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Round 6 Questions: Storm in form? Will Maguire's moves work? Suaalii recall? Can Dogs feed hungry Foxx?

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Expert
14th April, 2022
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Now that we’re five rounds into the competition, it’s safe to say there are three standout candidates for the premiership, another three that could realistically have a chance and nine teams fighting it out for two playoff berths.

And there’s no prizes for guessing the 16th team that fits into none of these three categories. The Wests Tigers will be lucky to get to 10 competition points this season, particularly as teams only get two points from one bye round nowadays.

Penrith, Parra and Melbourne are the clear three at the top although the Storm’s form has a slight question mark over it, Cronulla, Manly and the Roosters could become genuine title conteders as the season transpires but of the rest, who would you count on to make the finals?

Souths seem to be the safest bet but they’re 2-3 with Latrell Mitchell now out for two months and Cody Walker in an untimely form slump with Adam Reynolds no longer by his side. The Warriors and Cowboys are in the top eight as it stands but are hot and cold propositions at best, Newcastle, Gold Coast and Canberra have potential but are yet to get their campaigns on a roll.

Round 6 Questions

Thursday

Raiders v Cowboys at GIO Stadium, 7.50pm

Can Xavier salvage Canberra’s season? The 19-year-old attacking dynamo was in red-hot form in the trials but has not been sighted at NRL level this season until now, getting a chance off the bench against the Cowboys. At 2-3 and a 12th-ranked offence, it’s not necessarily time for Ricky Stuart to get radical but having Savage come on against tiring defences could give the Green Machine that extra bit of potency they’ve lacked in the first five rounds.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 18: Xavier Savage of the Raiders scores a try during the NRL Trial match between the Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Raiders at Leichhardt Oval on February 18, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Will the Cowboys get more adventurous? A curious stat from the first five rounds is that North Queensland have had more seven-tackle sets than anyone else with 13 but not once have they scored a try from one of these. Chad Townsend is a good organiser and Tom Dearden’s form has improved this year but they need to take more chances when the Cowboys are on the attack.

Friday

Rabbitohs v Bulldogs at Accor Stadium, 4pm

Can Souths not be so sloppy with the ball? The Rabbitohs have made 10 or more errors in five of their past six games after only hitting that unwanted benchmark four times in their previous 11 outings. Only the winless Wests Tigers (70) have coughed the ball up more than Souths (68).

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Will the Dogs feed the Foxx? Josh Addo-Carr is still an elite attacking weapon but he’s going to waste. He’s made 28 tackle breaks this year, second NRL-wide to Titans winger Greg Marzhew, and five line breaks but has zero four-pointers, which equates to a share of last spot on the try-scorers list. There’s no point buying a Ferrari if you are not going to give it a whirl in open space.

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Panthers v Broncos at BlueBet Stadium, 7.55pm

How many premiership rings will the Clearys collect? With unexpected news being announced this week that Ivan and Nathan Cleary had re-signed until the end of 2027, how many more titles can the premiers rack up over the next six seasons? If you set the over/under at 2.5, you’d get an even split. With Cleary at halfback and the core of a young team which has already won a grand final likely to stay together over the next few years, the Panthers could enjoy their first golden era where they rack up multiple trophies in the space of a decade.

What is Payne Haas’ true value? With so much speculation going on at the moment about whether the Brisbane prop is worth seven figures per season, the Broncos will get a gauge on how much they rely on him when they front up to the Penrith pack without Haas after he was banned a week for his dopey scuffle with teammate Albert Kelly. With Pat Carrigan injured and Tom Flegler suspended yet again, Brisbane are fronting up to Penrith with a starting middle-forward rotation of Corey Jensen, Kobe Hetherington and Keenan Palasia. These three are goers but it could get ugly if they don’t match it with the Panthers in the middle.

Saturday

Sea Eagles v Titans at 4 Pines Park, 5.30pm

Can the Sea Eagles keep repeating? Manly have had 11 repeat sets in the 2022 NRL season, the most of any team, while the Gold Coast (14) have conceded the most. Daly Cherry-Evans is the master of controlling possession, forcing line drop-outs nine times this season, three more than anyone else.

