Ricky’s building up a head of steam
And Parra’s title hopes are but a dream
Gus and Buzz are bluing
Tigers fans are spewing
And Kenty’s bagging every single team
Come on footy
Come on, come!
Come on footy (come on)!

I pitched this jingle to the executives at Fox League, but sadly they opted for Matty Nable. Something about copyright infringement. Anyway, here are eight things that I’m excited about heading into the 2022 NRL season.

The Tigers finding a way not to shoot themselves in the foot

It’s hard to feel excited about the Wests Tigers. The mismanagement of this football club over recent seasons has turned the joint venture into a laughing stock. From the nauseating speed of their coaching carousel to their inability to manage the salary cap, it can sometimes feel like Wests put themselves at a competitive disadvantage on purpose.

But for the first time in years, the Tigers have successfully completed an off-season without sabotaging their future. They resisted the urge to fire their premiership-winning coach, decided against overthrowing the CEO, and like Lisa Simpson breaking her addiction to the Cory hotline, they even refused to pick up the phone and offer big money to veteran players in clear decline.

This is progress, people! Sure, their trial form looked mediocre and their roster remains one of the weakest in the competition. But for the first time in recent memory, Tigers fans can at least say “there’s always next season”.

From all reports, Jackson Hastings is as good as advertised and Oliver Gildart will be a quality addition. Add in the development of Daine Laurie and Adam Doueihi, plus arrival of Api Koroisau next season and the fact that Luke Brooks is only signed until the end of 2023, and there is hope for the Wests Tigers. Just not in 2022.

Watching the Manly Sea Eagles

There’s something about Manly. For perhaps the first time in NRL history, this is a team that’s hard to hate. Whether it’s the sight of Tom Trbojevic in open space, the Hank Scorpio memes or Jake Trbojevic’s rigid thumbs, Manly no longer make me angry.

Gone are the days of the Silver Tails, where poaching was more common on the Northern Beaches than parts of the Serengeti. These days, the Sea Eagles’ top three earners all made their debut for the club, as did promising young stars like Reuben Garrick, Haumole Olakau’atu and Josh Schuster.

And while I wouldn’t go so far as calling the Sea Eagles a development club, coach Des Hasler has certainly embraced a different approach to team building. The mulish mentor has abandoned his infatuation with ball-playing props and is now letting his skill players shine.

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

The results have been incredible. After ranking 11th in points scored in 2020 (18.75ppg), the Sea Eagles jumped to 3rd in 2021 (30.15ppg). They finished third in line breaks, third in tackle busts and second in try assists, with Tom Trbojevic winning a Dally M along the way. Providing his hamstrings hold up, you can pencil this team into the prelim.

The Rooster rebound

The adversity faced by the Sydney Roosters in 2021 has been well documented. Between soft tissue injuries and premature retirements, they more closely resembled an over-40s touch football team than an NRL side. The fact that they still finished the season in fifth position is a huge credit to Trent Robinson and his entire squad.

One of the advantages of suffering a catastrophic injury toll is the opportunity to blood some younger players. In the case of the Roosters, that player was Sam Walker. The scrawny Queenslander has been spoken about in hushed tones for several years already, but his early introduction to first grade paid immediate dividends for the Chooks.

Walker produced 21 try assists in 21 appearances, with his trademark ‘Harbour Bridge’ passes routinely putting his outside men into space. Defence remains a major issue, as his 65 missed tackles (3.1 per game) can attest to, but new assistant coach Jason Ryles and new wrestling coach Rick Flair will instill a little mongrel into him over the off-season.

The Roosters also welcome back a battalion of troops from the rehab room. Luke Keary, Lindsay Collins, Victor Radley, Billy Smith, Joseph Suaalii and Sam Verrills all missed significant time in 2021. Along with new signing Connor Watson, this infusion of talent back into the line-up instantly makes the Roosters a genuine premiership threat.

The Craig Fitzgibbon version of the Cronulla Sharks

Rarely does a new coach walk straight into a favourable situation. The opportunity to become a head coach normally presents itself due to a team performing poorly, a boardroom behaving boorishly or a Wests Tigers end-of-season review. That’s not the case for Craig Fitzgibbon.

The former Rooster is taking over a club poised to compete. Cronulla finished 2021 in ninth position, ranking a respectable eighth in attack and sixth in defence. And that’s despite Shaun Johnson and Matt Moylan only playing 25 games combined, captain Wade Graham struggling with injury and over $1.5 million in salary cap space squandered on Andrew Fifita and Josh Dugan.

Much of the optimism oozing out of the Shire is based on their core of young players. Blayke Brailey, Will Kennedy, Connor Tracey, Briton Nikora and Jack Williams are all 25 years old or younger – each played over 20 games last season and each is an ascending talent.

Cronulla then went out and signed three representative-calibre players in Nicho Hynes, Dale Finucane and Cameron McInnes. All three will walk straight into the starting line-up and each will have an immediate impact on the side.

