just be the case. At the very least, top four chances will be gone, gone, gone; even hopes of making the finals will be precarious, to say the least. Or have results to date been so chaotic that it’s far too soon to be making any sort of predictions? Keep those ideas in mind as you sort through this weekend’s fixtures.

 

Round 6 recap:

The Storm/Bellamy combo just keeps defying the pundits. Yes, I know they were the bookies’ favourites but did anyone see the extent of the roasting of the Chooks coming? Hughes and Munster get the accolades (not undeservedly) but the grit of the unheralded forward pack is something to admire. And hasn’t Nick Meaney stepped up his contribution to the attack? The Chooks are a bit enigmatic – this was one of their poorest performances for some time. The Rabbitohs found their stride thanks mostly (in order of importance) to a strong pack effort, a huge impact from their bench, and the return to form of Mitchell. Irresistible. The Doggies are a work in progress.

 

The Dolphins keep impressing with their ‘beyond expectations’ results, taking down the Cowboys on the latter’s home turf. It’s good to see Isaako back to his best this season after a couple of lean years. The Cowboys better start putting a few wins together very soon or it will be a case of catch-up for the rest of the year. Meanwhile the Panthers are looking increasingly ominous. Manly must have been happy to escape with that scoreline after Penrith eased off on the throttle after half-time.

 

The Broncos learned that nothing can be taken for granted – perhaps a loss now will be a timely reminder that there are no easy games. But what do you make of the Raiders? Why can’t they put together performances like that more often? The Titans and Dragons were hard to split and the final bounce went the way of the Titans but neither did enough to suggest that they’ll be around at the business end of the year. The end-of-season injury to Jayden Brailey won’t help Newcastle’s chances as they move on.

 

The Knights dug deep to hold out the Warriors and show that there’s more in this Newcastle side than I sometimes think. They’re a tipping nightmare for me! The Warriors also copped a timely ‘wake up’ call and a loss might serve them well at this stage too, a la Brisbane. The Eels had a win but too scratchy in the doing to be too enthusiastic about. Their season is still very much on edge. The poor bloody Wests Tigers now lose their best player in Doueihi for the rest of the season – a mortal blow to a team already on life support. It’s hard to see where their first win will come from.

 

Round 7:

Tonight the determined Dolphins host the rampant (well, at least they were last time out) Rabbitohs. As much as I admire what they’ve achieved so far, it’s hard to see the Dolphins holding out the Bunnies when they’re in this mood. That’s if the correct Rabbitohs side rolls up. And therein lies James Demetriou’s main challenge – to get his whole team to focus for 80 minutes every week. The hosts will be brave but the side including a Host will be too good. South Sydney for me.

 

The Sharks v Roosters game tomorrow evening is the game of the round for me, and a four point game for both teams. The Chooks were badly plucked by Melbourne; the Sharks re-enter after the bye (so they’ll be raring to go) but coming off a loss last time out in a game they should have won after leading 20-0. The Sharks need this one badly to keep in touch with the top 8; the Roosters are barely in the top half. Victor Radley – keep your cool and stay on the field if you want your side to have their best chance. I have a feeling that the Sharks might just squeeze home.

 

The Sea Eagles play the Storm in what will be confected into a ‘battle of Brookie, Mark 15’ but that’s a load of cobblers! The Storm look like they’re finally getting it together but aren’t fully convincing yet; Manly are hot and cold and not much in between. Turbo v Munster, DCE v Hughes – the winners of those clashes will determine the result. I don’t think Manly have enough just at the moment so I’ll go with the Storm.

 

The ‘almost there’ Warriors (4-2) are at home to the disappointing Cowboys (2-4) on Saturday afternoon, both last time losers, both somewhat unexpectedly. The Cowboys, like the Sharks, can’t afford to get too far behind the rest of the pack, so this is a big game for them. The Warriors will want to consolidate their good start to the year and show that last week was just a hiccup. I’ll go with the Warriors at home.

 

The admirable-in-recent-times Knights take on the pulsating Panthers in the early evening. Only one outcome here – Penrith by lots. End of story.

 

The enigmatic Titans are at home and have been known to make life difficult for the visiting, currently bruised Broncos. To me, the Titans rely too heavily on too few – take away big Tino and they’re seriously weakened. They’ll be honest and gritty but Brisbane will have too much firepower and all-round talent to let this one get away.

 

On Sunday Canberra is at home to the Dragons in another of those games that means the loser is falling off the pace of the competition. The Raiders were gutsy and deserved their win in Brisbane while the Dragons let themselves down in the last few minutes when they should have held on to win. The loss of Rapana is a big blow for Canberra but I get the feeling that the capital-based men might have rediscovered ‘something’ last week and should chalk up two in a row this weekend.

 

Finally, the Eels and Bulldogs are yet two more teams with their seasons at the crossroads. The Eels grafted a win over the Tigers thanks to Moses but it was underwhelming in its execution. The Doggies have lost ‘The Foxx’ for a couple of months. Step up (even further) Matt Burton. Moses v Burton decides the game – a well-placed kick close to the line? a towering bomb? a golden point field goal? Toss a coin. Mine came down Eels.

 

So my winners this week are (hopefully!) the Rabbitohs, Sharks, Storm, Warriors, Panthers, Broncos, Raiders and Eels.

 

Wests Tigers have the bye.

 

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