Round twenty four selections

Parramatta Eels vs Gold Coast Titans – Thursday night – ANZ Stadium

With Jarryd Hayne potentially looking for a new contract somewhere, this is the sort of game where he may pull his finger out and deliver a match-winning performance. A Titans win does seem unlikely, but they did beat the Eels pretty convincingly way back in round three (without Hayne and another former Eel in Nathan Peats). If the Titans were serious I'd be tempted, but with four losses in a row I've assumed they have given up, because prior to that run of losses the Titans were a team you could rely on to have a red hot go. In their last three games they've conceded 122 points and scored just 20...and that doesn't look like trying. Prior to that surprise loss to the Knights the Eels had won six in a row. I'm prepared to write off that performance last weekend as an oddity – we are talking about Parramatta after all, and for quite some time they've been a rocks or diamonds team (often during the same game). 60 minutes of diamonds (or more) from the home side and that should be enough, and I'm quietly hoping that Bevan French has a game to remember and tells everyone that Parramatta don't need to look elsewhere for a fullback.

Verdict – Eels by 8

Result – Eels by 22

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs New Zealand Warriors – Friday night – ANZ Stadium

Worriers....Bah! You don't deserve a preview.

Verdict – Rabbitohs by actually trying...and by 14

Result – Rabbitohs by 18

Brisbane Broncos vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

For reasons that seemed perfectly cromulent at the time I took on the Broncos last week and they never looked like losing, despite the fact that they weren't anywhere near their best. Now that they've found themselves in the top two they'll be rather desperate to stay there. Top two means they avoid the Storm in week one of the finals and they play in Brisbane rather than Sydney. Based on what's left of the draw it looks like they'll need to win their last three games to stay where they are. The Dragons have at least as much to play for, as they hover just out of but close enough to the top eight. It's starting to look like the Cowboys are the team most likely to drop out of contention. Gazing into my crystall ball and in the final round of the season I suspect the Dragons will have an opportunity to replace the Cowboys in the top eight. But before that...this. I dare not take on the Broncos again after they made me look quite the fool last week. Since round one the Broncos have lost just once at home this season and that was to the Storm. The Dragons are not the Storm..

Verdict – Broncos by 8

Result – Broncos by 12

Newcastle Knights vs Melbourne Storm – Saturday afternoon – McDonald Jones Stadium

The Storm haven't quite won the minor premiership yet, but a win on Saturday and the J.J. Giltinan Shield is theirs to take home to Melbourne town. It's not often you get to say that the game between 1st and 16th is the game of the round, but this looks suspiciously like the game of the round. What an almighty statement the Knights would be making with a win here, and that statement would read 'Watch out 2018'. I'd love to see it, but I can't tip it. In a competition where so many teams let you down so often the Storm rarely do. They have dominated this competition in season 2017 and are worthy minor premiers.

Verdict – Storm by 10

Result – Storm by 32

Sydney Roosters vs Wests Tigers – Saturday night – Allianz Stadium

One of the great things about the resurgence of the Knights in recent weeks has been the signs of life in Tigertown – clearly neither team wants the wooden spoon this year. The Roosters showed everyone they have a team that can (at least) compete with the Storm, and the Tigers showed the Roosters they need to take this game seriously. Given their thoroughly entertaining victory over the Sea Eagles the Roosters won't take this game lightly. The Chooks pack is first class, their bench has depth and Michael Gordon returns at the back. A top two finish is still a very real prospect and I doubt they'll drop their bundle here.

Verdict – Roosters by 10

Result – Roosters by 4

North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks – Saturday night – 1300SMILES Stadium

The Sharks don't win in Townsville too often but they won't get many better chances than this. The Cowboys have the longest casualty list in the NRL (nine) and every single one of them is out for the seazson. While the Sharks have been deeply disappointing for a fortnight their team on Saturday night is near enough to the seventeen that won a premiership in 2016. The bench in particular, looks a lot stronger on Saturday night, which is hardly a surprise given the mounting injuries up north. I would urge the Cowboys to hand the pill to Taumalolo and have him run at the right hip of James Maloney all night. The little big men for the home side just need to follow him through and scoop up the rewards. That tactic might be enough to get the Cowboys home. I hope they win, but I can't quite tip them. Not quite.

