Penrith Panthers vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Friday night – Pepper Stadium
The Bunnies have named 19 players in their 17 man squad which doesn't add up for mine. I am excited though, to see Eddie Murphy on the list, and potentially making his NRL debut. Another 48 hours and we should know if he gets a run or not. Boom!!! Thinker drops mike. Reynolds has been named but I'll assume he won't be there, so Inglis may not play in the centres as named after all. The Panthers have named the same seventeen that beat the Sea Eagles last week. Although the Bunnies recent record over the Panthers has been very strong (five wins from the last six) they do not like Pepper Stadium one little bit. The red and the green look a shadow of the team that won the premiership two years ago. After three losses in a row it's hard to see them turning it around anytime soon. I doubt Cartwright gets his chance in the last Origin game this year but it's only a matter of time before he does.
Verdict – Panthers by 8
Result - Panthers 28 defeated Rabbitohs 26
Newcastle Knights vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Saturday afternoon – Hunter Stadium
The Dragons have struggled to score points all season, but they did score 20 against the Storm last week, and they're the only team to achieve that feat this year. They'll probably score more than that this round but they'll need to, as this is actually the sort of game the Knights could come out and win. Despite their atrocious points differential the Knights have scored almost as many points this season as the Red V. If, and I accept this is a big if, the Knights can fly the boxes and score some tries early the Dragons will struggle to run them down. The more likely result though, is a fairly dour affair, with the Dragons always looking the victor. Not the game to showcase to people if you are introducing them to the sport.
Verdict – Dragons by 8
Result - Dragons 30 defeated Knights 18
Cronulla Sharks vs New Zealand Warriors – Saturday night – Southern Cross Group Stadium
Oh yes Coach calls it the streak. Boogity Boogity. With a win at home the Sharks can notch up 11 victories in a row, and the last team to do that won the premiership in 2015. The Warriors have built a little momentum in recent weeks but it's a snowball compared to the tidal wave that is the Sharks at the minute. Don't look Ethel!!!
Verdict – Sharks by 4
Result - Sharks 19 defeated Warriors 18
Canterbury Bulldogs vs Brisbane Broncos – Saturday night – ANZ Stadium
The Broncos have named all six Origin players on Saturday night but at the very least I'm assuming Sam Thaiday won't be there. They're also missing some fairly important non-Origin players on Saturday night with Glenn, Reed, Kahu and McCullough all injured at the minute. This is a true test of the Broncos depth and I'll think they'll be drowning not waving when the referee calls time. The Bulldogs, outside of their two Origin players, have had two weeks to prepare for this game and their last two performances would indicate they are on track for another finals appearance in 2016. I don't like to take the Broncos on too often, but the Bulldogs at $1.90 looks like fair shopping.
Verdict – Bulldogs by 4
Result - Bulldogs 40 defeated Bulldogs 14
Gold Coast Titans vs Canberra Raiders – Sunday afternoon – Cbus Super Stadium
Two of the over-achievers this season face each other but not for the first time in 2016. These sides met in round four where the Titans prevailed in Canberra by 24-20. Both sides have improved since then, and I have this game pegged as the match of the round. The round four Titans didn't include Peats, Zillman or Pettybourne, while the Raiders have four very important cogs that didn't play in the round four contest in Austin, Sezer, Paulo and Leilua. With those inclusions, and an afternoon timeslot in what looks like cool but dry conditions, I think the Raiders can prevail. Back the total points overs.
Verdict – Raiders by 4
Result - Raiders 30 defeated Titans 22
Melbourne Storm vs Wests Tigers – Sunday afternoon – AAMI Park
And to think I thought 19 players were too many - the Storm have come out and named 22. In any case it's anyone's guess who lines up for the purple machine on Sunday. Coach Craig Bellamy has made it clear in recent weeks that his pre-game team list is barely a first draft. Cronk and Smith backed up after Origin I (after Bellamy said they wouldn't) but he's named them this round. Do they play? Who the heck knows? I'll assume they'll play but only because the Storm lost last week and I'm sure they'd like to stay as close to the top of the ladder as they can. As for the Tigers, Robbie Farah is good enough to be vice-captain and play hooker for 80 minutes for New South Wales but he's a bench player at best for the team currently 12th on the ladder. Try explaining that to your kids. The Storm don't lose at home too often, and they lose successive games even less often. Purple it is, but keep your eye out for any ridiculous team changes.
