Just four weeks separate us from the present day and finals football in the NRL – and this year’s finals race is heating up big time.
Last saw weekend saw the puzzle pieces shift once more; the Warriors kept their pulse alive with a win over Manly, Newcastle were all but buried following a loss to Parramatta, while the Tigers suffered a huge blow after dropping two huge points to the Bulldogs.
With a six teams arguably still in contention for the final two top eight spots – and a host of crucial matches set to come – who’ll still be standing when the home-and-away season ends?
We were joined by Roar rugby league expert AJ Mithen on the Game of Codes podcast to look at the run home and make a call on who snaps up those crucial last finals spots.
Listen to the debate:
There are plenty of key matches set to decide finals fates all around the league over the last month, starting with Friday night’s Broncos-Panthers blockbuster in Brisbane.
Round 23 sees the Sharks tackle the Warriors and the Tigers tackle the Knights, two matches that will likely see the finals hopes of the losers extinguished, before the last round of the season throws up two belters in Tigers-Sharks and Panthers-Knights.
Visit our Game of Codes hub to catch the full episode and be sure to subscribe and review on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever else you’re listening.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
Made his comeback for Norths on Saturday. Didn’t see the game but they won 62-14 and he bagged a try. Would like to see him back in the halves. Was looking the goods the game he got injured.
elvis
Roar Rookie
"tightest NRL finals race in years" ????? What, tighter than 4 teams finishing on 34 points and 4 teams finishing on 32 points last year? How do you even get any tighter? The Storm already has this year's minor premiership locked up and spots down to 6 in the finals aren't going anywhere. The last few games just see who are in the bottom 2 of the eight and sort the order of places 2 - 6.
Albo
Roar Rookie
All you Bronco supporters out there ... anyone know what is happening with Sean O'Sullivan and his injury ? He seems to have disappeared off injury lists ? Is he coming back or is he gone for the year ?