Verdict – Sharks by 1

Result – Sharks by 10

Canberra Raiders vs Penrith Panthers – Sunday afternoon – GIO Stadium

I'm not the first to point it out (because I'm running late) but this is the game of the round. Two teams in form and two teams with much to play for. Those with reasonable memories would recall that when these sides met earlier in the season they gave us one of the games of the year, with the Panthers scoring two tries in the last three minutes to claim the win. I struggled over this game for quite a while (hence I'm running late) but I've found a way to split them. The Panthers have won just four away games this season, and those four wins were against the teams running 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th. The Raiders, on current form, are better than that. Note that the Raiders haven't set GIO Stadium on fire this season, winning five from ten at home. In recent weeks however, their form at home has been much stronger, even if they aren't winning. They were competitive (but lost) to the Storm and the Broncos, and they are our top two teams at present. I'm taking the punt on that form being strong enough. If you only watch one game this weekend try and make it this one.

Verdict – Raiders by 2

Result – Panthers by 4

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Manly Sea Eagles – Sunday afternoon – ANZ Stadium

My thesis about the Bulldogs remains intact – they can't score enough points to win. It's been forever since they managed to score 20 points in 80 minutes. Meanwhile the Sea Eagles have scored 20 or more thirteen times this season. The argument seems even more compelling when you look back to when these sides met in round 4. Sea Eagles 36 : Bulldogs 0. I feel for Des. I truly do.

Verdict – Sea Eagles by 16

Result – Bulldogs by 14

Wally Lewis - round twenty four selections (in bold)

Note: tips from Wally will be published on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

  • EELS vs Titans
  • RABBITOHS vs Warriors
  • BRONCOS vs Dragons
  • Knights vs STORM
  • ROOSTERS vs Tigers
  • Cowboys vs SHARKS
  • RAIDERS vs Panthers
  • Bulldogs vs SEA EAGLES

Comments

ESRA STAR 's picture

Yes mate. The world is now a prostitute.

christine's picture

Mark that's all the nrl cares about making money it's not the love of the game anymore & it hasn't been for a long time ...

Mary S's picture

Where comments have been made about Haynes loving himself, I wonder if a recent poster does too! The opinion of said poster seems to suggest that he is the only one who is ever right in this world. Personally, I do not hate any club - too much waste of energy for no return.
Wonder how many upsets we might see this weekend - all the best with your tipping everyone!!

christine's picture

Esra star Yes your right it screws you anyway it can ...

pabdul's picture

Yeah I just got home from work and thought I'll jump on the thinker site to only find two spoilt brats are dominating the comments Hayne and fortress both I wouldn't waste my breath on
I'm going to watch the idiot box and try again tomorrow

christine's picture

Pabdul say hi to esra star they are new to the website ...

The Thinker's picture

Sheesh Eagle

Your evidence that I don't like the Sea Eagles is that I deliberately get Cherry-Evans name wrong....and you just spelled his name wrong.

It's Daly. D-A-L-Y

Daly Hyphen-Evans.

Sheesh

tigerholic's picture

Wow
Thanks Thinker, I see the post that you discarded. This site is now officially user friendly and all about the love of the game.

a's picture

Yeah hi ESRA Star good to have you aboard

Sad to see this site going back to a soap opera again come on play nice please everyone is welcomed here

EagleROCKS's picture

What a weak reply Thinker its not abouit spelling the name wrong. Its about your attitude towards my club, anyway waste of time, the proof is in the pudding you should be ashamed of yourself. Weak As!! Which us manly boys are not. Goodbye Thinker keep running this "Days of our Life" site what a joke .............Goodbye and not Thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go the Mighty Eagles, we will show you all were going to have the last laugh can't wait !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EagleROCKS's picture

What a weak reply Thinker its not abouit spelling the name wrong. Its about your attitude towards my club, anyway waste of time, the proof is in the pudding you should be ashamed of yourself. Weak As!! Which us manly boys are not. Goodbye Thinker keep running this "Days of our Life" site what a joke .............Goodbye and not Thankyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go the Mighty Eagles, we will show you all were going to have the last laugh can't wait !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Johnny Awesome's picture