Much like Manly last season, the Sharks are the trendy pick to catapult up the ladder this year. Barring injury along the spine or an ill-fated night out at Northies, this is a finals team in 2022.

Melbourne’s chances of adding more silverware

It’s no secret that defence wins premierships. Wayne Bennett’s been pushing that trope for years. And he’s not wrong. Over the past five years, the premier posted the best or second-best defensive record at the end of the regular season.

As a disciple of the Bennett way, Craig Bellamy has based his coaching philosophy on defense. Melbourne have ranked in the top two for points allowed in eight of the last ten seasons. During that span, they were crowned minor premiers four times, qualified for five grand finals and won the Telstra Premiership three times.

Which makes the re-signing of Bellamy such a massive coup for Melbourne. So long as he’s terrorising the coach’s box and channeling Vince McMahon in the gym, the Storm will remain a perennial premiership threat.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Oh, and their attack isn’t too shabby either. Harry Grant, Cameron Munster and Ryan Papenhuyzen would be an upgrade at their respective positions for almost every NRL side. The fact that the Storm have all three plus a Kiwi international at halfback seems downright unfair.

The Penrith Panthers may be the reigning premiers, but the Melbourne Storm remain the big boss at the end of the video game. They are the rugby league equivalent of M.Bison (although personally I always found Vega much harder to beat). And barring a catastrophic injury toll, it’s hard to imagine Melbourne not being in the premiership hunt.

How Phil Gould positions another lost season at Canterbury

A big part of rebuilding any football club is the sell. The coach and general manager need to sell their vision to both the board and their fans in order to justify the losses and keep their jobs. And outside of Scott Morrison, no one spends more time dressing mutton up as lamb than Phil Gould.

All off-season, Gould’s Twitter account has been blazing hot with posts about junior development and pathway programs. An under-16s camp here or a youth academy session there. Focusing on the future rather than dwelling on the present is a deliberate ploy to buy time.

And he’ll need it. Despite the recent spending spree, Canterbury’s roster is one of the weakest in the competition. Outside of new recruit Matt Burton, their starting spine of Matt Dufty, Jeremy Marshall-King and Jake Averillo wouldn’t get a start at any other NRL club.

Worse still, their salary cap remains horrendously bent out of shape. The Bulldogs have around 20 per cent of their 2023 salary cap tied to a quartet of props and edge backrowers, while only about half of those funds are being allocated to the spine.

While many are picking Canterbury as a top-eight smokey, I fear their inability to score points will again anchor them to the bottom of the ladder. And this time next year, Gus might be selling us on new coach Cameron Ciraldo.

Latrell Mitchell’s chances of winning the Dally M

This feels like a Latrell Mitchell kind of season. Between the agony of missing a grand final and the indignity of being labelled a thug for his tackle on Joey Manu, Mitchell won’t lack for motivation. If he’s fit, and Instagram suggests that he is, then the South Sydney fullback could be in for a monster year.

Latrell fires up in a pre-season training incident (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Tom Trbojevic has shown the impact that a single player – and a fullback − can have on the fortunes of a team. I’d argue that between Cody Walker, Damien Cook and Cameron Murray, South Sydney have provided Latrell with a better supporting cast than Trbojevic had at Manly last season.

In Alex Johnson and Campbell Graham, the Bunnies also have plenty of size and strike power out wide. Dane Gagai’s experience will certainly be missed, but exciting young guns like Jaxson Paulo and Isaiah Tass will soften the blow.

The loss of Adam Reynolds and his reliable right boot will sting, but it should be manageable. Blake Taaffe isn’t being thrown to the wolves like the Broncos did with Tom Dearden. He won’t be asked to craft, create or fabricate opportunities. As long as he makes his tackles and takes on some of the kicking responsibilities, Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell can do the rest.

The potential of the Gold Coast spine

It’s been over a decade since the Gold Coast Titans had top-shelf talent along their spine. After the retirements of Scott Prince (2012), Preston Campbell (2011) and Matt Rogers (2011), the club has been a revolving door of wasted talent.

Aiden Sezer and Albert Kelly each made promising starts on the glitter strip but have since played their best football elsewhere. William Zillman and Kane Elgey’s careers were crippled by injury, Ash Taylor struggled with mental illness and the Jarryd Hayne experience set the club back several years.

Jahrome Hughes made his debut for the Titans back in 2013 but played only the one game.

The sordid history of Gold Coast playmakers gives this current crop extra pop. Halfback Toby Sexton showed enough promise during his rookie season that the Titans were comfortable moving on from Jamal Fogarty. And Jayden Campbell was so electric at fullback that AJ Brimson, himself an Origin player, has been pushed into the 6 jersey.

Questions still remain at the dummy half position, but the rest of the forward pack is world class. David Fifita has the chance to become the best back rower in the competition this year. Provided they steer clear of second year syndrome, the Titans will feature in back-to-back post-seasons for the first time since 2009/2010.