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Will the Titans be left regretting another close loss? Gold Coast have lost three matches by four, two and six, winning the other games by two points apiece. They are always in the contest but lack class and experience in the clutch. If only they had a high-priced second-rower with Origin and Test experience who could be the difference with a match-winning charge or two … 

Storm v Sharks at AAMI Park, 7.35pm

Are Melbourne all they’re cracked up to be? This may sound odd because most view this game as a test of Cronulla’s credentials but so far this year, the Storm had an unconvincing win over the Tigers, they beat the Bunnies in extra time via a field goal, lost at home to Parramatta, flogged a woeful Canterbury and accounted for the depleted Raiders. They are $1.37 heavy favourites to beat the Sharks but are no sure things.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 10:  Nicholas Hynes of the Sharks passes during the warm-up before the round five NRL match between the Cronulla Sharks and the Wests Tigers at PointsBet Stadium, on April 10, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Are the Sharks all they’re cracked up to be? Cronulla are also 4-1 and are the hipster NRL fan’s favourites this season, along with the likes of Andrew Johns and Michael Hagan, who think they are bound for the top four. Nicho Hynes has exceeded expectations at halfback, particularly his game management. Cronulla have scored more tries (10) on the back of a penalty than anyone else.

Sunday 

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Roosters v Warriors at SCG, 2pm

Is it time to give Suaalii some run? The 18-year-old whizz-kid has had a couple of matches in the NSW Cup to get his match fitness up after foot surgery and the Roosters could do with a dash of youthful pace and power out wide. They’ve only used 19 players in their five games, the lowest figure of any club. Suaalii is on the extended reserves bench and centre Paul Momirovski’s spot must be vulnerable after he was given a pasting by Kotoni Staggs last week.

Joseph Suaalii of the Roosters

Joseph Suaalii. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Can the Warriors score a point in the second half? In their past four games against the Roosters, there has been a grand total of zero points scored by the Warriors. Nathan Brown has chopped and changed his team more than any other coach with 24 players used already this season but it seems to be working with the team a chance of its first four-game winning streak since 2018.

Dragons v Knights at WIN Stadium, 4.05pm

Will Griffin survive getting the hook? One of the early signs these days of a coach losing “the full support of the board” is for a story to leak out about how much it would cost to get rid of him. It’s a way for clubs to gauge the sentiment from fans about whether they should pull the trigger or persist with the coach. If this week’s $450,000 payout figure story doesn’t precipitate a sharp improvement in fortunes from the team then Griffin may not last the season. They haven’t bothered the scorers in the opening half of the past two losses in their four-game streak.

Can David Klemmer be an elite prop again? It seems like he’s been around forever after making his debut as a teenager in 2013 but Klemmer is only 28. He is making a return after suffering a knee injury in Round 1. In his three seasons at the Knights his average running metres per game has dipped to 169, 172 and 164 after he peaked at 181 in his final season at Canterbury. Blues coach Brad Fittler has looked elsewhere for his middle forwards the past couple of seasons but Klemmer could still be a Kangaroos squad option for the World Cup if he gets back to his best.

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Monday 

Eels v Tigers at CommBank Stadium, 4pm

Are Eels fans nervous yet? They’re a funny bunch in that they are at their most anxious when everything is going well. Years of post-1986 disappointment have created an inferiority complex among Parra fans that the next disaster is just around the corner and they’ll be at their most nervous heading into a game like this when they’re expected to pound their pitiful opponents.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 25: The Tigers look on after conceding a try during the round three NRL match between the Wests Tigers and the New Zealand Warriors at Campbelltown Stadium, on March 25, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

How are those deckchairs looking? The shuffling chairs on the Titanic cliche has been trotted out a fair bit this week with Michael Maguire switching Luke Brooks to five-eighth and dumping Ken Maumalo, Jacob Liddle, Oliver Gildart and Tyrone Peachey. He had to try something after five straight losses but when your roster is not exactly stocked with game breakers, it’s hard to see any of the new faces doing any better. The scary thing for Tigers fans is that those four players were supposed to be part of the solution but their lacklustre form has only added to the club’s problems.

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