Canterbury Bulldogs vs Sydney Roosters – Friday night – ANZ Stadium
Just four games in round 15 this weekend, and it's a good thing too. With all the suspensions, de-registrations and off-field indiscretions of late we'll soon run out of players. Origin representation strips this game of some of its lustre but it's still a very interesting clash with both forward packs at full-strength. The improvement in Ben Barba in recent weeks would go unnoticed by few - after scoring just two tries in his first seven outings he's now piled on five four-pointers in four weeks. The man to watch...obviously. The chooks are in a little lull at the moment. They're facing an in-form team and they have to trial a brand new pairing in the halves in Mortimer and Aubusson. Maths was never my strength but those two halves don't make a whole as far as I'm concerned. Woof!!!
Verdict – Bulldogs
Result - Roosters 20 defeated Bulldogs 18
Wests Tigers vs Canberra Raiders – Saturday night – Campbelltown Stadiua
This selection chooses itself, but it worries me deeply. The Raiders have a terrible record against the Tigers and they have a terrible record away from home but, and forgive me for repeating myself, this selection chooses itself. With Aaron Woods called up for New South Wales that leaves Adam Blair doing the hard yards in the middle for the Tigers. He doesn't have an impact in that role at the best of times and the Raiders pack is one of the best of our times. The Green Machine welcomes back Glenn 'thumbs' Buttriss and I'm expecting a big game from Dave Shillington after dropping out of Meningas' good book. Blake Ferguson is unavailable on account of his own stupidity but he wouldn't have been playing this game anyway, and the man filling in for him (Jack Wighton) is a name worthy of inclusion in your memory banks. Forgive me for repeating myself again; Maths was never my strength but Jack Wighton + potential = Blake Ferguson - stupidity.
Verdict – Raiders
Result - Tigers 17 defeated Raiders 12
Parramatta Eels vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Sunday afternoon – ANZ Stadium
Family day at ANZ Stadium and this could end up being quite the contest on Sunday afternoon. The Rabbits take to the field without Inglis, Merritt and 'Gorgeous' George Burgess who managed to go troppo in Cairns in the middle of June. Where does this money go when these players get fined. Do the clubs keep it? Does the NRL swallow it up? Is there a kids hospital doing high fives everytime one of these guys stuffs up? I have an uneasy feeling about this game, but you would think the Bunnies have enough talent and discipline in their roster to keep their noses in front.
Verdict – Rabbitohs
Result - Rabbitohs 30 defeated Eels 10
Gold Coast Titans vs Melbourne Storm – Monday night – Skilled Park
Plenty of new faces on show for the Storm this weekend - plus one very old face. Brett Finch is back and he's slotting in for Cooper Cronk at halfback on Monday night. The Titans on the other hand look very strong indeed. Even after donating a few backrowers to the Origin cause they can still name Dave Taylor, Mark Minichiello and Ashley Harrison in the second row. This Gold Coast mob are a handy little outfit and finals football beckons. The purple machine will compete, but the winner is:
Verdict – Titans
Result - Titans 18 defeated Storm 12
Wally Lewis - round fifteen selections (in bold)
Note: tips from Wally will be published on Thursday night or early Friday morning.
- BULLDOGS vs Roosters
- Tigers vs RAIDERS
- Eels vs RABBITOHS
- Titans vs STORM
Comments
Submitted by mark ashford on
Not much to argue about this week Thinker and yes Rabbits/Tigers game will be interesting. Tigers due a win and Rabbits severely down on troops. Can the Burgess boys save the day? This is also Titans best (and only) chance to put a cricket score on Storm. I like dogs, raiders,eels and titans.
Submitted by The Thinker on
Thanks Mark. Great stuff.
And I should make mention here, for those that missed it, that Johnny Ray (one of our most enthusiastic contributors) picked up a perfect round last weekend (including three upsets).
An outstanding effort...and his Warriors are starting to look like a pretty decent footy team.
Submitted by mark ashford on
Sorry Boss I @*%@up..... meant Rabbits/Eels. Tigers are of course playing Raiders. Can I change my picks to dogs, raiders, rabbits and titans???pleeeease.
Submitted by Guru Craig on
The guru was asked by Mrs guru how long the hot flashes had been bothering him, apparently in the expert opinion of the Mrs, the big G has been a tad ‘Hormonal’….now after a bit of reflection, I blame Julia, Gillard that is, because every one seems to being blaming her and the wagon just happened to be passing. So in summary of this rubbish the Guru officially apologises to pretty much everyone for the terrible tips and rants et al, I still love ya Hook and Laurie you’re a champ mate. Now I come to think of it, I'm not even 40, so let’s forget about that and make some money…ahem tips ; )
Bulldogs – Dessie's Dogs will want to win this game, beaten 38-0 earlier this year they get the chance to rewrite the sequel when they play Robinson’s Roosters again, who are doing this one without several key players in Pearce, Maloney and Jennings. Desmond’s side are on a roll with 3 good wins in the bag against The Dragons, NQ and Manly. They are missing 2 themselves with Reynolds at acrobat school and Morris who is torturing himself Wednesday night in QLD. But without their Origin playmakers the Chooks are up against it, bookies have them as wide as 3.00, which is very good money if you fancy a punt, the Guru will stick with the Dogs.