Verdict – Storm by 14
Result - Storm 29 defeated Tigers 20
North Queensland Cowboys vs Manly Sea Eagles – Monday night – 1300SMILES Stadium
It's taken a while but the Cowboys have their first injury concern for the season, with Michael Morgan set to miss at least a few weeks. I imagine Ray Thompson comes into the halves and Thurston may even lend him the number seven jersey. Thurston wore the six on Wednesday night and went okay. More often than not Thurston puts in an absolute blinder backing up from Origin duty - particularly when he plays at home and even more so if he's backing up from a Queensland victory. With that in mind, I can't see the Sea Eagles getting close. I doubt the Sea Eagles think they can get close either. Note that Cherry-Evans returns for this game. Remember him?
Verdict – Cowboys by 28
Result - Cowboys 30 defeated Sea Eagles 26
Wally Lewis - round sixteen selections (in bold)
Note: tips from Wally will be published on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
- PANTHERS vs Rabbitohs
- Knights vs DRAGONS
- SHARKS vs Warriors
- Bulldogs vs BRONCOS
- TITANS vs Raiders
- STORM vs Tigers
- COWBOYS vs Sea Eagles
Comments
Submitted by Rick on
Hi coach Storm for me please cheers.
Submitted by mark ashford on
All home teams for me except the knights.
Coach I'll take the Storm this week thank-you.
Submitted by mark ashford on
Coach sorry my error I meant Cowboys.
Submitted by a on
Here are my tips
Panthers by 6 I think Panthers will be a crack for the 8 after their win against the Rabbitohs
Dragons by 4 I hope Knights really do do better but Dragons will end up beating a much improve Knights
Sharks by 8 Sharks are due in for a loss but it wont be this weekend
Broncos by 1 it should be a thriller here with Broncos getting over the line only just
Titans by 2 another thriller here with Titans getting home
Storm by 12 I think Storm are going to be too strong here
Cowboys by 16 I think Cowboys should be too strong for the worst team ever
and my tip for the last one of the couch is the Cowboys
Submitted by christine on
My tips for rd 16 are :
panthers
dragons
sharks
bulldogs
titans
storm
cowboys
For my on the couch tip panthers
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Updated Couch
1. Coach - PAR
2. Mark - NZ_COW
3. Baggy - NZ
4. Rick - NZ_MEL
5. Tailspin - PAR
6. a - G/C_COW
7. Newbie - G/C
8. Tigerholic - NZ
9. Rocket - PAR
10. christine - NZ_PAN
11. Big Pete Bx - PAR
12. Thinker - MEL(out)
13. BoozeMaster2000 - NZ
14. Broncoswimmer - NZ
Submitted by Dragonsfan4ever on
Hello everyone, my tips for this week are:
Panthers by 14- Panthers will be too good for the struggling Rabbitohs.
Dragons by 20- Dragons to smash the worse team by far this season the Knights.
Sharks by 4- Sharks to get the win in a close one to make it 11 in a row.
Bulldogs by 12- Bulldogs have Josh Morris out and Broncos have Thaiday out due to suspension. Broncos have way more players backing up from origin. So they'll be more tired players you would think from the Broncos rather than the Bulldogs. So based on that, I',m backing the Bulldogs here.
Raiders by 10- Raiders to win because their attack will be better than the Titans in this one. They'll have more points than the Titans in this one I think. Although Titans attack has improved don't you worry about that. Although the Raiders' attack has much better than last year compared to this year at the moment, they'll still have more points than the Titans here.
Storm by 8- Storm will be too good here. They have a couple of players coming back including their origin players who may be tired but I think that the Storm will beat the Tigers .
And finally... the Cowboys by 22- The Cowboys to smash a depleted Manly side who do have Cherry-Evans back.
Awesome. That's done. Good luck with ur teams playing this week and with ur tips this week. Cheers and go the mighty Dragons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by mark ashford on
Thanks Coach for accepting my correction.(on the couch)
I'm basically retired so have spent a lot of the day looking at Origin wrap ups etc. Have watched the game again twice on Fox.
I'm really disappointed with the criticism of Laurie Daly and some of the blues players.
Gallen has copped plenty, now I don't like him but he played well and gave his all.
