The regular season is done and dusted, and we say farewell to eight clubs who shone brilliantly before burning out, who were consistently mediocre or who were just diabolical. Here’s your talking points.
Who quit on the season? Who went out on their shields?
St George-Illawarra kept punching after their finals chances were extinguished in Round 22, finishing the season with three straight wins. The Gold Coast were cooked months ago but still fought relatively hard to the end, while Canterbury flagged after promising signs under interim coach Mick Potter.
The less said about Manly’s second half of the year the better, while the wooden spooned Wests Tigers had a crack against the Dragons in the second last round but just weren’t in the stratosphere any other time.
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Let’s quickly whip through some A-F grades for the bottom eight – interested in yours.
Brisbane: C. St George-Illawarra: C. Manly: D. Canterbury: D. Gold Coast: F. Newcastle: F. New Zealand: E. Wests Tigers: F.
Sizing up the Brisbane Broncos
Brisbane’s 16-20 loss to St George-Illawarra consigned their season to the bin and with a touch of history to boot, being the first team in the NRL era (and probably heaps longer) to be in the top four with six games to play then miss the finals.
Calls are growing to sack coach Kevin Walters, burn the joint to the ground and rebuild, you all know the drama. But before we light our molotovs let’s take a realistic look…
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
In 2020, the Broncos got the wooden spoon with three wins. Last season, they finished 14th with seven wins and were often outright disastrous. For 2022, there were literally no people outside of diehard Broncos fans who thought they’d make top four or win the premiership – they were, at best, on the fringes of the top eight in preseason predictions.
So as it ends they’ve missed the finals with a 13-11 record, built mainly on the back of a seven-game win streak leading to the season’s halfway point. The heat will come about the end to the year – it’s already here – but it’s undeniable the Broncos made decent steps from where they were.
Rugby league and pro sport is bloody hard, you don’t just rise from being complete dross to champions.
Playing finals in Cronulla and Penrith is ridiculous
The two supposedly most high quality games for finals week one, the four best teams. But they’ll be playing in decrepit surrounds in front of minimal crowds compared to other options.
I won’t go on about it, but denying tens of thousands of members, fans and interested onlookers isn’t the great move the NRL thinks it is.
Also completely mystifying is sending four NRLW clubs: Gold Coast, Parramatta, Brisbane and St George-Illawarra to Melbourne to play a ‘triple header’ including the Storm v Raiders game. If ever there was space for standalone NRLW games on Thursday night and the early Friday night game, this was it.
Who’s a genuine finals week 1 upset chance?
Penrith will have already forgotten their second team being beaten 38-8 in Townsville, Cronulla wandered around for a bit before shaking off Newcastle to get a home final and the Eels were magnificent keeping Melbourne out of the top four.
Parramatta will be stacked with confidence they can beat Penrith for a third time in 2022, and they’ve won at BlueBet Stadium already this year.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The Storm’s fifth spot is their lowest finish since 2015, if you can believe it. They’re still a bit banged up and so are the Roosters, who will go again against South Sydney after dusting them 26-16 in a convincing performance.
There’s an outside sniff for the Cowboys against the Sharks. North Queensland lost to Cronulla 26-12 without Origin players in round 18 and stayed right in the game till late. There’s plenty there to keep the Sharks’ heads spinning.
The Raiders roll into the finals after feasting on the Tigers, hardly great preparation for an eliminator in Melbourne but the green machine have been quite decent since halfback Jamal Fogarty returned from injury halfway through the season and took the load off Jack Wighton.
Canberra are gunning for their fourth consecutive win over Melbourne at AAMI park. They couldn’t do it again and knock out the Storm, could they?
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Quick hits
– Credit to the Gold Coast, who trailed New Zealand 26-12 with seven minutes left then pinched it in golden point 27-26. A great last burst kicked off by a beauty from Jayden Campbell.
– Nice piece of theft from the Bulldogs over Manly too, just when it looked like the Sea Eagles might have had something to smile about.
– The Roosters are backing up their maiden NRLW title as the team to beat, flogging the Dragons 34-6 in the first game at the new Allianz Stadium.
– Other NRLW results: Newcastle got a crucial 18-16 win over Parramatta, and Brisbane got back on track over the Titans 22-4.
– Got a quick hit of your own? Whack it in the comments.
To the next
Finals week one has some great matchups full of intensity and rivalry.
It begins Friday night with Penrith hosting Parramatta, then Canberra will then head to Melbourne for a Saturday twilight contest against the Storm in an eliminator.
The second qualifier is Saturday night with Cronulla hosting the Cowboys in the Shire, then it’s off to Allianz for a Sunday afternoon belter when the Roosters and Rabbitohs front up again to send each other home.
What did you make of the last regular round of 2022, Roarers?
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
You said "Panthers" Could equally have said "Sharks". Panthers and Sharks are the only clubs with teams in the finals of 1st grade, NSW Cup and SG Ball. John Morris was horribly under-appreciated by Cronulla bosses.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Like Tigers...
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
How could I forget the Covid years. I have clear memories of the 60s & 70s but had to look up who played in the 2018 grand final.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Those finals games were important in growing the rivalry but I figure it started in the early years because Manly were always strong and Parramatta were always cellar dwellers. Parramatta had nine spoons by 1961 with the last six in a row. They were playing in the 1963 preliminary final and would’ve won but for some magic from Saints’ immortals. When they were good they were great. Go Eels!
