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Opinion
With the NRL season just over a week away, here’s my predicted final ladder for the home-and-away season.
16. Canterbury Bulldogs
The Dogs haven’t put together a roster so much as they have done the R and R equivalent of fishing with a stick of dynamite. They’ll win more than the three games they won last year, but won’t be as tough and combative on a week-to-week basis as they were in 2021.
At least five years away from being a legit top-eight chance, and yes as an Eels tragic that is a smile I have on my face. Have fun next year, Reed Mahoney.
15. Wests Tigers
I went with the devil I know here. When I think of the Tigers, for some reason I just keep getting mental images of a mouse on a running mill.
I have absolutely no confidence that they won’t win the spoon, but the Dogs still don’t have anyone remotely resembling a proper halfback on their roster, so the NRL’s resident nomadic tribe will manage to finish 15th. Then again…
14. North Queensland Cowboys
Could be higher if I’m being truthful, certainly above the Broncos and Dragons, but only if they get even halfway close to value out of the playmaking trio of Chad Townsend, Tom Dearden, and Scott Drinkwater. Valentine Holmes starting at a new position for the third straight season is not a good sign for a guy on his money.
13. Brisbane Broncos
Adam Reynolds will give them some direction and a much better kicking game, but they still lack the creativity in the the other three skill positions. If they win eight games this year and improve their diabolical defence, that will be a success.
12. St George Illawarra Dragons
The best of the bottom five. Their young talent is exciting, but way too raw to influence the results of a team that is still run by the likes of Ben Hunt, Andrew McCullough, Jack de Belin, Tariq Sims, and Josh McGuire. Better years ahead of them, if, and that’s a big if, they remain patient with these young guys. We know how much the Dragons love to sign 30-somethings.
11. Canberra Raiders
Would have been higher, possibly even seventh, until the just released news that prized recruit Jamal Fogarty has a serious knee injury that will see him out until at least August. The Green Machine just can’t take a trick.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
10. New Zealand Warriors
Living out of a suitcase just makes it too hard, especially for a team that just can’t seem to settle on a spine for more than two consecutive seasons it seems. Out of favour now are Kodi Nikorima and Chanel Tevita-Harris, in come former Titans halfback Ash Taylor and prodigal son Shaun Johnson. To make matters worse, the noise that prodigy Reece Walsh wants out just won’t go away.
9. Newcastle Knights
They won’t want to admit it, but I’m guessing they are already missing Mitchell Pearce based on what we saw in the pre-season. This team is starting to look more and more like the Eels teams circa 2009-14 that were heavily reliant on a superstar fullback.
8. Gold Coast Titans
The Titans have some questions to answer, particularly around their spine. The loss of the steadying influence of halfback Jamal Fogarty will be critical when things turn against the Titans, as they inevitably will.
There is a lot of exciting creative talent in the quartet of AJ Brimson, Jayden Campbell, Toby Sexton, and young hooker Aaron Booth, but it’s a very young combination, with few repetitions between them. They are the very definition of a .500 team.
7. Cronulla Sharks
If there is a team to crash the top-six party, I sense it’ll be the Sharkies. Some astute signings, the brightest young coach in the league – they should be better than the scrappy but inconsistent team from the last two years. The halves are a tricky puzzle to solve given that both first choice halves Matt Moylan and Nicho Hynes are essentially five-eighths, but their first choice halfback in Brayden Trindall had a shocking pre-season.
6. South Sydney Rabbitohs
If there is a potential slider out of the top six, it will be the Bunnies, unless Tom Trbojevic misses a large chunk of the season. The loss of Adam Reynolds is obviously significant, and while Lachlan Ilias looks pretty good, as does Blake Taaffe, neither have the experience that Reynolds possesses. This could be the year they take a step back in the pecking order.
5. Manly Sea Eagles
If Turbo is fit for at least 18 games, they should win at least 14 of those. If not…
4. Sydney Roosters
They’ve got too much talent coming back from injury not to be in the top four, but possibly there might be enough coming back from injury to genuinely give the title a shake. 2022 could be their year.
3. Parramatta Eels
I don’t believe in premiership windows per se, but we’re unlikely to have a better chance in the short term. I just have a really good feeling. It’s feeling like 2001 again.
2. Penrith Panthers
Ivan Cleary is pretending to be pissed about the trial result, but be assured they’ll be there again this year.
1. Melbourne Storm
Until they take a serious dive I’m never predicting them to slide out of the top 4.
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