If QLD had lost how would we feel if the media was calling for Parker to be dropped from SOO #3
BIG PETE unfortunately I had more than 1 beer last night. Had a few in for a BBQ. Started with a couple of xxxx gold then a couple of VB's followed by too much delicious red. Did eat though.
Result had to watch the game again on Fox today.
Enjoyed it just as much. Could of gone either way.
Thaiday tackle deserves 2 weeks.
Now having said that it's
ROCKET......QUEENNSSLLAAANNDDEEEERRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by mark ashford on
Hey Thinker just got time to look at The Streak by Ray Stevens.
You must be somewhere around my vintage to bring that up.
" I said DONT LOOK ETHEL... BUT SHE HAD ALREADY GOT A FREE SHOT"
absolute classic....thanks for the memories
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Yes the last team to string 11 wins won the comp, but the previous team to do this, Bulldogs with a streak of 12 in 2012 only ended up racking up another Grand Final loss.
Doesn't hurt to have the number one streak of the year, but doesn't guarantee a lap of honour.
Submitted by newbie from perth on
Hi everyone,
Win, lose or draw, I love SOO. The game was in the balance a couple of times, 2 great intercept tries, a couple of disallowed Blues tries (and rightly so) and awesome kicking from JT. For what it’s worth and not trying to stir anything up but the Blues need to seriously listen to Gus’ comments after the game if they wanna earn some “props” in the future. He hit the nail on the head I reckon. Anyhoo, time for some tipping action …
Panthers - As I’ve said before, the Bunnies seem to have lost all interest in playing footy. Panthers are travelling alright and methinks they should win this fairly comfortably.
Dragons - Seriously, do I really need to explain why they’ll win this?
Sharks - With much respect, the Warriors just managed to scrape in at home last week against my beloved Roosters, so I can’t see how they’re gonna be able to get over the Sharks at Shark Park on Saturday.
Dogs - There’s talk that the Broncs "might" rest some guys after Wednesday night so based on that and the fact this is at ANZ, Newbie has to tip the Doggies, albeit with just a slight hint of apprehension.
Raiders - The Green Machine have had a week off whereas the Titans haven’t. Just remember it’s me talking here but I can see the Raiders winning this one without too much fuss.
Storm - Yeah, I know the Storm Troopers have quite a number of guys backing up from Wednesday but even so, I can see them winning at home this week, no problem. With their great defence and me not knowing which Tigers outfit will rock up to the game on Sunday, I’d be stupid if I didn’t play it safe and tip the Storm.
Cowboys - Guys, let’s not take up too much space on this page with this one eh? All I have to say is remember that 1997 song (awesome video too) from Prodigy entitled “Smack My Bitch Up”. I’d post the link for the video but it might just be a little too much violence, drug use and nudity for some. Yikes!
Looks like I’m the same as the Boss and a few others (or will be by the time the first game rocks around). Are the games getting easier to pick, am I finally getting my whats-a-name together, or is my real name Alice and am I living in a Land of Wonder?
OK kids, good luck with your tipping and may your team win by 40 points! Cheers.
P.S. Can a cemetery raise its prices and blame it on the cost of living? Hmmm…
LAST ONE ON THE COUCH
Coach, can you pencil the Cowboys in for me this week? Thanks mate…
Submitted by Rocket Ryan on
Bigpete MIA he might be with eagle boy in the manly bunker dammed if anyone would be able to follow the directions
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Updated Couch
1. Coach - PAR_CRO
2. Mark - NZ_COW
3. Baggy - NZ
4. Rick - NZ_MEL
5. Tailspin - PAR
6. a - G/C_COW
7. Newbie - G/C_COW
8. Tigerholic - NZ
9. Rocket - PAR
10. christine - NZ_PAN
11. Big Pete Bx - PAR
12. Thinker - MEL(out)
13. BoozeMaster2000 - NZ
14. Broncoswimmer - NZ
Submitted by tigerholic on
Gidday Coach
Put me down for Melbourne for week 2 of your last man standing comp please.
Submitted by BoozeMaster2000 on
Hi Coach Potato, Put me down for the dragons for this week. Cheers.
Submitted by BoozeMaster2000 on
Was it just me, or did I see a twinkling of the old G.I during the last origin? He made some great tackles, and looked good with the ball, putting out some big fends. No tries, but did more than his fair share. I see everyone is predicting the Panthers to get over the top of the Rabbits, but I’m more than a little tempted to get on with the Rabbits if GI plays as well as he did for Origin. What do you reckon?