Hi all,
Mr EagleRocks, see there you go, you've just proven you can actually post an opinion, without the previous jaw jackin. The content maybe a little off key but hey its a start. Now, how about sharing a post occasionally about a bit of footy mate. It's going to be an exciting weekend methinks and I can't wait. I agree Mary S that there is bound to be a few upsets this week, I'm hoping Saints are one of them. purely for selfish reasons to keep Saints and Canberra in with a chance, I would like to see obviously Saints, Canberra, Cronulla and Canterbury win, but I'll be enjoying every game, can't wait. Cheers all, from Johnny Awesome

Baggy_Gee's picture

I agree a but sometimes when a club is taking a kicking from all comers it does gel and tries to punch their way out. I'd be a bit worried about Thursday's game as we have had our kicking but really need to be in the mind set to take what the Titans are going to dish up. Walked past the stadium yesterday and wondering how it will be on track for the 2019-2020 season, but the foundations are going along nicely.

Johnny Awesome's picture

Hi all,
Mr Thinker, I totally agree that Canberra and Penrith is the match of the round. There will be a huge crowd, guaranteed. The atmosphere from the crowd after the Viking clap will be doing nothing by halves. Let’s hope the refs get it right. Time for some shut eye.
Cheers from Mr Awesome.

Baggy_Gee's picture

Eagle@ock. Nice to know that whats-his-name is a famous fan and that I am still deeply loved by the pair of you. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Dragons-fanboy's picture

Yeah welcome to the site ESRA.

Cheers from Dragons-Fanboy.

newbie from perth's picture

Sa-wat-dee krup,

Only 3 weeks to go and then finals. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun! Wow! Never thought I’d see a game preview from the Boss like he’s put up this week in the Bunnies/Warriors game. Awesome stuff Thinker! You just wanna hope that the un-thinkable doesn’t happen. And then you go and use that old favourite “cromulent” in the Broncos/Dragons preview. Geez, haven’t seen you use that one for ages. What a night!

@ BigPete – best of luck with your op mate.
@ ESRA – welcome to the funhouse!

OK, let’s get into it…

Eels vs Titans - The Titans’ season is starting to get uglier and uglier and methinks they just want it to be over sooner rather than later. Maybe Neil and Jarryd could sit down and have a few beers, a heart-to-heart and try and work out how to play footy as it should be played. The Titans letting in so many points is just not acceptable. Worrying too is that they’ve gone down 4 weeks in a row. Baggy, how the hell did your BOYS lose that one last week? Well done to the Knights though. I told you they deserved more respect didn’t I? Love how this game can “remind” you not to take things for granted and you’re always a show if you have the desire. I’m pretty sure they’ll be in a better frame of mind this week and should be able to redeem themselves with a win over the Titans. Yeah, Eels to win this.

Rabbitohs vs Warriors - I see that 5 of the Raiders’ 6 tries last week came from Warriors’ handling errors on the previous set. That’s gotta hurt! Keep playing like that and you’re courting disaster. I can’t see the Warriors turning much around against a Rabbitohs side that seem to have found their spark again. The Bunnies did it pretty easy (sort of) last week against the Doggies and should have this one covered. Bunnies for me.

Broncos vs Dragons - I watched the Broncos smack the Sharks last week and they were pretty impressive. Only downside was that they pushed my BBB down to third on the ladder. Damn! The Dragons racked up a lot of points last week against a poor Titans outfit. Brisbane are much better opposition than the Titans, they’re at home and they’ve beaten the Dragons in 7 of their last 8 encounters. What’s that telling me? Yeah, I just have to go the Ponies.

Knights vs Storm - The Knights’ winning run should, in theory, come to an end this week. I was pretty impressed that they got up last week against a quality side in the Eels. All credit to them. Signs of better things to come I wonder? The Storm got up in a thriller last week (unfortunately for me) and now must face a Knights outfit full of confidence. Mind you, confidence is one thing, class is another. I think it highly unlikely the Knights have it in them to topple the Storm but I’m sure they’ll have a real good crack at it nevertheless. Storm for me.

