Brooks will never play for NSW ever. Luai is gone as they wont touch him now or the press will destroy them. Cody Walker is a certainty for 5/8 as he has the backing of the press.

The NRL really shouldn’t be getting involved in this. The Wests Tigers can easily play at both their actual home ground at Campbelltown, where their leagues club is based or for big crowds at CommBank Stadium who they already have a contractual agreement with to play some games there. They don’t need Leichardt. They seem to forget they are now the Wests Tigers and are no longer the Balmain Tigers. They also lose money by playing at Leichardt.

The NRL can’t spend 30 million dollars to refurbish Leichardt as it makes no economic sense and if they did, they would then no justification not to do the same for Belmore Brookvale Shark Park and Kogarah which are not much better than Leichardt. The “Wests” Tigers should have been pressing the State Government to improve Campbelltown to a decent NRL ground for an area as important to the state and the NRL as the Macarthur.

This also highlights why the West Tigers have no real home anyway as they have never fully committed to the Macarthur region and have never been accepted there as a result. Instead of asking for more money for Leichardt they should have asked for more money to be spent on their actual home ground at Campbelltown Stadium. The Macarthur is the largest most quickly growing region in greater Sydney which has been basically ignored by the NRL and State Government. The Macarthur has no modern sports grounds. Rugy League is massive in the Macarthur and the region is rapidly growing but the only sport that has recognized that is Football who have admitted the Macarthur Rams to Football Australia league to give the region its only truly representative sporting team. If you lived in the Macarthur, you would find not many people support the West Tigers instead supporting teams like Parramatta and Penrith who “spiritual” home is closer. There are also more Souths supporters here as well. My team are The Oaks Tigers who are a part of the Group 6 CRL competition whose teams are mostly based in the Macarthur region. Until such time as the West Tigers finally commit to the Macarthur and the NRL and State Government give their support to decent sporting facilities in the Macarthur i won’t be supporting the “Balmain” Tigers.

The NSW government doesn’t own Leichardt its owned by the local council. So, the NRL can’t hand it over to the Tigers for their “spiritual” home ground. Also, the NRL couldn’t afford to buy it as the land it is on is worth a fortune, so the council cannot just give to give it the NRL.

It’s funny how the Eels NRLW team has mirrored the Eels NRL team. Both made the grand final last year from fourth before being outclassed in the Grand Final. Both lost several quality players in the off season who weren’t really replaced this year. Both lost their first five games of the new season before they won a game. Both failed to make the finals this year after making the grand final last year. While i admire your optimism they should struggle against the Roosters, who are the form team of the competition while the Eels are at the other end of the scale. It would be a much bigger upset this year than last year when the Eels beat them. I will be cheering the Eels on but feel they will probably be outclassed by the Roosters just like their NRL team was recently.

If i was Matt Arthur i would be looking a new club after the way his brother was treated by Eels fans.

The signing of Joey Lussick smacks of desperation, he will be 28 this year and prior to joining the Eels this year had played only 10 NRL games in his entire NRL career to date. He wasn’t considered good enough previously to be retained by either Manly or the Eels and has spent large stints playing 100 games in Super League. Not sure how he solves the Eels problem at hooker as he’s been basically a bench player at best in the NRL. Brendan Hands at 23 and still on the improve, is I think their only viable option at hooker even though he also is basically a utility bench player. Lussick on his record is arguably the worst performed hooker in the NRL and at his age has no room for improvement.

Let’s all hope that the Eels see sense and let Blake go as i believe his overpriced contract ends this year. I have never understood the faith put in Blake by the coaching staff despite him continually letting them down. I understand they have yet to offer him a contract for next year and hope that situation continues, and he leaves the club.

I have nothing but admiration for the Panthers and their coach Ivan Cleary for the way they have managed to keep such a great team together over the last few years as much as has been possible under the salary cap and stay the team to beat despite the loss of players such as Burton Kikau and Korisau. But cracks are starting to show in their attack as they haven’t really been able to replace Kikau and Korisau. Their commitment, defense and discipline is the best in the NRL but their attack is becoming more predictable without the likes of Kikau and Korisau this year. And things can only get worse next year with the loss of Stephen Crichton who they will miss even more than any of the others they have lost over the last year or so. I am unreserved fan of Crichton who i rate the best centre in the NRL. You only have to look at how many times he has saved the Panthers with his defense, his speed and intercepts to know that the Panthers will not be able to replace him. And if they can’t resign Luai then the writing will be on the wall. As Parramatta found in the eighties when they had one of the best team to ever play Rugby League it can’t really last beyond those players. It must come to an end. While the Panthers have been able to keep going and have great depth, they can’t keep plugging the gaps with players of comparable ability and won’t be able to find anyone capable of taking Crichton’s place as he is the best centre in the NRL and same goes for Luai. I am not totally sure if they can win the grand final this year and the Broncos look far more dangerous in attack than Penrith. But i am sure they will give their all as they do every time they play. But i can’t see their dominance continuing for much longer with the loss of a player like Cricton and potentially Luai.

