Welcome to crazy season. While the rugby league world’s attention will be captivated by State of Origin over the next six weeks, NRL coaches far and wide will be ripping their hair out with players missing, injuries a certainty and results unpredictable. Here to make sense of it all is The Roar’s NRL expert tipping panel.
Of course, when I talk about results being unpredictable – I mean more than they already were.
Interestingly enough, Origin won’t rip the heart and soul out of the competition as much as it has done in previous years. With Game 2 on a Sunday, the whole period is shortened by a week and players will only be missing for a single game from their club team.
There is one less bye per team, but then, the backing up process – where players can often play off less than 48 hours rest – will still be a major test for clubs to overcome, even without a potential second game without their representative stars.
This week, it’s the Brisbane Broncos, Canterbury Bulldogs, St George Illawarra Dragons, Penrith Panthers, Canberra Raiders, Melbourne Storm, Gold Coast Titans and New Zealand Warriors with byes, while the other eight teams go into battle.
Tim is also requesting a bye after he blew a perfect week by tipping the Gold Coast Titans to beat the Sydney Roosters on the Central Coast last weekend. 85 per cent of The Crowd and all the other experts tipped the Roosters.
Of course, it’s a little difficult to rag on Tim when our mate from the nation’s capital was the only one to correctly guess that the Rabbitohs and Panthers would beat the Warriors and Dragons respectively.
Cody Walker of the Rabbitohs. (AAP Image/Daniel Munoz)
Anyway, Tim had seven last week, further shutting the gap to our leader AJ who got five. That difference is now down to three, while The Crowd are one further back. The less said about Tom and myself, who got four and six respectively last week, the better.
Being down to four games this weekend makes you scratch your head, because what do you do on Saturday afternoon? What do you do while waiting for a 4pm start on Sunday? How about losing the dreaded 6pm game on a Friday? What a shame, say most, their voices dripping with sarcasm.
Regardless, Saturday afternoon without rugby league might seem like a blessing by the time 9:30pm rolls around after we endure the Knights and Eels.
The game of the round though is undoubtedly the Sharks and Rabbitohs. Unfortunately, there are a stack of Origin stars missing, but it looks like, based on form at least, both of those sides are in with a show at the grand final.
North Queensland will travel to Manly on Thursday night with no Trbojevic brothers to face, while if the Tigers are ever going to beat the Roosters, the opportunity has presented itself on a silver platter come Sunday afternoon.
Don’t forget to submit your tips on the form below by 5pm (AEST) to be part of The Crowd as you take on the experts.
Regardless of whatever thought process Tim went through when he took the Titans last week, he is leading us off this week on the back of seven.
Tips: Cowboys, Sharks, Eels, Wests Tigers
Firstly, has come to my attention that on AJ Mithen has been gloating – on the excellent A Sporting Discussion podcast – about his insurmountable lead in this esteemed tipping contest. The words “I won’t be headed” were uttered.
Challenge accepted.
The Cowboys have been struggling this year and don’t go well on the road but the Sea Eagles with no Turbo Brothers are prone. They just don’t have the depth to cover that significant loss, whereas the Cowboys have covered Hess, Cooper and Morgan adequately. The Cows in a close one.
The Cowboys have more players than usual at Origin time. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Gee, only one Shark in sky blue… the likes of Graham and Dugan may have a point to prove. The Weakened Rabbitohs will be no easy beats but the Sharks should have their measure.
Why do I reckon the Eels will win? Because I reckon the Knights are having a crisis of confidence and are a bit broken. No big Herman, no Pearce, no Ross dog. The Eels backline are a bit better. And the eels just must win.
The Roosters will really want payback for their heartbreaking loss to the Wests Tigers earlier this year. But they’ll have to do it without Tedesco, Napa and Mitchell. That’s not insurmountable – especially with players like Frank Paul desperate to grab their chance to get back into first grade. But Ivan’s bus is back at full strength. I want to believe. And I love my Grub.
Tips: Cowboys, Rabbitohs, Eels, Roosters
Without the services of both Trbojevic brothers, Manly look vulnerable. Daly Cherry-Evans will be out to prove a point to the Queensland selectors, but DCE tends to overplay his hand when saddled with the responsibility of carrying his side to victory. The Sea Eagles meet a desperate North Queensland team blessed with the Origin omission of Matt Scott.
Call me crazy, but the forced separation of Thurston and Michael Morgan might be the best thing for the Cowboys right now. It will allow JT to once again control his troops and dictate the tempo of the match. I’m predicting the Cowboys steal a close one.
Over at ANZ Stadium, the Bunnies take on a Sharks team largely unaffected by state commitments. Having Josh Dugan, Matt Moylan and Wade Graham at his disposal was certainly something Shane Flanagan wouldn’t have been expected at the start of the season.
