Opinion
Hey Roarers!
Round 4 had a real mix of matches. And while not all the games were overly entertaining, we saw some great footy, and some classy individual performances.
Let’s recap….
Thursday night we watched one of the most frustrating games in a long time. The Titans and the Tigers match was full of errors and penalty goals, with the only try coming in the last minute. The Titans may have won 8-6, but I don’t think anyone part of that was really a winner.
The Sharks put on another solid performance, keeping the Knights scoreless in their 18-0 win on Friday night. And it was great to see veteran Aiden Tolman score a try and celebrate a win in his 300th game.
The second match was the much-anticipated 2021 Grand Final rematch between Penrith and Souths. But as we often see in these hit-outs it turns into a bit of a fizzer and has absolutely no effect on who won the premiership. Star halfback Nathan Cleary returned for the Panthers, and they strolled to their fourth straight win this season, proving too strong for the Bunnies 26-12.
The first game of Super Saturday between the Warriors and the Broncos saw Shaun Johnson back on the park, and he teamed up beautifully with Reece Walsh to guide the Warriors to a 20-6 victory. But it was the Bronco’s Tom Flegler whose return from suspension stole the spotlight, getting put on report four times and heading to the sin bin for his third. Wile. E. Coyote – super genius.
Tommy Turbo and DCE both found their grooves in Mudgee, the duo on fire in Manly’s 25-6 win over a lacklustre Canberra.
Joey Manu and James Tedesco were electric for the Roosters against the Cowboys, heavily involved in their side’s 28-4 victory in Townsville. The Cowboys lost Hammer early due to injury which messed up the backline, and they made it even harder for themselves against an on-song Roosters side with three separate sin binning’s during the game.
Then Sunday brought the blow outs, with Melbourne thrashing Canterbury 44-0 and Parramatta hammering the Dragons 48-14. While heartbreaking for Dogs and Red V fans, both games were highly entertaining, especially watching the likes of Ryan Papenhuyzen, Mitch Moses and Dylan Brown who were all close to unstoppable.
Paul and you superstars in The Crowd got the glory this week, tipping a sensational 7/8. Mary, AJ and Mike all tipped a strong 6/8 and I have obviously decided to play golf for the rest of the season and get low scores, tipping an average 4. One better than last week – always look to the positive!
Overall, AJ now shares his view from the top with Paul, with both tipsters on 22. Mike and The Crowd are close behind on 21, followed by Mary on 19 and me and my golf clubs on 18.
Ok, on to round 5!
Tonight, the Sea Eagles travel without an injured Turbo to Newcastle to take on the Knights, who will be looking to bounce back from their loss to the Sharks last week.
Friday night footy starts with the Warriors facing the Cowboys at 6pm. The Warriors will be looking to make it 3 wins in a row while the Cowboys will want to make up for their poor form against the Roosters.
We then see Brisbane take on the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium at 8pm. Let’s see how much of a distraction the Hass/Kelly scuffle that was leaked this week has on the Broncos.
Super Saturday kicks off at 3pm, with the Storm and Raiders travelling to Wagga. Then it’s the Bunnies and the Dragons at 5.30pm, both with one win each for the season and desperate for another. The Titans and the Eels finish off the night at 7.30pm, and if their round one clash is anything to go by, we should be in for a good rematch!
Sunday footy kicks off at 4pm in the Shire when the Sharks take on the Tigers. Will Cronulla make it four on the trot, or will Wests finally get on the board?
Matt Burton faces his old club at 6.15pm when the Bulldogs and the Panthers meet at Commbank Stadium. He will be praying for a miracle against the premiers.
If you would like to see how you go up against the Experts this round, just remember to get your tips in below by 5pm tonight to be counted in The Crowd’s tips.
After his brilliant tipping last week, I’m going to let Paul kick things off today.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
Knights, Warriors, Roosters, Storm, Rabbitohs, Titans, Sharks, Panthers
Newcastle can cause an upset at home with Manly lacking Turbo injection.
Similar situation with the Warriors in that they should just get home against a Cowboys side lacking a Hammer touch.
The Roosters will account for Brisbane, who seem a long way off the pace.
Canberra usually give Melbourne a good run for their money, but the Storm will get the cash.
Souths could put 30 or more on the Dragons who are struggling all over the park.
The Titans are primed for an upset over Parramatta after the Round 1 controversial finish.
Cronulla vs Wests Tigers looks like no contest, and it should go to script.
Likewise, the last game is a mismatch – good luck Kyle Flanagan trying to turn Canterbury’s fortunes around against any team let alone the premiers.
Knights, Cowboys, Roosters, Storm, Rabbitohs, Eels, Sharks, Panthers.
I always struggle to tip the Sea Eagles without Tom Trbojevic and it usually comes back to bite me. But I am going to tip against them this week. Despite a big loss last week, the Knights have been one of the more impressive teams in the competition so far with the combination of Adam Clune and Jake Clifford working well. The Sea Eagles are so reliant on Turbo, particularly to get good ball to the likes of Morgan Harper and Jason Saab and think that they will struggle this week.
