After nine rounds of the NRL the top eight is a rabble, with only South Sydney showing signs of being a true premiership contender.
With second place on the ladder up for grabs, due to Melbourne’s recent slump, the Roosters and Manly battered each other to standstill at Brookvale Oval last night.
But for all of its brutality, it wasn’t the spectacle you would’ve expected from two sides with such lofty ambitions.
Perhaps it was the FA Cup final effect, Wigan and Manchester City’s fast-paced and free-flowing affair at the weekend aside, where big matches often produce nervy play.
Both teams treated the ball like it was about to explode at any moment and Roosters centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall found a new way to drop the pill with no-one around, after taking an intercept on his own line.
Manly missed 22 tackles in the first half alone and completed just 13 of 20 sets, while the Roosters finished with 15 of 22 sets in the bag heading to the break to lead 8-nil.
The standard didn’t improve much in the second half, with the Roosters winning 16-4.
The tri-colours battled to the end with 12 men, after the bizarre sending off of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves for a high tackle on George Rose with just over 10 minutes to play, but neither side could be completely satisfied with the outcome.
Sea Eagles forward Anthony Watmough, playing in his 250th game, admitted as much by lamenting the fact they weren’t, “doing the simple things”.
The three tries that were scored didn’t eventuate as a result of mounting pressure, but on the back of mounting error counts.
The chance for both sides to stand up and show they should be feared sadly passed.
The Rabbitohs, in contrast, have embraced the growing expectation around the club over the last month and after the last four days they have every right to feel confident about ending their premiership drought.
Melbourne is on a worrying slide after losing to Penrith and Canberra in successive weeks.
When Storm coach Craig Bellamy looked around the sheds at half-time at Centrebet Stadium and only saw “blank eyes,” the alarm bells were ringing.
“They just don’t look excited about being here,” he went on to say.
If they’re tired now, the Origin period is looming large on the horizon.
They’ll lose at least the big three to representative duty and covering for them, when all is well, is a herculean task to say the least, let alone when blank eyes are searching for answers.
The fifth placed Knights were just belted 44-14 by the seventh placed Raiders, who swing between awful and amazing themselves.
The Titans, despite their one point victory over St George Illawarra on Sunday, have still lost three of their last five games and Brisbane just traveled to Parramatta and came away empty handed.
South Sydney, in contrast, continue steady and unmoved by the week to week grind.
Their giant forward pack lays the platform for Adam Reynolds and John Sutton to unleash a potent back line that includes the monster frame of Greg Inglis.
Stopping the type of momentum the Bunnies are rolling with will take something dramatic.
They might be just two points above the Roosters on the ladder but, on the evidence of last night, the gap between the sides is larger than that.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
Just another sre loser, i was at the game with a supplier who was neutarl and even he commented the only wat the roostes were going to lose was if they blew it. Who has Manly played this year to put them up on such a pedestal? the 3 teams above them on the Ladder have all beaten them.
Meesta Cool
Guest
Barry, you are 100% correct, Souths are scraping through matches and are playing on confidence, look what happens to a team when the confidence leaves -- As for Roosters not being the real deal, -- no one goes to Brookie and wins unless they play well, they could only beat the side that faces them on the night, cries about injured/suspended players mean nothing. Roosters have learned how to defend their line, they will certainly be in the top 4 at the end of the season, unless of course they lose 3 or 4 players to SOO, which could shatter their season.. --- back to the winning builds confidence theory/fact.
Hutts
Guest
Geeez, lots of SBW Roosters fans on here preaching the Souths hate ! haha, suffer the lot of you - you always have been and always will be FOREVER IN OUR SHADOW ! Mighty Rabbits wqill win the minor premiership with 4 rounds reamining.....and then win the GF v Bulldogs by 13+... SSTID !
Pete
Guest
And again... Write off the storm, NSW still can't acknowledge teams outside NSW. Heard all this through the later part of last year. Storm too old, reliance on too few key players, Souths look too strong, bulldogs hungry, etc... Last years finals said it all, Storm played all three in two finals and the Grand final. Souths, Manly, and Dogs combined in the three games - 22 points Storm over those three games - 78 points. Like a broken record....
matthewthorpe
Roar Pro
umm no souths arent the only team in contention. silly article
cos789
Guest
also, whoever wrote the title... ARE Souths the only real title contender? not is.