And although Cronulla put the cleaners through Newcastle last weekend, I still don’t think their attack can manufacture enough points to beat South Sydney. The Rabbits should take this one by a couple of meat pies.
Speaking of Newcastle, they are once again untippable. Despite being a Knights supporter, I didn’t jump on the bandwagon over the off-season for fear of a capitulation similar to what we are witnessing now. Without Pearce in the side, it’s all on Ponga. Sides are working this out and shutting him down. Expect Parramatta to do the same.
The Knights (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
And although the Roosters have once again been ravaged by the New South Wales selectors, the depth of their roster is only matched by that of Nick Politis’ pockets. They still have Cronk, and that’s good enough for me. The Tigers are only averaging 15.67 points per game this season, and I don’t think that’ll be enough to topple the Chooks.
Tips: Sea Eagles, Sharks, Eels, Tigers
Manly came away from Canberra bristling after they blew what should have been a win and it’s safe to say the Cowboys felt the same after their wrestle against the Storm. This week Manly are Trbojevicless but hooker Api Koroisau is back, this tips them over the top for me against a North Queensland side staggering already and now missing Matt Scott, Michael Morgan, Gavin Cooper and Coen Hess.
Cronulla will be more than pleased that they’ve only lost one player to Origin as Val Holmes heads to Melbourne. The Sharks should feast on an undermanned bunnies, thoroughly weakened by the ‘reward’ of Greg Inglis, Dane Gagai, Damien Cook and Angus Crichton being on rep camp. Cronulla can use the Origin weeks to lock themselves into a top four spot and it starts here.
Now I’ll be honest- Eels v Knights isn’t really a game I want to watch but with only four matches on offer this weekend I guess I’ll grab a litre of Jamesons and put myself through it. I pray the combined lack of defence results in some spectacular tries. Eels win, but no one cares.
Hey Roosters fans! How exciting will it be to watch James Tedesco absolutely tearing it up next Wednesday? It might be the only time you’ll get to see it happen this year, much like Wests fans in 2017. The Roosters are gutted by Origin and it couldn’t come at a worse time with the club teetering on the fringes of the eight.
Without Tedesco, Latrell Mitchell, Boyd Cordner and Dylan Napa it’s time for Trent Robinson and the understudies to really earn their pay. The Roosters have enough troubles without having to face a reasonably settled Tigers squad and the Tigers will be ripe to grab this opportunity to jump them.
Tips: Sea Eagles, Rabbitohs, Knights, Tigers
Ah, Origin. Flip a coin and see which way it comes up, right?
But no, seriously. The Cowboyus are going to be desperate to start the round at Manly, but haven’t we been saying that for the last couple of months? This time Matt Scott is back on the sidelines, their Origin players are out and they have to travel to Manly.
Johnathan Thurston is a freak, but he isn’t going to do a LeBron James and pull this one out of the fire.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs will be the next team tasked with breaking the Sharks now six-game winning streak. It’s virtually the only reason I’ll tip the red, white and green. On paper, with so many Origin players out, they should lose, but Cronulla have a way of losing games they should win and are overdue for a number in the ‘L’ column.
Of course, Robbie Farah in the number nine doesn’t fill me with a great deal of confidence.
Robbie Farah (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Skip Saturday for a moment and fast forward to Sunday. The tri-colours are down a heap of stars, including Latrell Mitchell and James Tedesco, while the Tigers are virtually at full strength. If they won’t get the win at Allianz on Sunday, questions must be asked of the Tigers approach and where their forward planning is currently taking them.
The other game? God, who cares was my first impression.
Newcastle and Parramatta, both struggling, both at the wrong end of the ladder and while Mitchell Pearce sits on the sideline at least, both unlikely to feature in September action.
The Eels might be at ‘home’, but the atmosphere will be dead at the giant Homebush stadium. Parramatta just haven’t done anything to suggest they are going to pull a win out of the fire anytime soon, so I’m going to take the Knights, who must turn things around one way or another. Their defence has been a key weakness, but if they can tighten that up, confidence should grow in the Nathan Brown-coached side.
| Round 13 | Tim | Tom | AJ | Scott | The Crowd |
| SEA v COW | COW | COW | SEA | SEA | SEA |
| RAB v SHA | SHA | RAB | SHA | RAB | SHA |
| EEL v KNI | EEL | EEL | EEL | KNI | EEL |
| ROO v TIG | TIG | ROO | TIG | TIG | TIG |
| Last week | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Total | 58 | 49 | 61 | 48 | 57 |
Crowd tipping will close at 5pm (AEST) on Thursday evening. Be sure to submit your tips on the form below before then to make your opinion count as part of The Crowd.
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