South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Gold Coast Titans – Friday night – ANZ Stadium
Two sides without a win since round 10 and both teams are in danger of slipping out of finals contention if they can't resurrect their seasons soon. The Rabbitohs were good in patches against the Broncos and their coach is pretty convinced they aren't far away from where they want to be. The Titans on the other hand disappointed against the Warriors but they did get the Warriors on one of those days when the Warriors could have beaten anyone (it does happen sometimes, but with not much more frequency than Cronulla premierships). More importantly, the Rabbitohs bring a settled squad into this game while the Titans have had a raft of significant changes thrust upon them – no Peats, no Hayne, no Wallace, no Elgey. Chris McQueen, once a winger and now a forward, has put his hand up for playmaking duties. Does he still have that Rabbitohs tattoo on his neck? The burrow gets a night to celebrate in what has been a pretty lean season.
Verdict – Rabbitohs by 8
Result – Rabbitohs by 16
Melbourne Storm vs North Queensland Cowboys – Saturday night – AAMI Park
We all (well..almost all) love Origin football, but that love doesn't come without a cost. Origin has cost us what would otherwise be a rip-snorter of a football game in Melbourne on Saturday night. What remains is a close contest, but it lacks the absolute class that our Origin players would bring. After assuming Laybutt would play last weekend (and consequently getting my tip wrong) I'll get to see him here – he's a big tall blond boofhead halfback so you won't miss him out there. Kane Linnett slots into the back row to make up for the absences of Cooper and Hess. Six big changes for the Storm this weekend but the players they have stepping up have done this before. Their coach is near enough to a genius when it comes to getting his players to work to a plan, and there's no denying the class of Cameron Munster. It's hard to imagine the Storm without their big three but he is clearly one player that will be stepping into the breach. There's plenty of class in that Storm forward pack and I think they can get the points.
Verdict – Storm by 4
Result – Storm by 1
Cronulla Sharks vs Wests Tigers – Saturday night – Southern Cross Group Stadium
In round 14 the Roosters were pretty average, and they scored 40 points against the Tigers. That gives you a fair indication of just how poor the Tigers were, and they were playing at home and with Tedesco and Woods on the paddock. If they were in any sort of form I could tip them here, because the Sharks are without their two best forwards, their two most dynamic backs and their most important playmaker and goalkicker. And the Sharks record at home this season, as I've pointed out previously, has been terrible. They lost again at home last week to the Storm, and if they can't beat the Storm at home on a wet night when they are resting Cooper Cronk I'm struggling to see how they can beat them in September. That said, if the Storm are a pineapple the Tigers are a turnip, and the only teams Cronulla are beating at home this season are turnips. I love rugby league, but if it's raining in Sydney on Saturday night this game will be almost unwatchable. I might even drag Ms Thinker out for a bite after the early game. Date responsibly.
Verdict – Sharks by 4
Result – Sharks by 2
Parramatta Eels vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Sunday afternoon – ANZ Stadium
I'd expect a fair crowd to show up at ANZ on Sunday afternoon as two of the more popular teams face off. These sides met in round two at WIN Stadium and the Eels were the victors in a dominant display. Corey Norman tore the Dragons apart on that occasion and Semi Radradra racked up a record four tries. Since then the Eels have added Mitchell Moses, while the Dragons won't have Dugan or Frizell on Sunday. Both these sides let me down in round 13 but I'm a little more forgiving of the Eels performance given their opposition on that occasion.
Verdict – Eels by 4
Result – Eels by 14
Wally Lewis - round fifteen selections (in bold)
Note: tips from Wally will be published on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
- RABBITOHS vs Titans
- STORM vs Cowboys
- SHARKS vs Tigers
- Eels vs DRAGONS
Comments
Submitted by Baggy_Gee on
I know Steel, they are killing it. Winning tough when the penalties were against us.
Submitted by pabdul on
sorry thinker i meant to say at robina its like a warrior's home game.
Submitted by Baggy_Gee on
Ahhhhh what a win. Did anyone watch a few of those Bevan French tackles. He forced 2 drop balls, 1 try and a drop out from 3 good tackles by himself. Him and Clint did the job after the kicking game of Norman and Moses. Team effort.