Submitted by Rocket on
Having log in problems, bigpete or baggy might have tried to hack in to my sign on and put some positive comments on about the blues.
This week my tips are,
Broncos, hope Cory doesn't see you in the bulldog camp Mark!
Panthers, put me down for the Panthers please Coach.
Sharks
Raiders
Storm
Cowboys
Saints
Submitted by Islander on
Panthers
Knights
Sharks
Bulldogs
Raiders
Storm
Cowboys
Submitted by mark ashford on
Hi Rocket. Yes mate I'm ashamed of myself but just feel the Broncs may be a bit off after OO and the Dogs are going ok.
Submitted by Baggy_Gee on
Yep I'll take the dragons as well please Coach. Lets get the roughies over and done with in the first easy rounds. Leave the stronger and more consistant teams to the back end. Also the same with the softer draws.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Sorry Rocket, must have been a fellow Queenslander that hacked into your account, as I am still failing to see any positive or fair comment and analysis about the NSW effort.
It's still just all immature play ground stuff, but how many of you are children? Must be a lot more than I thought.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
BoozeMaster2000, I say it says more about the man, the one who plays out of his skin for State and like a dog for club.
Submitted by Rocket Ryan on
I am back coach dont worry its all good clean family fun i am sure you blues dont really mind and one day you will be able to pay me back
But that day is not today in the meantime let's hope your panthers can keep me off the couch
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Updated Couch
1. Coach - PAR_CRO
2. Mark - NZ_COW
3. Baggy - NZ_DRA
4. Rick - NZ_MEL
5. Tailspin - PAR
6. a - G/C_COW
7. Newbie - G/C_COW
8. Tigerholic - NZ_MEL
9. Rocket - PAR_PAN
10. christine - NZ_PAN
11. Big Pete Bx - PAR
12. Thinker - MEL(out)
13. BoozeMaster2000 - NZ_DRA
14. Broncoswimmer - NZ
One player out last week, and three seemingly forfeiting before game 1 this week. As they say, .. 'oh well'.
Submitted by BroncoSwimmer on
Coach, Pls put down the STORM for your week 2 - sorry for delay.
Cheers
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Updated Couch
1. Coach - PAR_CRO
2. Mark - NZ_COW
3. Baggy - NZ_DRA
4. Rick - NZ_MEL
5. Tailspin - PAR
6. a - G/C_COW
7. Newbie - G/C_COW
8. Tigerholic - NZ_MEL
9. Rocket - PAR_PAN
10. christine - NZ_PAN
11. Big Pete Bx - PAR
12. Thinker - MEL(out)
13. BoozeMaster2000 - NZ_DRA
14. Broncoswimmer - NZ_MEL
Submitted by BigPeteBx on
Evening Thinker Tippers -
Mine for Round 16 are -
Panthers
Dragons
Sharks
Bulldogs
Raiders
Storm
Cowboys - yes Cowboys coz me boys are doing it flamin hard.
Storm - please Coach, for Last one on the Couch.
Cheers, good luck, have a nice weekend (developing web feet here in Bx) and I'll be back soon to post some comments.
BigPeteBx
Submitted by a on
Tailspin you need to get your last one standing in
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Updated Couch
1. Coach - PAR_CRO
2. Mark - NZ_COW
3. Baggy - NZ_DRA
4. Rick - NZ_MEL
5. Tailspin - PAR
6. a - G/C_COW
7. Newbie - G/C_COW
8. Tigerholic - NZ_MEL
9. Rocket - PAR_PAN
10. christine - NZ_PAN
11. Big Pete Bx - PAR_MEL
12. Thinker - MEL(out)
13. BoozeMaster2000 - NZ_DRA
14. Broncoswimmer - NZ_MEL
Submitted by mark ashford on
Coach you've got a pretty good RL brain.
Question;
Does Laurie stick with the team (excepting injuries) for SOO3 and give Gal and probably Greg Bird their farewells or should he blood some new guys so you can take some momentum in to next year?
Your thoughts?
Submitted by Tailspin on
sorry coach, bit late, but for the knockout, im going dragons.
