The Roar’s NRL expert tips and predictions: Round 8

Five straight days of footy. Seriously, is there anything better? Welcome to The Roar‘s NRL expert tipping panel for Round 8, with another difficult round on the cards

First and foremost though, Lest We Forget. Today simply isn’t about the footy as we pay our respects to those who served and continue to do so in the present day to protect the freedom we take for granted in this country.

Anzac Day footy has become a tradition though, with the Dragons and Roosters playing out some belters over the years.

For the second year in a row, the Dragons come in with a six and one record, which, knowing how history played out is reasonably scary for supporters of the Red V.

Still, their game last year was a belter, going to extra time.

The other Anzac Day game, which is fast becoming a tradition in itself, will see the Storm take on the Warriors, with both the Dragons and Warriors off five-day turnarounds travelling back from Auckland after the Warriors beat the Dragons last weekend.

Thursday night will see the Rabbitohs, looking to make it two straight, but again without Sam Burgess, take on the – wait for it. Brisbane Broncos.

I know, the shock almost knocked me off my chair! The Broncos on free-to-air?

But anyway, it’s set to be a good clash, with both sides desperate to build some momentum, while another two games will be played on Friday with the Sea Eagles taking on the Knights for the second time this season and the Panthers hosting the Bulldogs at the foot of the mountains.

That leaves just three games for the actual weekend – why they are playing a double-header on Friday night is beyond me.

Saturday brings another chance for the Sharks to build some form against the struggling Titans, before the Cowboys square off with the Raiders in Townsville.

The round ends with a single game on Sunday, and an incredibly difficult one to tip, with the in-form Tigers taking on the Eels, who are coming off their first win of the season.

In a stark change from recent rounds, I actually had a semi-decent week, getting five games, while AJ continues to lead, scoring another five.

AJ is going so well, he has moved clear of The Crowd by one, who got four last week. Tim and Tom got three apiece, with Tom now joining me at the absolute bottom of the pile in terms of overall tipping. Oh joy!

Don’t forget to submit your tips on the form below by 3pm (AEST) to be part of The Crowd as you take on the experts.

Special thanks to the experts as well for all racing their tips in after I completely forgot about the fact there was footy on Wednesday and, you know, didn’t email any of them till 5pm yesterday.

It’ll be AJ to kick us off.

AJ Mithen

Tips: Dragons, Storm, Rabbitohs, Knights, Panthers, Sharks, Cowboys, Eels
An elongated round kicks off with the ANZAC Day double header. I’m taking St George’s consistency over the Roosters solid defence, but these games are usually very tight.

In Melbourne, there’s been some big outs for the home team with Suliasi Vunivalu and Jesse Bromwich missing. But with Solomone Kata, Shaun Johnson and now Tohu Harris out, the Warriors are coming into this one with one arm tied behind their back. Harris is a massive loss, he’d been immense so far this season. Storm win.

The Bunnies are a good side in form. The Broncos are a good side out of luck. It’s a critical two points on the line and the Bunnies with a more settled approach (even without Burgess) should be enough to get Brisbane.

Newcastle are a joy to watch. But without their attacking fulcrum Mitchell Pearce, it’s up to Connor Watson to kick the joy along. Manly are most definitely not in a joyful mood, stuck in a glass case of emotion entirely of their own making. Nathan Brown’s men to get the away win.

Canterbury fought bloody hard against the Roosters and they’d have to feel some kind of satisfaction about keeping them to just six points – what’s not so good is the doughnut they produced themselves. The Panthers are looking for more wins to stay among the top four contenders and that’s what will happen on Friday night.

Did you know the last five matchups between Gold Coast and Cronulla have played out two wins each plus a draw? The Titans beat the Sharks on both occasions last year, so they should fancy themselves. But after their stinker in Townsville last week, I don’t fancy them – Sharks win.

Parramatta came to life finally last weekend, playing with the freedom that only the wooden spoon can provide. Wests got pipped in a beauty by Newcastle which showed up one small chink in the great wall of Ivan – unstructured attack can cause the Tigers defence to second guess itself. If the Eels can keep the flair and unpredictability up, they’re a massive shot.

