Fearless predictions: Munster for Dally M, Tigers avoid spoon, Sharks to make GF

It’s hard to believe this is my 11th year of putting what little credibility I do have, on the line. Yet here we are, once again on the eve of a rugby league season, and ready to look like a fool come October – perhaps even sooner – by making my annual fearless NRL predictions.

After a couple of scintillating years of predictions, I came back to earth with a thud last season, only getting one prognostication correct.

To be fair, even that score required some questionable mathematics usually reserved for those that manage the Roosters’ salary cap.

So, I’m looking to bounce back in 2022, which means it’s time for the fateful drum roll, please!

1. Cameron Munster will win Dally M

The wild child of the NRL has been on his best behaviour since being caught on camera in a hotel room having a very good time with an “unknown substance”. He’s done a stint in rehab, gotten off the booze, and had the requisite “never looked fitter” quote from Storm officials splashed all across the news.

The Melbourne five-eighth is a superstar footballer when he’s focused. Talent has never been the concern with Munster, so if he actually remains committed to being – well, committed – he could be in for a dominating year.

A point to prove. An attitude adjustment. A lifestyle improvement. His next big contract on the horizon. All the ingredients are there for a monster Munster season.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

2. Wests Tigers won’t get wooden spoon

I’ve made at least 55 fearless predictions over the years, and probably more when you throw in the two-for-ones, along with the odd bonus prediction. Yet this is undoubtedly the boldest one I’ve ever made.

The Tigers are unbackable favourites to finish dead last on the ladder, paying just $3.50.

To put that in context, if a team – in a competition of 16 – was paying $3.50 to finish on top of the ladder, you’d assume they were an absolute powerhouse. Well, the Tigers are clearly whatever the opposite of that is. An outhouse, perhaps?

A lacklustre roster, a coach on the hot seat, and a club hierarchy that constantly faces criticism that they’re a shambles. There’s not really too much to be optimistic about for Tigers fans.

They won’t have heavy competition for the spoon because, unfortunately, there’s plenty of bad teams in the NRL in 2022 so take the field against the Tigers to come last.

3. The NRL will lose games to COVID-19

Not the most pleasant prediction, but a prediction, nonetheless. The NRL did a fantastic job to be the first pro sporting competition in the world to get back on the park during the first COVID-19 outbreak, and while you may question the importance of playing football during a global pandemic, you can’t deny it was an impressive effort to do so.

Since then, we’ve had more outbreaks, new variants, additional lockdowns and border closures, making it very hard to run a competition that spans two countries, and multiple states. Yet through it all, the NRL kept its ‘product’ alive and able to be consumed by its hungry fanbase.

Yet in 2022, the NRL will lose some games due to a new outbreak. You read it here first. Or maybe you didn’t. Fine. But you still read it here.

4. A coach, or two, will get fired mid-season

It’s not nice to make fun of people’s pending unemployment, so we won’t. However, it’s my morbid prediction that two head coaches will be sacked during the 2022 NRL season.

I was going to play it relatively safe and say one coach, but they don’t call me ‘Fearless Ryan’ for nothing. Actually, no one calls me that, but be that as it may, it’s time to put my neck on the chopping block, and say two coaches actually will suffer the same fate.

Which coaches? Well, there’s another article for another day. That’s a veteran move right there; no point halving my Roar pay packet.

Braden Hamlin-Uele of the Sharks stands over Jack Williams during their post-try celebration. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

5. Sharks will make grand final with Fitzgibbon coach of the year

It’s time to get ultra-fearless, along with pulling out what’s become a staple of my recent annual predictions: the famed ‘two-for-one’.

The Sharks are going to surprise a lot of people this year, and my extravagant prophesy is they’ll make it all the way to the final game of the season.

The pack is very solid, and will only be bolstered by the arrival of Dale Finucane. Meanwhile, the backline may not be filled with superstars, but it also has few weak spots.

Linking them together will probably be Braydon Trindall when he gets back from his suspension in Round 3 and Nicho Hynes in the halves, who could be quite dynamic.

Hynes might be a brilliant playmaker this year. There will be plenty of mistakes from the new and relatively inexperienced combo, but if they click, the Sharks could shock the world. Well, the eastern seaboard of Australia anyway.

Lastly, Fitzgibbon comes with fairly big raps on him as a coach, with a number of suitors over the years. It’s hard to know if that actually means he’ll be a great coach, as assistants have it pretty easy, but those in the know clearly believe he has potential. If the Sharks finish top four, he’ll be a strong candidate for coach of the year.

Bonus Prediction: the ladder

1. Panthers
2. Storm
3. Roosters
4. Sharks
5. Sea Eagles
6. Rabbits
7. Eels
8. Raiders
9. Bulldogs
10. Broncos
11. Knights
12. Titans
13. Warriors
14. Dragons
15. Tigers
16. Cowboys

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