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Opinion
Magic Round is here! We’re off to Brisbane to watch some great matchups which can shape the season. Here come your NRL Round 10 talking points.
It’s the NRL’s marquee round, the one they spruik all year, the one people get excited about, the one tens of thousands of people travel for, to watch games specifically drawn to maximise the quality.
But so what? Don’t let that rugby league rubbish distract you from Peter V’landys running his mouth in the papers again.
He’s shown exactly what he thinks of rugby league by referring to the game he’s responsible for as ‘wagering content’ for insomniacs in the USA.
Here’s another quote from later in his interview with the Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Webster:
“Rugby league is a tribal entertainment product. What wagering does is add a little bit more entertainment to the already fantastic product. I’m in a tipping contest at work, so I watch every game. If I have a bet on a first try-scorer, it gives you a little more enjoyment.”
He’s all about gambling, we all knew that. But now it’s what the NRL is all about too. No wonder he treats the players like they’re horses.
V’landys also spent a couple of days puffing a second NRL team in Victoria, and the less said about that the better.
St George Illawarra didn’t expect to get beaten by an injury-riddled Canterbury and coach Anthony Griffin has reacted harshly, dumping centre Zac Lomax and hooker Jacob Liddle. Both are quality players, although Lomax could do with a radar reset on his goal-kicking boot.
It’s a gutsy move and one fraught with danger for Griffin, who is already in huge strife when it comes to being employed as a head coach next year. If his club can’t get past the Wests Tigers, who knows what will happen.
We’ve seen dropping a star pay off this year with Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien and winger Dominic Young, but from reports Lomax didn’t take his omission well and this one might be going the other way.
Enough drama, let’s talk games. There are some doozies this week that will be great to watch.
No Thursday game this year – Canterbury and Canberra kick us off in Friday’s early game in a contest both clubs would fancy their chances.
The Raiders were irresistible at times against the Dolphins but just kept conceding tries, the Bulldogs were great in accounting for St George Illawarra after being challenged mightily. It’s a game Canberra must win to stay finals-relevant.
Primetime Friday is an interesting one with Manly ‘hosting’ Brisbane. Both teams are coming off bad losses and really need a win to steady their feet. Brisbane welcome back powerhouse prop Payne Haas and five-eighth Ezra Mam.
Saturday’s triple header begins with the Warriors and Panthers, which believe it or not is 7th v 8th. That should underline how important a win is for both sides.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Cronulla have a chance to go stay in the top four against the Dolphins, who keep outperforming their expectations.
The game of the round is Saturday night’s Melbourne and South Sydney. The Bunnies are in irresistible form looking for their fifth straight win, the Storm rested after the bye. The last team to beat Souths? Melbourne, 18-10 in Round 5. Also – it’s a small sample size, but the teams coming off a bye this year are six wins to two losses. Make of that what you will.
The festival of football wraps on Sunday with the intriguing Wests Tigers and Dragons match-up – there’s plenty riding on this one and not just premiership points.
The Roosters and Cowboys have the Sunday afternoon game and with the Cowboys in disarray, the Chooks have a chance to bank another win for the finals preparations.
Our last game is Gold Coast and Parramatta, both sides fresh off good wins but still on the fringes of the top eight. It’s a fitting contest to finish a massive weekend.
The Knights drew the short straw at the fixturing table, they’ve got the bye.
– Last year we had a bucketing for Brisbane which cut up the surface, but the weather looks like it’ll be great from Friday to Sunday. If anything, it might be a touch warm for the southern staters…
– Manly must really want to get Josh Schuster off the books, with all the leaks and badmouthing going on this week.
– Late to this, but the next NRLW season will have all 48 games broadcast on Channel Nine, which is fantastic.
– Two marquee Melbourne Storm home games have been moved from AAMI Park to Docklands Stadium to accommodate the women’s football world cup. Expect big crowds for Penrith in Round 18 and Parramatta in Round 22.
– Cowboys wunderkind Jeremiah Nanai can count himself incredibly lucky to only be rubbed out for four weeks after his atrocious hip-drop tackle on Sharks forward Braden Hamlin-Uele, who now has medial ligament damage in his left knee and will be out for as many weeks.
What’s got you talking ahead of this magical weekend, Roarers?