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Season 2018 is a roughie’s year. It’s a year that has so far tossed up some hair-raising results and unexpected scenarios for fans and administrators across the NRL spectrum.
Teams who struggled in the past are running strong. Players who were seen as junk by one club have become another club’s treasure.
In betting terms life’s been good to the ones who have had a little extra on the line in 2018.
But what about the ones on the other side of the ledger? The players, the fans and the administrators who are sweating bullets and chomping their collective fingernails as the charges they’ve backed in 2018 have been left flailing at the starting gates with little to no hope of returning to the field?
A quick scan of this group of underachievers has a few notable names rearing their heads above the rest and are worth pointing out to the game’s everyday punters.
As a starter, let’s look at the Bulldogs. The proud and loud Bankstown club is currently sitting in second last with little to no visible light at the end of the deep tunnel in which they currently reside.
The blue and white army were by and large unhappy with Des Hasler as their club’s coach by the middle of 2017 and felt that their front row warrior, James Graham, was not offering the punch he once did.
(AAP Image/Paul Miller)
The club’s hierarchy agreed, so by the end of 2017 Des had his bags packed for him, crowd favourite Josh Reynolds was allowed to walk out the back door and James was offloaded to the Dragons.
Replacing the now departed Belmore trio, Dean Pay, Aaron Woods and Kieran Foran were handed the keys to the kennel at Belmore.
Many were optimistic about the arrival of the new recruits, particularly coach Pay. A new team mentor with different ideas is what was needed at the Bulldogs, according to many of the club’s faithful fans.
On paper Aaron Woods had been a good player at the Tigers. He was the then New South Wales and Australian prop and was good mates with fellow prop David Klemmer.
Foran is a premiership winner and a hardened leader when fit and firing.
But since the trio’s arrival at Canterbury not one of them have landed a punch. It’s clear that Foran is not the player he once was; Woods has made a mockery of Supercoach stats, proving they are unreliable indicators of game impact; and Dean Pay has shown that new bells and whistles aren’t always the solution.
It must be a real kick in the wheels for Bulldogs fans to see the likes of James Graham leading and playing well at the Dragons while his 2018 replacement, Woods, is flopping harder than a pancake on Tuesdays.
The Bulldogs board have backed the wrong mares in 2018 and will be punished for it too. They won’t make the eight this season and they can forget about 2019 as well.
(Will Russell/Getty Images)
Then we have Manly. The Northern Beaches club’s current troubles are well documented. Cap woes, player turmoil and sloppy on-field outings have muddied the 2018 season beyond repair.
One of the more notable controversies coming out of Brookvale is the Daly Cherry-Evans and Jackson Hastings blow-up.
The club fought hard to keep Cherry-Evans from going to the Titans. Backing him to the hilt, the team moved on older players who were rumoured not to have seen eye to eye with the crafty number seven. They also gave him the captaincy. But for the third time in his career Cherry-Evans is at the centre of allegations involving team splits and player unrest.
It has been suggested that he didn’t get on well with some of the Queensland players when he was playing State of Origin.
There were supposed issues with Manly legends Glenn and Brett Stewart, and now there is the public Jackson Hastings squabble which has seen Manly coach Trent Barrett come out and indirectly back Cherry-Evans.
As a result Cherry-Evans’s golden boy image is currently taking a battering. The Hastings debacle and Manly’s on-field performances have landed some big punches on Cherry-Evans, which are causing things around him to sink very quickly. It certainly appears Manly and the club’s coach have backed the wrong yearling to lead their team forward over the next decade.
(AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)
How about the James Maloney-Matt Moylan swap? What a bargain if you’re a Panthers follower!
Penrith have managed to get the equivalent of a BMW coupe for their Daihatsu Charade. Maloney is a proven winner, a smart tactician, an on-field leader and a lucky charm.
On the other side, Moylan is an injury-plagued and troubled 27-year-old who still gets spoken about like he’s a teenager. He’s won precisely diddly squat, yet Cronulla thought they were getting a fair trade.
Gus Gould must have thought all his Steedens had come at once when the two playmakers traded places.
Shane Flanagan has put his money at the wrong gelding, which will see the Sharks finish behind the mountain men in 2018 as a result.
These are just a few of the calamities clubs, players, coaches and fans have seen this season, and there are plenty more to talk about too. Anthony Milford over Ben Hunt, anyone?
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