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You enter a candle-lit room, once again greeted by a woman disguised in an assortment of loose chiffon fabric. She has already drawn 12 cards, foretelling impending doom or vibrant success.
The finals four cards are dealt, each representing the fortunes of the Newcastle Knights, Canterbury Bulldogs, St George Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters over the 2016 NRL season.
Part 1: Warriors, Raiders, Broncos, Storm
Part 2: Cowboys, Panthers, Sea Eagles, Titans
Part 3: Rabbitohs, Sharks, Eels, Tigers
Newcastle Knights – Three of Swords
The image of three swords piercing a heart is not one you would wish to foresee in your reading. This card rather unambiguously indicates pain, grief and anguish.
Despite its foreshadowing negativity, pain is necessary in life to be able to build resilience and triumph life’s challenges. Challenges involuntarily force us to learn from our mistakes and grow.
Similarly, the Knights’ heartbreak in 2015 would have been hard to fathom. Sitting atop of the ladder four rounds into the competition, Novacastrians were certainly not overconfident despite their success, with the opening stanza of the competition proving false hope. 2016 appears a near identical finish.
Having won just four of their 12 home games in the season (their worst record since 2007) and conceding an average of 25.5 points a game, the acquisition of Trent Hodkinson certainly does not indicate instant success for these statistics and the wealth of players who left the club in 2015 (Beau Scott, Tyrone Roberts, Kurt Gidley, Carlos Tuimavave, Clint Newton, Adam Clydsdale, David Fa’alogo).
While not the stars of our game, such losses will test the Knights’ depth in 2016. And while another disappointing season lies ahead, it is important to note that like the Three of Swords, with this pain, lessons will be learnt and hopefully young stars such as Jake Mamo and the Mata’utia brothers will continue to improve. The Knights will also rely on an injury-free season to star half Jarrod Mullen.
Even with a healthy year, Mullen himself cannot do much to save the Knights from a 14th place finish.
Canterbury Bulldogs – Seven of Swords
The Seven of Swords perfectly captures the spirit of the Bulldogs. When chosen this card represents a thief who slyly goes about their business, undermining people in order to successfully steal their loot.
In a similar fashion, the Bulldogs have become famous for their gritty, almost mischievous winning ways. Whether it is the tactics of Josh Reynolds or passion of James Graham they somehow always keep themselves in most games.
In 2016, the Bulldogs also look set to try and claw their way into the top eight. However, it won’t be easy. The competition is fierce, with many sides possessing both attacking and defensive capabilities. The Bulldogs possess strike power in the forwards and outside backs, yet, much like the Panthers, their real question mark is their halves pairing of Josh Reynolds and Moses Mbye.
With Trent Hodkinson gone, it remains to be seen how the pair can cope without Hodkinson’s reliable kicking game. The Bulldogs are a sneaky team who could easily sneak into the eight, however I have them just missing the finals, finishing in ninth position.
St George Illawarra Dragons – Judgement
Judgement marks a development in your life. You have recently walked through fire, and came out of it transformed and renewed. Now is a good time to make this change complete.
Do you have the ability? The Dragons’ season in 2015 followed suit. Written off, the Dragons walked through the fire of doubt and finished a surprising eighth place, much like the Panthers in 2014.
Now, like most teams after a stellar, surprising year the Dragons must shake off the overachiever tag and prove their success was not a fluke. Now, I personally do not believe their rise to the finals was a fluke, however I do believe that in a very competitive year the Dragons will definitely need to improve their lacklustre attack.
In saying this, the Dragons did possess the fourth best defence in the competition, with their season built on defensive grit and determination. Yet, having the second-worst attack in the league diminishes such an accolade.
The Dragons remain my biggest question mark of 2016, and in an incredibly tight season where at least 13 sides (albeit a surprising finish for the Knights, Titans or Tigers) will be contending for a top eight spot, I have to put the Dragons in a disappointing 13th place. If they can fix up their attack, however, a top eight spot is destined. Bring on your fight back Walter, I am sure this prediction will disgust you.
Sydney Roosters – Eight of Pentacles
Both skill and talent are fundamental assets of the Eight of Pentacles. The creator works diligently on his goal, ensuring to produce quality rather than quantity. His attention to detail secures his success.
Trent Robinson and the Roosters show similarities to the qualities of the Eight of Pentacles. Despite the loss of James Maloney, the impressive form of youngster Jackson Hastings assures a relatively smooth adjustment for the hand-picked replacement.
Replacing the fleet-footed Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, on the other hand, will prove difficult. And while they will never find a fullback as fast and with as silky skilful hands as the Kiwi international, the depth the Roosters possess ensures a fit replacement will be found. Furthermore, the Roosters still have one of the most fearsome packs in the game headlined by the wrecking ball Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
The statistics only prove the quality Robinson has produced (second in tries scored – 111 – second in line breaks – 123 – first in tackle breaks – 866 – second in offloads – 291 – and second in try and line break assists – 91).
Many of these were spurred by Tuivasa-Sheck’s talents, though a still world-class line-up should see the Roosters sit in the top eight. They are a risk of slipping out of the top four, but I have them finishing in third.
2016 final ladder prediction
So, with that I now have my final predicted ladder, along with some finals predictions underneath. I’ve really enjoyed writing something new this year and hopefully you found it interesting too.
Here’s to hoping most of my predictions are correct come a review in early September (although a top eight spot for the Panthers would be nice).
1.Brisbane Broncos
2.Melbourne Storm
3.Sydney Roosters
4.Manly Sea Eagles
5.North Queensland Cowboys
6.Cronulla Sharks
7.Canberra Raiders
8.New Zealand Warriors
9.Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs
10.South Sydney Rabbitohs
11.Parramatta Eels
12.Penrith Panthers
13.St George Illawarra Dragons
14.Newcastle Knights
15.West Tigers
16.Gold Coast Titans
In Week 1 of the finals, I have the Broncos defeating the Sea Eagles, Storm outlasting the Roosters, Warriors shocking the Cowboys and Raiders upsetting the Sharks.
From here, in the semi-finals, the Warriors will defeat the Sea Eagles and the Roosters will beat the Raiders.
In the preliminary finals, a repeat will see the Broncos overcoming the Roosters while the Warriors will reach their first grand final since 2011 with a win over the Storm.
In the grand final for 2016, I have the Broncos ending the Warriors’ dream run and claiming a well-deserved premiership and retribution for 2015’s heartbreak. Ben Hunt will more than likely claim man of the match honours, more than making up for his mistake last year.
Thanks for reading, Roarers. May the cards fall in your favour for the 2016 season ahead.
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