We are now nearing the beginning of the upcoming season. As we are only days away, my ladder predictions are now entering the top dogs as I select the top four.
4. Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm have certainly been the most consistent team over the last decade and continued their dominance last season.
They won the minor premiership for the fifth time since 2011. They couldn’t turn this into a premiership though, as they were eliminated by the Penrith Panthers in a low-scoring preliminary final.
They had a very high chance of being back-to-back premiers, however obviously that did not end as the case. The Storm are looking dangerous once again this year as their depth and talent is phenomenal.
Xavier Coates is a great addition on the wing as he is one of the quickest players in the competition and a try-scoring machine.
He is the perfect youngster that you want to play off the back of the spine and forward pack. He is essentially a second up-and-coming Josh Addo-Carr, who noticeably departed the club.
(Photo by Handout/NRL Photos via Getty Images )
Nicho Hynes has left the club, which will put a stop to what was a good headache for Craig Bellamy. Dale Finucane has also finished his stint at Melbourne. Despite the loss, their forward pack remains full of guns.
Other than those three losses, it was mostly just reserves and young role players who are no longer at the club after 2021.
The men in purple will have Brandon Smith, Harry Grant and Cameron Munster absent for their opening match against the Tigers due to mild injuries.
Ryan Papenhuyzen could also be in doubt and Chris Lewis will miss the Round 1 fixture because of his suspension.
Despite these dints in the beginning match, expect Melbourne to still begin their campaign with a win against one of the most struggling teams for 2021.
Overall, the men in purple are again premiership contenders and I’m sure they will make another deep post-season run.
3. Manly Sea Eagles
The Manly Sea Eagles were the people’s team in 2021 as it was a rare turnaround story that led to a preliminary final appearance and a fullback playing arguably the most efficient individual season ever.
The year began horribly as Manly started their campaign with a 0-4 record and looked simply disgusting. They conceded 156 points and of course all of this was without Tom Trbojevic.
Trbojevic returned for their match against the Titans in Round 6 and the identity change began. The Sea Eagles won that game by 36 points and shut out the Gold Coast.
From then on, all the team did was win, as they performed at a level of 15-5. To add to this, they made their way into a prelim, however had their extraordinary run put to a stop at the hands of the Rabbitohs.
Their Dally M-winning fullback is certainly something special and I’m sure that he holds a huge chance at winning the greatest individual award in back-to-back years.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Fascinatingly, I’m not completely certain that he can somehow perform better than he did in 2021.
Manly won’t enter 2022 with many changes to their squad as the only noticeable losses are Cade Cust, Moses Suli, Jack Gosiewski and Curtis Sironen.
Ethan Bullemor is one of the more underrated buys as he was a tough, fast-running back-rower at Brisbane and will play as a starter this season.
In conclusion, the Sea Eagles will be once again an enthralling side to watch this season, plus they will be in the top four and can win the premiership if they can work their way past the top-dog teams.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Collapsed nostrils, presumably.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
If Turbo was with Souths or Eels last season and played like he did for Manly , they win the comp because they fronted up in the big games. I'm not as sure about the Storm because they were faulty when it mattered, just like Manly but to a much lesser degree.
Tony
Roar Guru
:laughing:
souvalis
Roar Rookie
singed nasal cilia for Munster.
Dionysus
Guest
Christo, Grant, Munster and Smith have a one match ban not injuries. Paps is injured.
Dionysus
Guest
Many NRL fans love this time of year since they can happily predict the Storm slipping down the ladder with impunity. Enjoy your brief moments in the sun boys.
Christo
Roar Guru
Not fully aware of their exact injuries Tony, however they will likely just miss the first week.
WA Sharks Fan
Roar Rookie
So….. that leaves the Pennies and Chooks for spots 1 & 2. The order IMHO will always be a lottery but kudos to Christo for making a play at placing them in specific order. When it comes to predictions my crystal ball isn’t as courageous and steers me to “blocks” of teams. So whilst Christo’s predictions are “safe” bets barring any major events, mine is tweaked slightly with the Pennies, Chooks, Storm and Eels to fill that 1-4 block (any order) but closely followed by the Sea Eagles just being nudged out of that top 4. The Rabbits, Sharks, Raiders, Titans, Dragons to fill that 6-10 bracket (I’m hoping 7th for Sharkies and Souths likely to top that tree). Next come the Warriors and Newie 11-12, with Tigers, Cowboys, Broncos and Dogs all jumping over each other to avoid the wooden spoon. Can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. Bring it on!
KenW
Roar Rookie
I feel like I'm getting on every prediction thread and just talking teams down... maybe I just like the argument. Anyway I'm going to do the same thing with Manly.... I'm not going to talk them down too much actually, there were times last year when they were in fantastic form. Having them well-entrenched in the top 4 though supposes that this fantastic form is their new normal. That feels like an assumption we've got wrong before. I've pointed out before that Manly have had a really predictable pattern over the last 10 years over over-achieving and then under-achieving in successive years. Manly in 2021 have a lot of parallels to Manly 2019 in particular. In both cases they'd finished bottom 4 in the previous season and were tipped for more of the same. In both seasons, they had a group of breakout young stars and experienced players returning to their best form (or even having career-best seasons). 2020 rolled around with everyone tipping Manly to go better the next year, but they returned to the bottom 4. What does it all mean? Nothing concrete, if Turbo is fit and plays anything like last year the rest of the team will play well around him. But it can't be ignored that Manly do have form of peaking and then fading quickly.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Turbo can fail to reach the heights he did last year and Manly can still win the comp. It's more about the team playing better in the big games allowing Turbo to strike when it's more important rather than destroying the weaker teams.
Tony
Roar Guru
What "mild injuries" are Grant, Munster and Smith suffering from?