Postponing Mad Monday
Here we are at the tail end of the NRLCEO season. Some of us are already on Virtual Mad Mondays (and have probably clocked off from NRLCEO and this wonderfully informative column), some of us are in the thick of finals, and some are about to start their play-off campaigns.
To those of you who are able to now kick back and watch the footy without having to sweat over ‘who got that try assist’ or ‘how many more tackles does he need’ – save me a beer – I’ll be right there with you in a week or so.
To those who are fretting in the midst of fantasy finals, there’s not much more I can do for you. Our fate’s are in the hands of the Footy Gods. Hopefully you have enough players in your squad to cover the likelihood of an injury or suspension.
But what should we be looking out for in the final weeks of the NRL?
There are a few things we can actually predict, and there’s also a few things that we think we can possibly predict. Lets go through the list…
1) Bullshit upsets.
There will absolutely be some upsets where a rubbish team towards the bottom of the ladder will stand up and out-perform a top 8 certainty. It will make fans groan in frustration knowing that if they’d only played like this a few more times, they’d be in contention too.
My potential picks:
* Rd 23, Knights over Warriors.
* Rd 23, Eels over Bulldogs.
* Rd 24, Tigers over Bulldogs.
2) Players sitting out entire matches.
A coach of a top 4 certainty will no doubt, rest some of their stars in the last two rounds. It’s not totally insane for them to do it, especially if it is an origin player under an injury cloud. Better safe than sorry right? Not if they’re your NRLCEO star!
My potential picks:
* Daly Cherry Evans has come back recently from a dodgy knee. If it starts to play up, Toovs may rest him.
* Depending on how assured Souths top 4 spot is, Inglis could get rested, and so too Sam Burgess.
* The Roosters have a few injury concerns at the moment, but with their finals position uncertain, they will be pushing hard to climb as high as possible, and NOT rest players.
3) Coaches resting workhorse forwards late in the game.
Some teams still need to get their wins up to assure themselves a top 8 berth. But as soon as the win is assured, there is a high likelihood that coaches will pull their star forwards to give some of the benchies more time
My potential picks:
* Cam Smith. It’s happened before. With Smith’s workrate, he will probably register a WHT before he gets yanked, but if he does, it would mean Hinchcliffe slots into dummy half, and someone like Ken Bromwich would get some more gametime. It also means the goal kicking duties pass onto someone else…
4) Teams completely clock out in the last round.
Come round 26 there will be some teams that cant make the finals come up against teams that are pushing for top 8 and top 4 contention. Those with nothing to gain from a win may just not bother playing at all.
My potential picks:
* Bulldogs to run riot over the Titans. At this stage, the Titans coach may not even be the coach for 2015 – so why would he care? Sunday arvo on the Gold Coast – yeah, I’d be thinking about the beers that night too.
5) Teams with nothing to play for, playing their arse off.
Just because there’s nothing to gain from a win, won’t mean that teams won’t be racking up a score.
My potential picks:
* The Dragons. Watch for it – as soon as St George Illawarra are statistically eliminated, they will start throwing the ball round with reckless abandon and pull off some of the most outstanding plays of the year. This is Benji’s time to shine.
* The Eels could also be guilty of this. Someone like Chris Sandow is likely to shine once the pressure has been relieved completely.
6) Beware the home ground send off.
The last game of the year at a teams’ home ground is the perfect time for a team to dig deep, put in an emotion-charged performance, and send their retiring hero off in style. Oh! And there’s a good chance that one of the retirees will be lining up for a shot at goal – taking points out of your kickers tally!
My potential picks:
* Round 26 Raiders v Eels – Brett White
* Round 26 Panthers v Warriors – Kevin Kingston
* Round 26 Roosters v Rabbitohs – Minichiello, Williams
(The Panthers and Roosters are likely to get home finals, so the emotional home game send off may occur during the finals)
With all that said and done. How am I predicting that the end of season ladder will stand? A little like this…
We’re still only at Round 22 – so lets live in the here and now for a moment.
Rabbitohs v Sea Eagles
Drink every time the commentators mention this game as a potential Grand Final preview!
This stands to possibly be one of the games of the season. If it was at Brookvale, you’d give the win to Manly. But this game is at the SCG, and while it’s not exactly a “home” game (in the strictest sense) for Souths, it’s still certain to attract plenty of Bunnies faithful. This game could go either way, but I’m going to lean towards Manly in this one. With Sam Burgess potentially a bit gun-shy over his recent injury, the forwards should be evenly matched. Otherwise Souths have the better pack. Manly have the better halves, and arguably the better backs.