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
I was wonder why you were congratulating the GC, perhaps on winning their last game when finally the sarcasm bird whacked me on the back of the head...
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
Interesting end to the comp. The 8 really deserve their spot, Manly, Dragoons and Broncos missing on the cusp didn't deserve it. The start to the finals series is the Networks' wet dream. Parra v Penrith and Rabbit v Rooster are the ultimate rivalries. Sharks v Cows is the New-top-Coach-Bowl and Storm v raiders the cranky coach bowl. Some bizarre transfers. Jock Madden, who doesn't want to wait for the top job at Tigers where he's understudy to a 'not guaranteed' Luke Brooks goes to Penrith where he'll be the understudy to Cleary who is a lock at Penrith for the next 10 years+. He'll only get a shot at firsts for the rest of his life when Cleary plays rep... Now that is whacked.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Very interesting. I knew Penrith were blue from reading the program (Rugby League News) but I didn't know Cronulla-Caringbah were brown. An unpopular colour.
AJ Mithen
Expert
Read on further down the comments Tim - 2020 finals were played under a 50% capacity cap. Every ground was significantly affected and crowds were understandably down across the board. Amazing how quickly we've moved on from the crowd issues of 2020/2021...
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Will be interesting what Parra Leagues say about ticketing for their next final held at Commbank, either week2 or week3. With reportedly the largest membership base in the league, they proposed to bar ticket sales to the public for a couple of games this year, namely Tigers and Panthers ganes to protect the viewing interests of its members. Not sure why those two teams, and not sure if it ever eventuated. Bottom line is, I guess Parra understand the importance of home crowd advantage, as they buy up all the tickets for the Penrith away game on Friday.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Only 30k in a 90k stadium for a preliminary final? Bad Weather?
JVGO
Guest
Now it appears Staines is being swapped to Tigers for Peachey. Geez they mustn't think much of Staines....or he wants out to play first grade. I guess him and Dykes have been stand outs in the cup.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
The 2018 table would've given the same top 8 if it was ordered by difference only except 5th and 6th was decided by percentage (F/A). The top two on difference Melbourne and Sydney played in the grand final.
AJ Mithen
Expert
true - they should have been ashamed of themselves, too
3 R M
Roar Rookie
Talking it up you said 56 1st half poins your team only scored 42!!
Rellum
Roar Guru
Walsh is no guarantee to be fullback. He was screwed over by the Warriors by letting him only sign with Brisbane so he is at the Broncs whim on if he plays or not. Cobbo is a big chance to be fullback if, and I mean a big IF, he can sort out his attitude if you believe press reports about him not turning up to buses and needing to be rested. Fullback is a much harder stress on his body. With that in mind I can't see anyone but Walsh getting the fullback job but it is not set in stone. Mam is young but he is a star moving forward, just needs to improve his defence (which wasn't that bad until late in the season) and his secondary involvements in attack(backing up, looking to move to the other side of the field at times). The Broncs, now we have sold Gamble have no decent half back ups. Kelly can go as far as I am concerned and I don't see Roberts being the answer but he might be the only option unless one of the kids steps up. Reynolds has to be better. He was not great over the course of the season. Some good games but some bad ones as well. We need a hooker in the short term. I guess we can run with Walters and Paix until Mozer comes good(assuming he will). Mozer will need game time next season if he is the short term answer but he has barely played Q Cup and when he did he struggled with injury. My dream is swapping Haas with Hunt and getting him to be our 9 and 7 when Reynolds is injured. But realistically to me we need a back up half and a good short term 9. The goal next year is consistency and finishing in the top 6.
Fraser
Roar Rookie
I know I'm flogging a dead horse, but I'm very concerned about the lack of size and experience in our spine next year. 1. Reece Walsh - 177cm, 88kg, 20 years old 6. Ezra Mam - 176cm, 85kg, 19 years old 7. Adam Reynolds - 173cm, 85kg, 32 years old 9. Corey Paix - 178cm, 89kg, 22 years old (or Billy Walters or Blake Mozer)
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
I'm a bit the same . If your on the top 20 leaderboard that's satisfying.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
What we have currently with no set ticket allocation,( and most every other team with a greater following ) directly feeds toward advantage to the more popular teams. Penrith lose the ground after week1, we lose the ticketing (including week1) and then it all flows on to crowd influencing ref. The title defence is going to be tough. Discrimination I don't believe, is ever easy.
JVGO
Guest
In a straight out eye test I'd say that Panthers reserves Saturday side was better than Wests Sunday side. I don't think anyone who watched both games could possibly argue otherwise. Wests best player was probably Laurie who was let go by Panthers to keep Staines who is probably Panthers reserves best player. Newtown's best player this year has been Dykes who was chased by Wests and offered the first grade fullback starting spot over Laurie. I think Dykes who could be a long term 5/8 option has more potential than Staines for what it's worth who is probably a long term winger/fullback back up. Both about the same age. I think Dykes was the most sought after player from NSW Cup this year.
JennyFromPenny
Guest
Teams dread travelling to Panther Stadium through the year. It's so hard to win there. Somehow there's a thought that they should forego that, for the sake of more people watching. I don't get that.