Tim Gore

Tips: Dragons, Storm, Rabbitohs, Sea Eagles, Panthers, Sharks, Cowboys, Eels
Let’s get the bleeding obvious out of the way. I’m tipping against my Raiders because that might be what it takes to get them over the line this weekend in Townsville. I’m very superstitious.

Anyway, the rest.

The Dragons got beat and beat good last week. They’ll be better for that and are better than the Roosters man for man. The Warriors have too many missing to beat the Storm at home. They’ll give it a good crack though.

The Rabbitohs attack looked pretty good last week. While they are minus a prime Burgii, the rest of the team is looking good. No McCullough for the Broncs is a huge out.

The Sea Eagles need to respond to all the crap that’s happening right now. Add to that, the Knights just lost their playmaker for an extended period. Life won’t be easy.

The Panthers are at home and the Dogs can’t score. I’m going with Jimmy and the boys to beat the dogs.

The Sharks have better depth and are only missing Gallen. I’ll go Cronulla away in a tight one.

The Eels seemed to click last week. I reckon that clicking might last.

Tom Rock

Tips: Dragons, Storm, Broncos, Manly, Penrith, Titans, Cowboys, Eels
If there’s a better way to spend a Wednesday afternoon than feasting on a festival of rugby league, then I haven’t heard about it. Kicking off Round 8 is the traditional ANZAC Day grudge match between the Dragons and Roosters, and for the first time in years, St George Illawarra will enter the contest as favourites.

And deservedly so. Their forward pack has been downright dominant this year, and will once again prove too much for the big uglies up front for the Roosters. In the other ANZAC encounter, Melbourne will continue their blistering form by serving up New Zealand a steaming hot dose of reality.

South Sydney have been sensational over the last fortnight, but for some reason I’m just not sold on them as genuine Top 8 contenders. And without the services of Sam Burgess, I don’t think the Bunnies will have the firepower up front to contain the Broncos.

The loss of Mitchell Pearce will prove too much for the Knights to overcome when they front up against a desperate Manly side, the Cowboys will continue their resurgence with a big home victory against the reeling Raiders, and the Penrith Panthers will get back on track with a narrow win over the offensively challenge Bulldogs.

As for the Eels, only a fool would tip against them after their season saving savagery last weekend, so I will go for the Tigers. Their defence is better than Parramatta’s attack.

And finally in Tom “Rock Solid” tip of the week, I’m betting the house on the Gold Coast toppling the mighty Cronulla Sharks. This is the exact kind of “against the odds” match which the Titans always seem to win and the Sharks somehow manage to lose. So why fight fate?

Scott Pryde

Tips: Roosters, Storm, Broncos, Sea Eagles, Panthers, Sharks, Cowboys, Tigers
I know what you’re thinking. Scott, tipping against the Dragons? Surely that’s a misprint.

Well, let me guarantee you it’s not. How the Red V can be expected to get back up from a five-day turnaround and flight back from Auckland is anyone’s guess. The Roosters only had an extra 24 hours, but without a flight, they should be right to get stuck in and take the Anzac Day cup.

The other Wednesday game should be pretty one-sided. It’s really quite difficult to see the Storm losing this one, despite how well the Warriors defended last week. Melbourne appeared to be somewhere near their best and should grab this one.

Put it in fast forward for a moment, because the other game intriguing me this week is the Eels and Tigers. It’s a tough one to tip, with Parramatta off their first win of the season. They still have lots to improve on though and even after their loss last week, the great wall of Ivan should hang on.

I haven’t really liked the look of Brisbane or South Sydney for much of the year. Without Andrew McCullough, it’s tough to tip Wayne Bennett’s side, but I will anyway.

Manly and Newcastle is another game which could go either way, based on who turns up to play. The Sea Eagles have all sorts of off-field issues and have looked awful for the last two weeks, but they have to turn it around at some point and the Knights without Pearce doesn’t fill me with great confidence.

I’ll take Penrith to get the job over Canterbury at home in the other Friday game, while the Sharks should beat a struggling Titans and the Cowboys will get the better of the Raiders at home.

Crowd tipping will close at 3pm (AEST) ahead of the opening game of the round. Be sure to submit your tips on the form below before then to make your opinion count as part of The Crowd.