Couldn’t agree more, the Eels recent roster management has been a disaster for them this year. Losing the likes of forwards Oregon Kaufusi, Ray Stone, Isaia Papaili, Marata Niokure and Reed Mahoney last year has affected both their attack and their defense. Signing a 33 yold hooker with bad knees was always going to be a gamble, one that i feel has failed dismally espec now as he won’t play again after neck surgery. I also don’t understand the signing of Joey Lussick who at 27 hasn’t yet played more than 13 NRL games in his career to date with most of his time spent in England and in the NSW Cup. Brendan Hands while young and inexperienced is the only real option the Eels have going forward as a hooker and with no realistic backup for Brown and Moses after they released Jake Arthur. I also don’t understand why Lussick is being selected ahead of Hands as Lussick just doesn’t look like he’s up to the standard required of a starting NRL hooker.

The Eels are gone for this year and for the foreseeable future. I cannot see them making finals this year or next year either with the players they currently have and with no sign of them having the cap space to sign some decent forwards to bolster their back row stocks and their bench, especially a top-class hooker after the loss of Reed Mahoney. Paulo and Campbell-Gilliard are now into their 30s and its showing. They also need to get rid of a number of questionable forwards like Lussick Matterson Davey etc. who aren’t very young either and most of their bench forwards who are better off playing NSW Cup. I feel the Eels now face a few years in the wilderness with little hope of making the finals. No premierships now seem likely and their 38 years without a premiership will become a lot longer as they don’t seem capable of developing anyone from within their junior ranks and have relied on signing players off Penrith to stay competitive. They seem destined to join the ranks of the NRL also rans like the Tigers Bulldogs and Dragons.

Can we stop expecting the Eels to be competitive this year just because they made the grand final
last year. This a completely different and much weaker side for the Eels than last year. They have now lost all three games this year comprehensively with no sign of improvement, losing by a net margin of 88 points. So it’s hard to see them being able to match it with one of the stronger NRLW teams in the Broncos. This should be more of the same with them losing by a lot more than 6 points. Especially without their captain and probably best player in Cherrington.

I think it’s the fear factor as on recent form Souths could struggle to even make the eight but any team that contains players such as Cameron Murray Cody Walker Latrell Mitchell Alex Johnston Campbell Graham and one the best forward packs in the NRIL scares the bejeeus out of oppositions as they did earlier in the year but like the Roosters until they perform consistently as a team it’s still just a nightmare waiting to happen. The big concern in last week’s game was the shocker Walker had early in the game, making a series of errors and falling off tackles. They desperately need him back playing to his absolute best over the next weeks as their attack revolves around him. With Walker its often a matter of rocks or diamonds and Souths need his diamond best to succeed in their battle to make the eight over the next few weeks.

The reality is that the Eels are by far and away the worst and weakest team in the NRLW and i suspect Newcastle will win by a lot more than 6 points. The Eels have been severely weakened losing most of the players from last year’s grand final team to the new teams and now have undeniably the weakest roster in the NRLW. Going on their first two games when they were easily beaten in both games it’s quite possible that they won’t win a game this year as it’s hard to see a team currently they could actually beat. Even when they get back to full strength it hard to see them being competitive with the better teams. They only won one game last year to finish fourth. And made the grand final in a huge upset over a very disappointing Roosters team before being beaten easily by Newcastle in the grand final. With more teams now and a drastically weaker roster this year it is hard to see finishing anywhere but last.

The Panthers are a great side but not as great a side as they were last year without Kikau and Korisau. There are beatable this year as the Tigers and quite a few other teams have proved this year. Without Kikau and Korisau they seem too predictable in attack and bank more on the other team cracking under pressure more so than last year when Luai Kikau and Korisau could break open defenses through individual brilliance. They will still be hard to beat in the grand final if they make it, but their attack seems to lack the variety they had last year and especially if anything happens to Luai, who is master of the unexpected. They had all the ball against the Sharks but found it hard at times to crack the Cronulla defense and with the amount possession they had inside the Cronulla half it probably should have been more. While the Panthers defend as well as they do and can continue to put oppositions under continuous pressure then teams will struggle to beat them but if the opposition don’t miss tackles drop the ball and make unforced errors then the Penrith attack often stalls. They rely far too much on Cleary’s kicking game and if oppositions can shut him down as what happened in State of Origin then the Panthers don’t have a backup plan.