Submitted by Rocket Ryan on
The eels looked good halves and fullback to stay surely.
Submitted by Baggy_Gee on
True Ryan, still a bit worried about our edges coming to far in. We were lucky today but if some of those passes had stuck............ would have been completely different.
Submitted by mark ashford on
Baggy
Really enjoyed todays game. Two teams that went at each other in a manner to make Spartan Warrior happy.
Eels will be there mate when the bells are ringing.
Is Semi really going? What a shame if so. One of the best.
Broncos gotta be sorry letting Corey Norman go.
Submitted by Baggy_Gee on
Indeed Sami is gone, but rumour has it he wants to come back after his stint next year. 2019 i'll welcome him with open arms, but midway through the season no dice. But we really do need to close the deal with Peats as Pritchard is gone for the season. Even if it is only a minor injury we need to give him proper time in rehab to strengthen that knee and shoulder. Shame as he puts it all on the line every game.
Submitted by Baggy_Gee on
Now every team has a bye except for us, Manly, Knights, and Panthers have had both byes. So we are sitting on 20 pts with a massive slew of teams. Our +/- sucks so we are still in 7th or 8th.
Submitted by The Thinker on
Just on the crowd thing....there is a bit of a myth that rugby league crowds are shrinking.
The average rugby league crowd attendance in the 1960 season was 9262. This was during the Dragons great reign when they had Provan, Raper and Gasnier pulling on the Red V.
In the 1980s, a decade that many consider a golden age for rugby league...the crowds were even smaller. In 1985 the average attendance was 7985.
Now let's not forget that we didn't have the television coverage we do now. You got one game on television back then, and perhaps one other game on the radio. Other than that, if you wanted to watch your team you had to be there.
In 2016, with every game on television or online, the average attendance was 15214.
If rugby league is dying...it's dying very slowly.
Submitted by Tailspin on
Bloody hell, if only coote had kicked that field goal, oh well, so close, but there is always next round. Good win by the Eels, they seem to be the dragons bogey team.
Submitted by The Thinker on
No denying the crowds at AFL games...they just turn up don't they?
It is a better game live than it is on television. Soccer is the same, and it's because of the way the ball moves around the field. You just get a better understanding of the game watching the entire thing, and a television screen doesn't capture that. I think that goes part of the way toward explaining the crowds at these sports.
Here are the latest crowd figures for the Giants and the Swans by the way. The Giants aren't going as well as Johnny Awesome suggested, but they're okay.
Giants vs Essendon (13671), Giants vs Richmond (10677), Giants vs Collingwood (11300), Giants vs Suns (8022)
Swans vs Bulldogs (20692), Swans vs Hawthorn (36221), Swans vs Lions (25619), Swans vs Giants (34824), Swans vs Port Adelaide (33123).
With the Swans going pretty bleugh this season those numbers aren't too shabby.
Submitted by pabdul on
sorry thinker but they are as good as i said. there are 18 teams and 15 teams avg 30k or more some avg over 50k. its only GWS the suns and brisbane....all interstate teams that dont. actually the kangaroos had 4 long time players leave together so their crowds dropped a little. All the big crowds in the nrl are outside of sydney. you speak of crowds improving but in the 1960s syd population was approx 2mill. it has increased by 150% to 5mill. so on the 9200 avg crowd in the 60s would have to be approx 23k to be on par. 15k is a decline.
i still love league but as a business i wouldnt be buying shares just yet
Submitted by The Thinker on
Pabdul
I think I was agreeing with you regarding the crowds. I think.
From memory there are only two teams in the NRL that make a profit...so no, it's not an investment I would recommend either.
Submitted by a on
AFL have more people to fit in their crowds
Submitted by pabdul on
im watching the cricket on fox. its the icc champions final. and its india v pakistan. 60000 supporters .....so who's manning the 7 elevens?
Submitted by Baggy_Gee on
No one pabdul, 7-11 won't pay correctly so there was a mass strike. Maybe they get better conditions like holidays over in England.
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