Muzza
Guest
Any one of these games could have gone either way(South-Manly, Souths-Cowboys, Manly-Roosters). It could just as easily be souths having lost their last two games and people would be writing them off. You can make a case for any scenario. Manly's disallowed obstruction try, the cowboys had a number of calls go against them. Toss of the coin either way and I bet if these games were played again next week, the results could all go the opposite way. It's just that tight between the top sides. To write anyone off now is just silly. This is why there is so much pressure on the refs, these games were all decided by just a few points and with just a few minutes remaining that one wrong call by them and it can change who wins the game.
MickyBunny
Guest
Glenn Stewart was playing that game
AGO74
Guest
Yep. This time two weeks ago we were all salivating over the storm. Now they are seemingly washed up. And the Dogs were in crisis. Ebbs and flows of the season. See who is up for it in August/sept and make a call. Until then it is all just jostling for positions and trying to make Aug/sept as high up as you can.
Carlos
Guest
I think you will find that the Eels and Panthers are about to hit the go button and burn the competition. Look out for a Panthers Eels GF, with Eels to win 48-42 Top Eight Souths Manly Roosters Raiders Sharks Penrith Storm Parra Dally M - Blake Fergeson :)
eagleJack
Guest
12 men for 10 mins. Missing 5 regular starters is significant. Atleast it was for the Bulldogs when they were losing. Id prefer the opposition to have 14 men on the field if we could just have Snake back. The Manly attack suffers when he isn't sweeping around the back. And his defense at the back is second to none. I don' think NSWelshman is saying the Roosters or Souths are going badly. All he is saying is that it is early days. Which is hard to argue with surely?
paul
Guest
why arent they the real deal MIck?
paul
Guest
oh yer there bubbles will burst PLEASSSE!!!!!! Manly are dads army , you could not beat the roosters with 12 men with all the possession at brrokvale oval. to keep manly to 4 points at brookie which is a graveyard for easts is enough to tell me they will be very hard to beat as will the rabbitohs.
Mushi
Guest
Um the roosters had twelve men, I'm sure they'd take injury over a send off. If it helps you deal with the losses then good on you but can't see your logic why the mighty eagles are oing great and the teams that beat them are in trouble
Sideline Commentator
Guest
Knights in, Cowboys out. Maloney to win Origin. Souths vs. roosters grand final, Souths win 22-16.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Ludicrous - two weeks ago it was "how will anyone beat the Storm?" Things change pretty quickly. Souths have all the right ingredients for a big run this year. Inglis at FB, strong defensive centres, try scoring wingers, smart halves that compliment each other, a monster, mobile forward pack and a dynamic dummy half however they are yet to put together a complete 80 minute performance. They have been fading in and out of games and doing enough to win but to declare them the only genuine premiership contender is overkill.
Jaiden Florimo
Roar Rookie
Long way to go but if you were a punter you would just back Souths every week til they hit a bump in the road..
Dan
Guest
Get over it - it's gambling revenue anyway, so it's not exactly a source of income that anyone should be proud of. In any case, John O'Neil is a business man, and Businessmen - like others - all have their biases and causes. O'Neil is definitely a Union man, and so it would hardly be a shock if he diverted advertising funding to a Super Rugby team, but that doesn't make it underhanded. As for Private schools and League, forget about it. The Private school focus of Union has been it's primary source of weakness in my view; Private schools breed weaker and more fragile men. It's little wonder that the public school attending NRL players have been so much tougher than their union counterparts here for so long. In fact a lot of Kiwis cite that as one of the reasons they dominate us in union - because over there it's played everywhere.
Dan
Guest
Wait what? The Rooster bombed 2 more tries and made a number of clean breaks, and then played the last 10 minutes with a man down against one of the best defensive teams in the comp. So forgive me if I call BS on your claim that they "never looked like scoring". Footy is all about taking your chances, and whilst they could have taken more, they took enough to knock off Manly.
simmo green
Guest
I hope they lose the GF by a field goal with three seconds left in the game. If for no other reason than to rejoice in the resultant disappointment of their repugnant fan base. Souths must surely have the biggest bandwagon since Saints 09/10.