The rubbish spoken about Luai is ridiculous and i can’t understand the hatred directed at him. Luai is a ball runner and one of the best in the NRL but he isn’t a playmaker and doesn’t have to be if he playing outside a creative half like Cleary. I’m not sure why he copped all the criticism for NSW losing game two when he wasn’t the playmaker, that was Mitch Moses role based on his playmaking role at the Eels. How Moses escaped criticism in game 2 i don’t know and in game 3 he didn’t do much more than he did in game 2 as Cody Walker who is a great playmaker came in and won the game for NSW. The best half five eight combination i have seen was Sterling and Kenny. Kenny was the best ball running five eight i have seen but he was no playmaker or kicker and instead used his skill and athleticism running off the playmaking Sterling to great effect. There are much bigger grubs in the NRL than Luai who is very popular player with his Penrith teammates. When other players do much worse things than Luai no one calls them a grub and a couple at the Roosters and the Storm get praised for it.

Move on. Ashes is over and who cares what they think.

You can write off the Sharks for the eight especially as Nicho Hynes is likely to get suspended for a few weeks for abusing a linesman. They just aren’t good enough and without Hynes they are pretty useless.

Drinkwater Gutherson and Edwards will never play fullback for NSW if and when Tedesco retires from SOO, as then either Latrell Mitchel or Tom Trbojevic will be fullback for NSW. Why play the two best fullbacks in the NRL in the centres and not in their favored position when there are specialist centres like Bradman Best available. Whoever out of Turbo and Mitchell isn’t selected at fullback is the other centre. Thats the reality no one in their right mind is going to pick anyone else for fullback in the future to replace Tedesco while superstar fullbacks like Turbo and Mitchell are available.

Why should Moses stay at half? NSW only lost the first game narrowly with Cleary at half and then were thrashed in the next game at Suncorp with Moses at half. They only won the third game through Cody Walker playing at five eight, who should have been the five eight for NSW since 2019. Nicho Hynes like Walker has been the best in his position now for that last two years so he must be the half next year for NSW with Walker at five eight.

As to who is the best five eight for NSW below is the current list of five eights in the NRL.
Bulldogs Oloapu NZL
Raiders Wighton Unavailable
Cowboys Dearden Qld
Dolphins Nikorima NZL
Storm Munster Qld
Sea Eagles Schuster NSW
Panthers Laui NSW
Eels Brown NZL
Dragons Sullivan NSW
Roosters Manu NZL
Tigers Wakeham NSW
Sharks Moylan NSW
Knights Gamble Qld
Titans Campbell Qld
Broncos Mam Qld
Rabbitohs Walker NSW
Warriors Metcalf NSW
Not sure from those eligible who other than Cody Walker could be regarded as a better five eight for NSW than Luai. And Walker has as many detractors as Luai. I think what the above shows is that QLD have far better depth in the position than NSW, as well as having by far and away the best five eighth in the NRL in Munster.
What everyone seems to have missed from the SOO1 was that Qld won because their defense in the first half was incredible with some of most amazing try saving tackles i have seen which saw them lead at half time despite the odds. Also the criticism of the NSW halves failure to take control in the last 10 minutes seems to ignore that QLD denied NSW possession in that period. Queensland just wanted it more than NSW as Collins showed by outjumping Tedesco to set up the match winning try.

Cant say i have seen or heard of any Parramatta fans booing and abusing Brad Arthur in the same way as his son in the whole time Jake has been at the Eels. Jake is better off anyway away from the toxic Eels fans as they were really getting to him in the end and would have been a major factor in his decision to leave the club. Only a week ago they abused him again after the Canberra game which caused him to ask a fan who asked for his autograph if they really wanted his autograph, which is a sad indictment of the Parramatta fans.

Eels fans must be rejoicing at finally getting rid of Jakob Arthur to the Sea Eagles as most Eels fans seemed to think he was only getting selected as his father was coach. The bit i don’t get is why boo the kid and harass him when its his father who was picking him. Why aren’t Eels fans going after Brad Arthur instead as he is the coach who kept selecting him. Surely its time to move Brad Arthur on and find a better coach. Don’t know who is head of recruitment at the Sea Eagles but who in their right minds would sign Aaron Woods Cooper Johns and Jakob Arthur. Surely Manly have some better options on their roster.

Was going to say more but changed my mind but when you lose your hooker and best defender in Mahoney your two best and strongest running forwards and defenders in Papaili and Niukore and your best bench forward in Oregon Kaufusi, gee what could possibly go wrong. They now have only one of their starting forwards from the Grand Final left, ie Junior Paulo, gone are Mahoney Papaili and Niukore, and now their two best remaining forwards from last year in Campbell-Gillard and Shaun Lane are both out injured for months. Good luck Parramatta because you are going to need it. That noise you heard was the window slamming shut.