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Opinion
After a bland Round 15 in which every favourite managed to get home, Round 16 may have unearthed some genuine contenders as well as exposed some pretenders of weeks gone by.
It all started on Thursday night with the Eels taking on the Rabbitohs and getting completely shut out at home 38-0.
It’s been a long time coming for the Eels and was maybe the wake-up call they needed with the finals looming. They’ve been getting the job done week to week, but it has been far from convincing. They were narrowly beaten by the Dragons, just got home in the wet against the Sharks and narrowly won against the Bulldogs. Even last week against the Storm they posted just two tries, and while they held the Storm to nil, the absences in their side were glaring.
Parramatta have been in the top four most of the season but are well and truly under threat from teams on the rise. The Rabbitohs, Raiders and Roosters all experienced solid wins on the weekend and are right on the Eels’ tail as far as the ladder is concerned. The Eels face the resurgent Warriors this weekend and the Panthers in the run home, and the Tigers and Broncos round out their draw. They got off to a great start this year but have plenty of work to do.
A 38-0 loss isn’t what you want at this stage of the season. Parramatta need to find a win this weekend if they are serious about a top-four finish and a premiership tilt. The questions that have lingered over their credentials all season continue to linger. They have the strike power in attack and can pour on the points quickly. But get into a scrap with them and go set for set, and you are every chance of coming away with a win.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
In talking about the Eels you can’t go past the Rabbitohs, whose past fortnight couldn’t have been better. Wiley old Wayne Bennett has had his team bullying lesser opposition all year but in big games fumbling for form. They have been scintillating in wins against the Sea Eagles and Eels, with an aggregate score of 94-16. This is when you want to be peaking, and while the Eels are doing the opposite, Souths may be on the way up.
There is no better time to be taking on the Storm than now for the Bunnies. It’s an opportunity to ram home their status as a contender for the top four and the premiership. Latrell Mitchell may be a big loss when he was really starting to find form, but this Souths team has had plenty of firepower all year. Damien Cook and Cody Walker are finding their running game, and Adam Reynolds just needs to do what he does best in kicking strongly in general play and off the tee. It is a massive game for the Rabbitohs this week and will define their season.
(Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)
Over at the SCG on Friday night we saw the Roosters make a statement against the Broncos as much as you can against a side that offers so little at present. They had ten tries and looked strong all over the park. This was a team still without Luke Keary and with Sonny Bill Williams yet to lace up the boot for the Tricolours.
This is the team to beat. They have weathered the storm of injuries and remain in fourth position. The Panthers may be playing well, but this is a side that knows how to win football matches when it matters most. Williams is the great unknown and X factor that gives them yet another edge. Trent Robinson knows that if he can get them anywhere in the top four, they can beat anyone. It would give them a week off and two games to win to achieve a historic third straight premiership.
In a massive round to come, if they can beat the Raiders in Canberra this week, they can further cement a spot in the top four.
On Saturday, another contender who has stumbled along quietly without too much criticism, the Knights, were beaten by a Warriors team looking at a remarkable finals berth. The Knights weren’t just beaten; they were embarrassed 36-6 by a Warriors team who have quietly accumulated four wins from their last five games. Their only loss was a narrow one to the Panthers. The Panthers had ten line drop-outs in that game and only just got home.
The Knights, like the Eels, have been notching wins, but not all that convincing ones, and they’ve been stumbling against lowly opposition. You can toss up the injury card, with the halves changing week on week for the Knights, but the fact of the matter is that Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga should be leading this side to victory each week. They have the status, experience and skills to do so, but at present in big matches they don’t look like they have the ability to win big games.
The Warriors – well, does any side deserve success more right now? The sacrifice they have made this season has been second to none, and now they have put themselves in a position to stay a little longer in Australia this year. They would be eyeing off this week’s game against the Eels knowing they can win. They are a team high on confidence taking on a team with their confidence rattled.
The Knights and the Sharks are the low hanging fruit for the Warriors, and they take on each other this week. The equation is this: the Warriors have to win every game and have either the Sharks or Knights win only once. If they win three games, they must hope the Knights or Sharks finish the season without winning again. The for-and-against for the Warriors is so bad they can’t factor it in too much.
The Warriors have to keep winning and hope the Sharks or Knights perform a Steven Bradbury-like stuff-up in the run home. But at the moment the Warriors wouldn’t look out of place in a finals series, especially after seeing off the Knights on the weekend.
(Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)
On Sunday we saw the Raiders and Storm get home against less fancied opposition with big games coming up this weekend. The Storm just did what they do best with key personnel back on deck: they got in front and squeezed the life out of Manly, defying them any opportunity despite the Sea Eagles looking good early on. The Storm are talked about as premiership contenders, but they just lack that edge the Panthers and Roosters have.
They are professional, tough and gritty, and they do what the Storm are renowned for. But I don’t know if they have that drive or are as dynamic as the Roosters or Panthers. Cameron Smith went out there on Sunday and just did his job, kicked strongly, led the team around and hardly broke a sweat. There just wasn’t that fizz we saw from other teams who really stood up over the weekend – that fizz their opposition, the Rabbitohs, have had over the past fortnight.
Two of the most successful coaches of all time, Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett, this week. It’s going to be such a telling match, with the Rabbitohs looking for the all-so-important top-four berth and the Storm looking to stay there.
The Raiders rounded out the round by rounding up the Bulldogs at home. Down 20-12 at halftime, they scored twice with Tom Starling in the bin and piled on the pressure late to keep the Bulldogs on the bottom of the ladder. The Raiders have been quietly been going about their business of late. They are another team that, aside from a loss to the white-hot Panthers, have lost just one from their last seven games.
They have already beaten the Roosters once this year and will look to do it again at home this week. If they win, it would leapfrog them from fifth into fourth with three rounds to play. The Raiders have their big guns firing and just about everyone fit. Josh Hodgson was a big loss, but that has shown to be less of an issue than many first thought. They have proven they can compete without him and should believe they are every chance of winning this week.
This round of NRL is one not to miss. The Rabbitohs and Raiders look to confirm their resurgence and win against quality opposition in their pursuit for a top-four finish. The Eels need to get a win against the resurgent Warriors to reaffirm their place in the top four. The Warriors need a win to keep their finals dream alive. The Knights and Sharks do battle in a key clash to put more distance between themselves and the Warriors.
Just when you think you know how the story is going to end in the NRL, everything changes. Their are some twists and turns to come yet this season, with the ladder still wide open.
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