- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
This was one seriously strange round of football. Some things got sorted out – the Broncos are officially contenders, the Cowboys are properly back – but others became much murkier.
Are Manly good again? Are the Roosters? What about Newcastle? Are the Storm now rubbish? And what on Earth are the Raiders?
One might expect things to become clearer at this time of year, but it’s gone the opposite way. At least there’s the warm blanket of the Tigers, who never let you down by always letting you down.
Let’s try and work it all out, P Ranks, style.
Nathan Cleary is back, the Panthers are purring and everyone else is beating each other. It’s hard to see anything but a threepeat at the moment.
Friday night was the biggest indicator yet that the Broncos are the real deal, comfortably disposing of one of the other heavyweights. In Reece Walsh, they might have the NRL’s best player in 2023 and the combination of him and Adam Reynolds, ageing like a fine wine, is going to be very hard to stop.
This column has been a little skeptical of the Broncos given their draw and key losses to other contenders, but that’s gone now. With a home final and a spot in the top four all but secured, Brisbane are in with as good a chance as anybody of knocking off the Panthers.
Souths were their own worst enemies on Friday night, but it’s hard to read too much into it. The whole game was more about how good Brisbane were, with the Bunnies so far beneath themselves with the ball.
The gap between best and worst is too big at the moment. Throw Latrell in and anything could happen, though, and their fixtures are such that a late charge is well within the realms of possibility. They need to pick up soon, though.
North Queensland continue to warm nicely, with their defence in particular looking ominous. Their big weakness last time around was in their spine, but with Tom Dearden and Scott Drinkwater blossoming as they are, that might not limit them as much in 2023. Their clash with Brisbane in two weeks will be box office.
New Zealand are on a tear, even if they nearly stumbled on Friday. Now they’ve got a super soft draw going into the Finals and should be aiming at the top four. They’d deserve it.
PENRITH, AUSTRALIA – JULY 23: Stephen Crichton of the Panthers celebrates scoring a try during the round 21 NRL match between Penrith Panthers and Canterbury Bulldogs at BlueBet Stadium on July 23, 2023 in Penrith, Australia. (Photo by Izhar Khan/Getty Images)
Melbourne were awful on Saturday and deserved to lose to Newcastle, perhaps by more. Craig Bellamy will be reading the riot act all week, having called his boys ‘complacent’ in the post-match presser. With four of their final six against other Finals contenders, they need a kick up the jacksie more than most.
Canberra’s spirit was again to the fore in a stirring comeback that forced Golden Point against the Warriors, but don’t let that distract from how rubbish they were for over an hour in Auckland. Newcastle at home is a real challenge given the form that the Knights are in, though expect Ricky Stuart to get his boys home in a close game for the 10,000th time, because they are an unkillable beast.
Parra were a comfortable second best to the Cowboys, but might yet make the Finals as the Sharks continue to freefall. If they do, they can still be a big probably for whoever they face, because their best is very good – but it looks a long way away at the moment.
The flat-track bullies can’t even flat track bully anymore, with Manly pulling the Sharks’ pants down on Sunday afternoon. Cronulla are all over the place at the moment and seem intent on blowing up their season. Panthers and Souths next, too. Ouch.
Having put the big red pen through my boys last week, they turned in one of the best showings of the year. Taniela Paseka and Josh Aloiai are out for the foreseeable, however, as might be Jake Trbojevic. The line is still well and truly through the Sea Eagles, but they can certainly save some face and finish the year strong.
(Photo by Tim Allsop/Getty Images)
Newcastle gave a reminder of their ceiling with a superb showing against Melbourne, but we’ve seen the movie before on this Knights team. Trust is earned over time, but this is shaping up to be a strong end to the year, and a lot of fun to watch too. Dom Young in full flight is one of the best sights in the NRL. Shame he’s going to the Chooks for next year.
A week off for Wayne’s wonders, who get to test themselves against the Bulldogs in Bundaberg in the early Sunday game in a match already being forgotten before it’s been played.
Winning is good and winning well is even betterr, but come on now: it was the Titans. One swallow does not make a summer, though it was fun to see James Tedesco enjoying himself again.
(Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)
The Titans are a rabble, the only team that can make the Roosters look good in attack. Des Hasler has a huge job on his hands to make them halfway competitive in 2024.
It could have been a lot, lot worse for the Bulldogs on Sunday – and it was still pretty bad. They’re not quite as bad as the Dragons and Tigers but aren’t far off.
They won’t finish last, which has to be good. They must thank their lucky stars that the Tigers exist.
Bad, unlucky, injury prone…the list goes on. Their women’s team were great, though.