Broncos v Bulldogs
Has there been a bigger bust than Ben Barba? With Darius Boyd heading back to the Bronc’s, it may seem that Barba’s days are numbered. The Barba v Bulldogs matchup has been spoken about before, but it never really eventuated. I don’t believe its going to happen now.
With the salary cap scandal casting a shadow over Brisbane as well, it would seem that Canterbury are in the prime position to take the biscuits in this game.
The NSW halves should be the players to orchestrate several tries as well as the win. With Hodges missing, there should be enough gaps out wide for the Dog’s backline to score plenty.
Knights v Storm
The only thing preventing a total Storm whitewash in this game is the fact that Melbourne haven’t been in Melbourne for a fortnight and the game is at Newcastle.
Expect the Knights to struggle and Cam Smith to rack up a big tally.
Cowboys v Tigers
Cowboys at home, Tigers in turmoil. Do I even need to consult the Crystal Steeden on this one?
Thurston will probably score 20 points in this game. Robbie Farah could score a double WHT – or go completely missing – It’s anyone’s guess.
Gavin Cooper is back for the ‘Boys (albeit on the bench) but will he get enough game time to register a WHT? I’m gonna say no. Tigers wont have enough ball for him to make enough tackles.
Man I wish I had more North Queensland backs in my team. They’re gonna score big.
Eels v Raiders
If Parramatta can’t dominate this game, they don’t deserve to be top 8 contenders.
If you cast your mind back to last week’s column, I expressed the importance on taking a chance on newly listed players. Jordan Rapana has had some (5 games) experience in the NRL, but here he is making his debut for the Raiders. He COULD be a great pick. If you can, why not roll the dice and pick him up and slot him on your bench?
I believe that Parra will come away with the 2 points in this match, and it will be on the back of the Eels forwards – so play them if you have them!
Warriors v Sharks
Warriors at home? Warriors to win.
Gallen is back, and he should score himself a WHT, but Cronulla REALLY struggle to put points on the board. It’s hard to see them doing it away from home against a team who can turn on the rock solid defence when they want.
Shaun Johnson is out again (which should be a delight to Chad Townsend owners!), and the Warriors have named Lolohea on their wing (despite only being listed as an NRLCEO five-eight). Lumpy and the Beast should dominate the scoring again for NZ, so I pity you if your opposition has them in their team.
Dragons v Panthers
Drink every time Gus Gould expresses his love of Sunday afternoon footy!
If St George Illawarra are to make the 8, they should be capable of winning this game in the ‘Gong. It’s certainly not impossible for the Dragons, though it wont be easy. Conversely, if the Panthers are serious title contenders this year, Sunday’s game shouldn’t prove too much of a hassle for them.
This shapes to be a corker of a match. Unless the Dragons bitch out, then Penrith will run away with it.
This game could go a number of ways, it is highly plausible that either team could win by a lot, or in a tight one. The smart money would be on the Panthers in a tight one, 4 or 5 tries to 3 or 4.
Play your Dragon forwards if you have them.
Roosters v Titans
Does anyone think that the Titans can be arsed sending their inaugural coach off in a winning fashion?
I wouldn’t have thought so, but Monday night matches are funny things; the weekend is all done with footy, so Monday often throws a curve ball. It was only a few weeks ago when the Titans beat the Rabbitohs on a Monday night.
I mean, you’d have to be a fool (or one-eyed Titans fan) to think that the Roosters, with SBW back on deck, would lose to the Titans at Allianz – but it wouldn’t be absurd to throw $5 or $10 on the Gold Coast. The Titans are currently paying $4.25 for the win.
Though to be honest, I foresee this match being a blow-out and the Roosters scoring in the high 30s/low 40s. This means plenty of scoring opportunities for the Sydney backs, and probably several of opportunities for the halves to set up said scoring opportunities.
If the Titans are going to make a game of this, their forwards will be working overtime – there are WHT’s on offer here!
Anyway – it’s Friday afternoon. I predict there will be beer in my near future! Best of luck kids.
The Crystal Ballboy
Latest posts by The Crystal Ballboy (see all)
- Don’t Draft That Guy! - February 26, 2016
- New Season – New Ludicrous Predictions - February 26, 2015
- Where did we all go wrong? - September 4, 2014