I’ve been reluctant to tip the Cowboys this week but will do so against an extremely inconsistent Warriors team. The Cowboys have not been particularly impressive, but players like Chad Townsend lead the team around and do the basics right. With players like Jason Taumololo and Valentine Holmes in the team, sometimes doing the basics right is enough to get you the two points.
The Roosters have been inconsistent too but will beat the Broncos and the Storm will beat the Raiders. Souths are a team I still predict to be a contender at the end of the year but are taking a couple of weeks to warm into the season.
Last week showed some real problems for the Dragons so this week presents a good opportunity for Souths to continue the positive signs in attack that they showed against the Roosters.
The Eels will beat the Titans and I’m predicting Clint Gutherson to score a try and do the ‘Gutherino’.
You would have to be extremely brave to tip the Tigers and the Bulldogs in their respective matches against the Sharks and Panthers. My only question for the Sharks and Panthers is how many points they will win by.
Knights, Cowboys, Roosters, Storm, Rabbitohs, Eels, Sharks. Panthers
Newcastle is my ride or die this year and I think they’ve held up alright in losing to very good Sharks and Panthers teams. Without Turbo, I back them to get over Manly.
Cowboys because I refuse to tip the Warriors.
Roosters are properly good now and the Broncos are fool’s gold, so no question here. Chooks all the way.
Storm The Raiders aren’t really bad, but they’re not really good either. Melbourne are and I’ll always tip them.
Bunnies have been better than most this year, even though they’re 1-3. I expect that to be 10-3, so soft is there upcoming draw. That starts this weekend.
Eels because I can’t tip against them given Sunday’s performance, and indeed, because I can’t tip for the Titans after Thursday night’s trash.
Sharks in the easiest game to tip of this season, any season, any game ever.
Panthers in the second easiest game to tip of this season, any season, any game ever.
Newcastle, North Queensland, Roosters, Canberra, South Sydney, Parramatta, Cronulla, Penrith
I continue to forge ahead as all crumble around me. This week will see an inevitable crackdown on ruck speed which is only going to result in bad teams getting flogged. Here’s the tips…
Newcastle over Manly cos no Tommy T and this is the Knights’ last chance with me.
North Queensland to get the Warriors in a filthy, filthy bludger of a game.
Roosters over Broncos by doing the bare minimum.
The presumptive champions, the people’s team, the Canberra Raiders will avenge their 68-4 flogging at the hands of Melbourne in 2013, reversing that result and then some.
Bunnies over Dragons in a grinder, Parra over Titans in a freewheeler.
Cronulla over Wests Tigers in a game closer than many expect, and Penrith will slaughter Canterbury and likely keep them to zero.
Enjoy your weekend folks!
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Knights, Cowboys, Roosters, Storm, Rabbitohs, Eels, Sharks, Panthers
They let me down last week but I’m going to stick with the Nth Qld. Hopefully the Cowboys team from the previous rounds come out this weekend and get them back on track.
The Roosters will be too strong for the Broncos, whose wheels seem to have fallen off the past couple of weeks.
If the Storm play against the Raiders like they did against the Bulldogs, we could be in for another whitewash.
The Dragons look to be in a complete shambles at the moment, so I’m tipping the Bunnies to win comfortably.
I think the Titans will put on a much better performance this week, but not enough to take down the Eels.
As much as I would love to see the Tigers get a win, I don’t think it will come this week. The Sharks are going along swimmingly (ha, get it?) and will keep their good form intact with a win this weekend.
Just as Addo-Carr was humiliated against his old club last week, Matt Burton will fill the same this weekend. It will look like a training run for the Panthers, who will run rings around the hapless Bulldogs.
And as always, I’m going with my Knights.
| Round 5 | AJ | Danielle | Mary | Mike | Paul | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NEW v MAN | NEW | NEW | NEW | NEW | NEW | NEW |
| NZL v NQL | NQL | NQL | NQL | NQL | NZL | NQL |
| BRI v SYD | SYD | SYD | SYD | SYD | SYD | SYD |
| CAN v MEL | CAN | MEL | MEL | MEL | MEL | MEL |
| SOU v STI | SOU | SOU | SOU | SOU | SOU | SOU |
| GLD v PAR | PAR | PAR | PAR | PAR | GLD | PAR |
| CRO v WST | CRO | CRO | CRO | CRO | CRO | CRO |
| CBY v PEN | PEN | PEN | PEN | PEN | PEN | PEN |
| Last Week | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Total | 22 | 18 | 21 | 19 | 22 | 21 |
Multi tip from PlayUp:
This week is tough with lots of favourites playing sides who are struggling. You won’t see many multis this week with Broncos into Dragons into Tigers but the lines at PlayUp are generous for the head start and you can get over $7 if the battlers can stay in the contest. Not out of the question given how many low scoring games we’ve seen in the NRL.
Leg 1. $1.90 – Broncos +13.5 line
Leg 2. $1.90 – St George +9.5 line
Leg 3. $1.90 – Wests Tigers +17.5 line
Total = $7.04
Good luck this weekend. Be sure to check out the great odds and the same game Multi-feature at PlayUp. Please gamble responsibly.
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