NRL team rankings after Round 2

Regardless of the 'soft' win against Newcastle and you neat up the weak Newcastle backline defence - the reality is Souths took advantage of what I deem sub-standard defence for an NRL team. Brown for all his S/L performances where defence is secondary, has to learn that in this competition defence is more important. This is also the Tigers weak link - the way Manly went through their outside backs last Monday is why they can't be rated as top 8 material yet. I did not miss Alex Johnson as a rep player which downplays your creditability. As for spelling - if that is where you want to go to make a comment, by all means make yourself feel better, does not faze me at all. I'll take on boar the player misspells but it doesn’t change the context of the comments. As for the Maguire lessons - his ‘bash and bash’ playbook last season saw key players out injured for long stretches. His tinkering with halves combos - i.e. Glen Stewart whilst an injury solution, the forward pack was weakened and workload for the rest of the forwards was over taxing. The team played 'jaded' for a large part when Reynolds was out. Maguire should have learnt something from this and their early finals exit should have been his wakeup call. Sam Burgess has made a difference this season - but at his current work rate how long before he goes on the injured roster playing this 'bash and bash' playbook?

Let us be a bit honest - the seven I named from 2014 were seasoned players - Alex Johnston is hardly what I'd call a genuine international, the same with Tom ... and Dane Nielson played SOO to covered injured players in a team of champions ... hardly a player who can change a games direction. But I'll give you credit for the error on my part in not recognising these 'low' key players as having played some International/SOO league. Just to oil the conversation a bit more - how would those players rate up against Luke, Tuqiri,. Te'o and McQueen ... your roster is weaker omn whatever scale you measure it by.

I said 'Nathan Brown is in trouble' - you're the one suggesting that means 'his head is on the chopping block'. I'm suggesting he has limited options arising from his player roster, they lost Beau Scott from last season and a few retirements and overseas transfers. Presumably - Brown has come with a plan. He knew his roster and has to come up with a game plan to be competitive if only to make the fans believe they have a future. As an example, Gagai came with big wraps and on field performances, yet this season he is deemed a senior player and his on-field performances, in both attack [understandable given the limited options presented], and defence which is all on his choices, are hardly in tune with his previous season efforts. The Safiti brothers look promising and players he could build upon. But when the talent well is dry, all a coach can do is tell his troops to tackle their hearts out and earn opposition respect through their defence. Brown is coming from some success with Super League where defence is ordinary at best, this will be a test for him.

Hi Rossco, putting ratings aside for the moment, let me ask/probe your response so hopefully you will get to see the real picture as opposed to your fan based comment. Firstly - Souths came back from the World Cup victory last year and looked unbeatable for 3 rounds, smashing the Broncos in the first round. Then they suffered injuries - Reynolds went out for 12 weeks or so. By Rd 6 or so when Parramatta touched them up, the brutality of the Souths power game plan was impacting and players were turning up with tired bodies. Players were hurting and this season they have not changed their style. The addition of Sam Burges has rallied his team mates given how they finished last season when beaten, injured, and tired warriors. This physical game they play will hurt them as the season develops. I have a theory - the Burges brothers last season were a fraction of their form from the previous season. Big Sam has influence over George and his twin, and they will perform better because of it this season. At Club level, Inglis does what he has to, he is a different player on the SOO arena. I'm disappointed at the Reynolds injury - his form in that game had me thinking SOO again this season before his injury last season ruined his chances. He was never the same force when he came back last season. Let’s hope this season is not a repeat performance. Their win against the Roosters is proving hollow given their backup performance against Canberra. Thrashing Newcastle is also no biggie and a reason to get excited. Their roster is not what is has been in the past – how many SOO or International players do they have as compared to their 2014 season? I counted 7 – [Inglis, Tuqiri, Luke [did not play GF], Burges [G], Burges [S], Te’o, McQueen]. The current roster has 3 - [Burges x2 and Inglis.] So this early in the season Souths are still to prove themselves and whilst Burges is a big factor, McGuire has not really grown or learnt any lessons from the issues of last season. Cheers TE-BO.

Davico - these ratings are nothing personal - and to ask you a question - when you watch the Tigers play, do you feel the opposition will always threaten to score with ease? The Tigers defence last night as it was the previous week against the Warriors was woeful ... those attempts to tackle Martin Taupau were disgraceful, Moses' miss on Walker would be a sacking offence in many other teams. I enjoy watching the Tigers style of football and Tedesco is the most exciting player in the comp. He feeds of Brooks and Moses but when they come up a defence structure against the higher rated teams, do you think they will have the freedom to play as they do? In seasons past, when was the last time Tigers beat a team like Storm, Broncos, Cowboys, Bulldogs, and even Souths and did it with their defence? Manly and Warriors coach's are babes trying to make a mark in the 'big show' - until the Tigers can prove they can win games with their defence, they will never be top 8 contenders. I don't need ratings to know this. Happy to be proven wrong as the season develops.

Happy to do so Ken, but I have to add all Ratings based assessments are in the eyes of the beholder. I'll try to give some insight ... Firstly, the ratings expressed in the article are Team Ratings based on player and Coach ratings. Each Team has it 'Best team' 1-17 from their roster, injured and suspended players remain in the 'Best Team' until their season is done. Each week substitute players are assessed individually for the injured/suspended player. When replacements do a better job and take over the mantle of previous 'Best Player' permanent changes are made to the 'Best Team' selection. Secondly - each 'Best Player' in each position is rated on 4 scales - Attack, Defence, Spine contribution, and their 'kicking' game in general play. Each game the player’s performance is assessed and modifications made if deemed necessary - either increase or decrease rating. Weekly adjustments are usually limited to [+/- .5] increments. The way this player rating system works is based on the 'Best Player' in the NRL competition in each position and game strength. Each of these players would receive a maximum [5] rating, and all other players are rated 0-5 as compared with the 'Best Player'. i.e. For example - Billy Slayer would be the best defensive fullback player in the game, whereas Tedesco would be the best attacking fullback. In my ratings Tedesco gets a 5 in attack, but only scores a 2 in defence. Slater gets a 5 in defence, and a 4 in attack. This happens for each player in every position in every team. So pre-season is a lot of research and effort, and week to week updates are continual based on player performances. Off the back of last night’s game, and Brooks performance, his positional and spine ratings went up, but his defence rating went down. Goal kickers get their own ratings as well. In addition to the player ratings, from Rd 5-6, 'STATS' ratings are introduced based on previous Rd's played in 2016. These stats are compiled from the NRL website and each 'Match' Stat is entered for each team and then averaged against all the other teams. The Team's Stats rating is calculated on their Team performance benchmarked against the NRL averages using a number variable for comparison. Home and Away performances are included in this Stat calculation. I hope this helps ... but to explain further would really be about comparing ratings analysis and I've been doing this for 30 years across many different sports [Racing, NRL and others], and was first used when I was a Financial Markets operative and trader. I do know what I am doing, and often put my money where my opinion is when Odds, ratings, conditions are all in alignment. Cheers TE-BO