Submitted by Tailspin on
Here are my tips for a clean sweep :)
Panthers way to good here at home by 14
Dragons by 18
Sharks by 13
Broncos on a come back by 7
Raiders in a toughy by 2
Storm by 16
Cowboys by a squilyan :)
Go the Queenslanders, sorry coach, but when former greats start bagging your own its time to say WTF. I honestly couldn't believe that shit, I would be absolutely ashamed as a cockroach. I hate Gallen, but he is a hard bastard that goes for the 80 and deserves credit where credit is due. His work rate is by far the best in the NSW side, yet because they lost again, he is the easy out. Shame shame shame NSW. But on the other hand, go the bloody maroons for a white wash.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Couch update Wk 2.
Good luck to your tip and bad luck to everyone else's.
Would love to see a couple of players go head to head. Maybe in 5 weeks time when I'll be tipping Panthers @ Suncorp.
1. Coach - PAR_CRO
2. Mark - NZ_COW
3. Baggy - NZ_DRA
4. Rick - NZ_MEL
5. Tailspin - PAR_DRA
6. a - G/C_COW
7. Newbie - G/C_COW
8. Tigerholic - NZ_MEL
9. Rocket - PAR_PAN
10. christine - NZ_PAN
11. Big Pete Bx - PAR
12. Thinker - MEL(out)
13. BoozeMaster2000 - NZ_DRA
14. Broncoswimmer - NZ_MEL
Submitted by Tailspin on
C"mon coach don't leave me hanging
Submitted by Tailspin on
I'm not after a bite or having a dig, I just want your opinion, because I think it's disgraceful.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
The only thing I'm upset about is why the dinosaurs in charge of selection wait til it's all over to give a talented young forward a go.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Andrew John's, first you claim the Mansour try was a clear obstruction , then you claim the Cody Walker effort was a clear penalty try.
Did you take the line, you twit, or straight out?
Submitted by newbie from perth on
Hi everyone,
OK, the 1st half has just finished so I’ll get in before the 2nd half starts. Newbie needs to ‘fess up” and eat some humble pie. I mentioned in my previous post in regards to the Storm vs Tigers game that, and I quote:
“Yeah, I know the Storm Troopers have quite a number of guys backing up from Wednesday”…
What the hell was I thinking? They only had Cronk and Smith backing up as far as I know. Must’ve had the Bronco boys in my head when I was writing that. D’oh! My bad. I’m sure I’ll be forgiven due to my “newbie status”. Oh well, all good in the end I suppose.
OK, gotta get myself another coffee and munch on some chicken strips before the game restarts. Cheers.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Hey Newbie, any chance in between chicken wings you could do some research on why the acronym for Anti Skid Braking is ABS?
Submitted by Coach Potato on
2017 Matt Moylan, Nathan Cleary, Te Maire Martin, Bryce Cartwright all in the same backline.
Surely the jerseys are going to have to be made out of silk.
Submitted by newbie from perth on
Panthers vs Souths - this is why I love this wonderful game! Boo-Yah!
Would love to stay but gotta go off and suss the ABS thing for the Coach. Later...
Submitted by Coach Potato on
South Sydney just hit 10 in the losing streak score. Can you believe they got there before the Roosters?!
Submitted by newbie from perth on
Geez, that didn't take long. ABS stands for Anti-Lock (or Anti-Skid) Braking System. You can rest easy tonight Coach. Cheers.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
(or Anti-Skid ?!)
It's bloody ASB then.
Submitted by newbie from perth on
I'm with ya Coach. Obviously the Rhodes Scholars who make these decisions have deemed it necessary to class "anti-skid" as one word and hence the ABS comes into play.
If anything maybe it should be known as ASBS or ALBS. Maybe the marketing gurus want to dumb it down for us and think that we'll have an easier time remembering 3 letters instead of 4. Reckon you could write a book on things like this that exist in this world of ours. A cause we can take up another time maybe? Night all!
P.S. The Chicken Strips were deeeelicious!
Submitted by a on
That was a damn good game last night
Submitted by Coach Potato on
Wasn't it great to know Rocket was cheering on the Panthers last night and woopin in up after the last play.
What a crack up.
Submitted by Coach Potato on
*it up
Submitted by BoozeMaster2000 on
Did I not say that the Rabbitohs had a good chance??? Still, glad I didn't tip them...but that was a close one.
Submitted by Rocket Ryan on
Gratefull that the panthers kept me off the couch these 80th minute finishes have not gone well for rocket as a rule.
Moylan for mine is level below darus boyd the panthers have a winner in cleary his potential is enormous on last nights display he could be anything.
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