NRL Round 19 preview talking points: Bludgin’ round the bye weeks

Is anyone actually good this year, or is it just Penrith? Here are your NRL preview talking points for Round 19.

Big wins, but who proved anything?

All the talk about the evenness of 2023’s NRL has come apart in the last few weeks.

Round 18 saw some pretty big margins, but there was no starker example than the beatings received by the Tigers and Bulldogs.

So hefty were the 74-0 and 66-0 results, both the victorious Knights and Cowboys turned significant negative points differentials into positive ones, which very much sets them up for a run at the top eight. Unfortunately though, it gave us absolutely no insight into whether the winning teams are any good, because the losers were just diabolical.

Cronulla smashed St George Illawarra by 36, but that was expected. What was not expected was South Sydney reversing a dodgy month by rattling off 28 unanswered points in torrential conditions to see off New Zealand.

Probably the biggest signal from the big wins though came from Penrith, spotting Melbourne a 14-0 lead after 25 minutes then keeping them off the tryline for the rest of the game as the Panthers took the Storm apart on a 34-2 run to win by 18.

They dropped a couple of games early but if anyone’s consistently capable of playing to the same level as Ivan Cleary’s mob, we haven’t seen it yet.

(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Good games this week

The good news? State of Origin finishes next Wednesday. The bad? That means there’s only five games this week and with only one game between top-eight sides, the match-ups are hardly loin-stirring.

We begin Thursday with Wests Tigers looking to score their first try for two weeks and half a game. Their assignment? Bottom-four club murderers Cronulla.

For all the doubts about how soft their draw has been, the Sharks are one game behind Brisbane and Penrith at the top and have two games in hand. A tougher run is ahead with New Zealand, Penrith and South Sydney, but they’re winning the ones they’re supposed to.

Friday night’s standalone is in Wollongong for the Dragons and Raiders, with the Green Machine needing wins to stay in the top eight because their -65 for and against is 12th-worst in the comp.

The Dragons are gearing down for the season but they match up well against Canberra and will fancy their chances, particularly as the Raiders just cannot put teams away this year. Canberra have won 10 games, but by an average margin of just 4.9 points.

Saturday twilight we get Parramatta welcoming New Zealand, which should be a good game but going on how the Warriors aimed up last week, doubts remain about how high they can rise.

Parramatta have lifted themselves from 14th to sixth, going undefeated since Round 11 (including two byes). They’ve got the second-best points differential in the comp and a win here will give them a real chance at the top four.

The Warriors were incredibly disappointing last week but if they can cause the slight upset they’ll keep a game’s gap on the field chasing their eight spot.

Saturday prime time is South Sydney and Canterbury, and maybe the less we say about this one the better. The Bunnies got themselves back on track across the ditch and Canterbury were sat on their arses. The top four beckons if Souths can do the business.

Sunday’s game is one the Gold Coast much absolutely, positively win if they want to stay in the running for finals. They welcome the Dolphins, who ran at the Broncos last week but couldn’t close the deal.

Tip of the cap to Titans interim coach Jim Lenihan, who even though he’s keeping a seat warm for Des Hasler has shown good coaching acumen and man management to keep the Gold Coast in the race for finals spots.

If your team wasn’t mentioned above, they’re one of seven who’ve got the bye.

Week 19 random observations

– The Dolphins continue to push their opposition in the face of adversity. No one gave them a chance against the Broncos but Wayne Bennett’s men are still definitely going to influence the finals shape.

– Well played Manly, whose win over the Roosters was probably the game of the round. The 2 points for the bye will keep them on track for the lower parts of the eight if they’re good enough.

– “It’s going to be painful for a couple years yet,” said Canterbury General Manager of Football Phil Gould. Happy to hear that, Bulldogs fans?

– Who says the Raiders only score off kicks? They must have missed Canberra winger Jordan Rapana pushing his halfback Jamal Fogarty into Alofiana Khan-Pereira, causing the Titans winger to drop a certain try and resulting in a 90-metre Matt Timoko score. What a passage of play.

What’s got you talking ahead of Round 19, Roarers?