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Opinion
The NRL season is just a month away and here is Part 2 of my analysis of where each NRL team will finish in 2022.
14. New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors have shown some of the best fake advertising over the last few years as they usually begin the season with promise, however then fall off in the second half of campaigns. Last season, the Warriors continued their trend as they began the season four from eight.
This isn’t totally appealing, however, they defeated the Raiders in one of the greatest comebacks I can remember. The wheels soon fell off, as they lost nine out of their next ten matches. This completely threw them out of finals contention and they finished the year off being thrashed by the Titans and finishing 12th.
The Kiwis will welcome back Shaun Johnson as he signed a two-year deal worth around $450,000 per season. Besides this signing there is not really any other large gain.
Ashley Taylor has joined on a one-year contract, although he is not predicted to have a place anywhere in the Round 1 team. The loss of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will obviously place a huge dint in the leadership of this team as he was a great calmer and controller on the field.
The Warriors have simply not been able to keep some of their most valuable players including Ken Maumalo, Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Peta Hiku, David Fusitu’a, and young Sean O’Sullivan. New Zealand has blatantly lost most of their future and part of this is because of the COVID dramas which is certainly understandable, and we have to respect how this organisation and players have kept this league alive during the recent pandemic.
Despite the amount of support they deserve for what they’ve done, there aren’t many positives at the moment and due to their current roster I see them as a bottom-four team.
13. St George Illawarra Dragons
The Dragons are coming off another disappointing year as they finished in the bottom eight for the third time in four years. Finishing 11th, they failed to reach a lot of people’s expectations, however I was not one of them as I had them predicted wooden spooners.
The Dragons have lately failed in trying to keep players, as in 2022 they will be without Matthew Dufty, Adam Clune, Cameron McInnes, and Paul Vaughan, along with some known role players.
How badly will the loss of Dufty hurt the Dragons? (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
The loss of Matthew Dufty is a hard shot in the stomach as he was supposed to be arguably the most important part of what many were calling a ‘rebuild’. McInnes obviously signed a deal with Cronulla in February 2021 and unfortunately suffered an injury soon after which forced his absence in his final year in the Red V.
His leadership, which was shown in 2021, will be missed as St George looked lost in parts of the year. On the bright side of things, the board have signed some sparky players including Moses Suli, Moses Mbye, and Jaydn Su’a. All three of these guys are set to be in the Round 1 team and Su’a and Suli will line-up in the starting side.
Young gun Tyrell Sloan has scored five tries in his six career appearances and will play fullback this season which I think is the right choice.
Talatau Amone will partner Ben Hunt in the halves as Corey Norman retired in December after failing to receive a new deal.
This team is filled with a few young guns and some veterans. I don’t think much true leadership is at the club right now and I feel like they’re a bottom-six team.
I can see them beating the Warriors in the standings as it seems like the Dragons just have a better roster at the current time.
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