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Oh, Leichhardt, be the scene for an NRL stunner on Sunday

28th August, 2016
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Leichhardt Oval (Photo: Billy Stevenson)
Expert
28th August, 2016
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I’m hoping North Queensland beat Gold Coast on Saturday night, if for no other reason than I’d love to go to Leichhardt Oval on Sunday afternoon for a rocking good time with everything on the line for Wests Tigers against Canberra.

I don’t actually follow the Tigers, but I do like how they’re threatening to become a really good team. James Tedesco has been one of my favourite players in the NRL for a couple of years now and Mitchell Moses has shot up the list over the second half of this season.

Moses out-Shaun Johnsoned Shaun Johnson with the brilliant individual try he scored for the Tigers to put the Warriors on the precipice late in Sunday’s game. Then the Tigers pushed them off it with the last try of the game, very soon after.

They’re back in the hunt for a place in the finals as a result of that win and the loss by the Titans to Penrith on Saturday.

This finals race is such a tight one, on several fronts.

Had Gold Coast kicked the winning field goal instead of the Panthers, who won 15-14 on Saturday, the top eight would be complete.

The Titans would be in seventh place on 29 points, and although the Panthers, on 28, would only be two points ahead of the ninth-placed Tigers on the competition table, they would be too far ahead of them in terms of points for-and-against differential for the Tigers to overcome.

But had the Tigers kicked the winning field goal against Gold Coast two rounds back, instead of losing 19-18, and results since been the same, the top eight would now be complete in favour of the Tigers in eighth and Gold Coast out of the running.

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Those are just a couple of examples of how critically important some close results have been recently.

It has been and continues to be a fascinating competition right down to the last round and if the Tigers are still alive going into Sunday it promises to be an absolute blast on the hill at the old lady that is Leichhardt.

So much is riding on this last round. Six of the eight games are going to have a bearing on finishing positions in the top eight, with only the St George Illawarra-Newcastle and Warriors-Parramatta games not mattering.

Brisbane versus Sydney Roosters, on Thursday, Canterbury-South Sydney (Friday), Cowboys-Titans, Melbourne-Cronulla (Saturday), Tigers-Raiders and Penrith-Manly (Sunday) are all crucial, either to the minor premiership, the top two, the top four or the top eight.

Depending on who wins between the Storm and Sharks in the minor premiership showdown, the Raiders could be playing for a top-two spot against the Tigers. Or they will be locked into third place.

The Tigers will, of course, start the round very much alive, but will be dead if the Titans manage to upset the Cowboys on the road.

It’s that sort of competition – and you’ve got to love it for that.

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Fourth-placed North Queensland will finish somewhere from fourth to sixth.

Fifth-placed Brisbane will almost certainly finish somewhere from fourth to sixth, but if they lose and sixth-placed Canterbury and seventh-placed Penrith both win, and there is a sizeable but possible points for-and-against turnaround between Brisbane and Penrith, the Broncos could finish seventh.

Sixth-placed Canterbury are vulnerable to Penrith as well. The Bulldogs could finish anywhere from fourth to seventh.

The Panthers will finish fifth, sixth or seventh, although they could be locked into seventh by the time they play.

It’s going to be fascinating to see how it all plays out.

Right now, the first five teams on the competition table – the Storm, Sharks, Raiders, Cowboys and Broncos – all look capable of winning the premiership.

Outside of them, I reckon the Panthers have a rough chance. They’re a team of the future and it’s a matter of how quickly that future can come around.

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It’s unlikely it will happen as soon as this season, but it’s not out of the question.

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