Raiders – Canberra are slowly starting to get a bit of September about them and if they are really serious about a finals campaign this year then games like this are must win. The Raiders meet the Tigers who have been weakened further by Origin duty with Farah and Woods in Brisbane. Coach Potter hasn’t had much luck so far in 2013. I’ve no idea if Mick is a superstitious man, but the Guru wonders if he needs a new magic wand? Benji hasn’t been able to conjure much himself recently and the Guru’s crystal ball, albeit a bit blurred of late, does not see a Tigers victory. Canberra by 13+
Souths – Big George went out of his way in Cairns to support the local talent, tirelessly working at all hours to promote the game, he could be forgiven for feeling hard done by. Visiting a lucky fan In the early hours of Monday morning, the ‘one on one’ coaching session ended with the big prop 10k lighter in the pocket and sitting out 2 games for his trouble. The Bunnies being the professional outfit they are, have foreseen these unfortunate situations and under coach Maguire’s supervision and with the use of some Hollywood technology sourced by club owner ‘Rus’, have cloned the number 10. I hear the splitting image of Georgie boy will run out against the troubled Eels on Sunday afternoon making his debut in Episode 15 of the continuing miniseries: The [Mis] Adventures of Ricky in the west; Burgess Bonanza. Scripts are in the mail as we speak.
Titans - This game can be easily overlooked just two days out from the second Origin game. QLD’s media will be Maroon saturated and Cartwright’s boys will hope some of that rubs off. The Titans will exploit Melbourne’s dependence on their ‘Big 3’ not playing and I expect a home town victory. Those men do more than just score try’s and keep David Middleton busy with stats, they give the Storm the edge in field position which generally dictates the flow and possession of the game. It’s a catch 22 for Bellamy who has the team structured to extract the maximum benefit from their play and without them The Storm are like a V8 running on 4cylinders. The Coast also missing a few have some fine halves themselves, with Albert Kelly a stand out in the Guru’s eyes as a future star. Ashlee Harrison will want a decent game after missing out on Origin and Taylor needs to realise he is being forgotten in rep football, Dave you need to dominate this one and a few more, I hear Mal and Loz will be there with both their sides so it’s up to you big fella.
GCT for the home win, expect some points.
Submitted by a on
Here are my tips
Bulldogs Roosters have no halves to combine here
Raiders Tigers are crap so lets take Raiders
Eels Rabbitohs are missing 5 players so lets go Eels in a boilover
Titans Titans should flog the storm without their big 4
Submitted by vlad sleagles on
Dessies dogs will pluck the chooks,the tigers will be out raided,the eels for an up set,its now or never and titans will weather out the storm.
Submitted by The Legend on
Anybody who is serious about this round of NRL should realise that you can forget about the rep players being absent. Anybody who pulls on an NRL jersey in First Grade is a super athlete with great skills. If you do some serious thinking about the games this weekend here are some tips. Three out of the Four games will be mighty close. Probably 8 or so points the difference. Ok, The Doggies will get away with this one by 8 or so. The Raiders will beat the determined Tigers in the Second Half by approx. 12 points. Half time score will be mighty close. Raiders score first in Second Half. The Rabbitohs will do the same in the Second half and will run out winners by 6 to 8 points. The Storm will put up a valiant effort but will go down by less than 6. Could even be a golden point game. Now that's what The Legend thinks. See how close I go. Happy Tipping all. Oh yeah, Queensland by 24-16 in Game 2 :-)
Submitted by Johnny Ray on
Alright Yeah ! Here are my tips for this round ...
Bulldogs : It's taken half season for them to finally get there and find some form but Bulldogs are back on their game. The Bulldogs will win it but yeah cool, I feel it will be another close one in spite of all missing players that are out of Roosters side cause of State Of Origin ...
Tigers : I'm picking Tigers because of their home side advantage and because of their record against Raiders at Cambelltown. Yeah Tigers have got copious sums of players out because of injury but just look at what's left with Raiders roster now Josh Dugan, Fergie and Edrick Lee aren't playing ? Yeah, yeah, there's still Shillington and Buttriss but then dude they're no Benji Marshall ...
Rabbitohs : The Eels have become nothing more than their own feeder team last few years, that's why picking The Rabbitohs without Greg Inglis and Nate Merrit to eat through them on Sunday. Rabbitohs 13+, my sure thing of the week ...
Titans : Storm way too many players out, way too many players playing different positions, Titans to take win !
Thanks again Thinker ! Let's Gone Warriors ! ;-D
Submitted by The Thinker on
All is forgiven Mark Ashford.
For those waiting on a selection for State of Origin - game two, I'm picking Queensland.
My preview of the game will be posted later today.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Submitted by Johnny Ray on
Crap ! The Roosters won ! And I was so sure that upset of round was going to be West Tigers ! I take back everything that I said, Raiders to win tonight's game ! Rabbitohs on Sunday, Titans On Monday ! Go Warriors ! ;-D
Submitted by Johnny Ray on
Crap ! The West Tigers won ! And I was so sure that there would only be one upset this round ! Alright, I know you shouldn't bet on everything because not everything is going to win that's why you will lose, still I'm going haveto put some serious cash on Titans and Rabbitohs this week, want to get what I lost back ! Go Rabbits ! ;-D
Submitted by Steel Panther on
My maths after last nights game Thinker. Liam Fulton + a bunch of no names - Canberra away record + a poor record against the Tigers = Tigers win.
Submitted by The Thinker on
Well done Steel Panther..that does appear to add up.
And well done (again) to Johnny Ray...tipping another upset win with the Tigers.
Keep an eye on him everyone.