Roosters vs Tigers - On one hand I was stoked that my BBB nearly got up last week but on the other I was a tad gutted we lost it with 3 minutes to go. Not gutted a lot, just a tad. It just proves the BBB are capable of beating the Storm on the right day with the right attitude. Well done Storm for never giving up and being relentless in finding ways to win. Bugger! The Tigers played excellent footy last week and just managed to scrape in after a great comeback effort. I honestly thought Manly had done enough but the Tigers just kept coming and coming. I really enjoyed watching that one. Yeah, the Tigers are more than capable but I’m tipping my BBB to get out on the paddock and make amends for last week’s narrow (maybe a bit unlucky) loss.

Cowboys vs Sharks - Given who they lost in the first half, the Cowboys played a pretty admirable game last week. Not a great way to go into the final weeks and trying to get yourself entrenched in the 8. The Sharks played another shocker last week against Brisbane but you’d think that they’ll get their act together soon eh? No better time than this week against an injury ravaged Cowboys. Not a lot of confidence in this one but I’ll tip the Sharks to bounce back.

Raiders vs Panthers - Massive game this one. The Raiders MUST win to have any hope of making the 8 and the Panthers MUST win to distance themselves from Manly and the Cowboys (and the Raiders too for that matter). Taking the quality of opposition and how they performed last week, Newbie has to side with the Panthers in this one. Mind you, it could go either way.

Bulldogs vs Manly - Manly’s loss last week was a bit of a shock but they will have an easier time this week. Not sure if winning this week will help their top 4 aspirations though. It may (or may not) be too late for that. Oh well, time will tell. The way the Bulldogs have been travelling lately instils no faith in Newbie whatsoever. Unless an absolute miracle happens, I just can’t see when or how they’re gonna win a game. I see Manly winning this but possibly not by much.

OK kids, good luck with your tipping and may your team win by 40 points! Until next week people. Cheers.

P.S. Does that screwdriver really belong to Phillip? Hmmm…

newbie from perth's picture

Classic! A noble spirit certainly does embiggen the smallest man my friend. Thanks for that, it’s got my day off to a happy start.

I’m off to listen to “Get Together” from the Youngbloods. Cheers…

christine's picture

How can Justin hodges & mal meninga both call for titans to keep neil henry & jarryd hayne but make jarryd hayne captain in 2018 at titans imagine the ego then ...

a's picture

Yeah as if Hayne should be cap

Taka's picture

My round 24 tips:

Eels by 16
Rabbitohs by 20
Broncos by 10
Storm by 10
Roosters by 14
Sharks by 8
Panthers by 2
Bulldogs by 2

Enjoy your footy...!

ESRA STAR 's picture

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. But i am not that new. Been here for a few years now,just don't comment much.

pabdul's picture

When I saw the name esta star I was racking my brain as I know that name but I didn't know where from but it hit me this morning
I was living in Adelaide and I was given a tip to back a horse called Ezra star it turned out to be a donkey for all I know it's still running
Probably no connection thought I'd mention it.

pabdul's picture

Sorry esta star *

pabdul's picture

My spell check esra *

ESRA STAR 's picture

LoL,, All good mate,and yes,that is where is got my Nom de plume from.
Some funny stuff comes out of S.A. Do you remember the horse race where horse 6 was called "my girlfriend" and horse 7 was called "wooden swallow"? A race callers nightmare. :).
I have a copy of the form packed away somewhere.Pretty sure it was a S.A. provincial meeting.

christine's picture

My tips for rd 24 are as follows :
eels
souths
broncos
storm
roosters
sharks
raiders
manly
good luck with your tips everyone ...

pabdul's picture

That's hilarious my favourite was a horse pretty sure it was from qld it was called pistol knight
It's good when you can relate to a horse.

ESRA STAR 's picture

Most people take a while to work out my name. It depends on how you look at it.

mark ashford's picture

Esra
a welcome from me too mate.
just got your name...naughty boy!

pabdul's picture

Esra it might take a while for the qlders to work out your name they can't even work out daylight savings

Baggy_Gee's picture

Excuse Paula I know all about daylight savings time. Most of all I know I don't want it. It's an artificial creation of time that means nothing and achieves even less.

mark ashford's picture

Hey Paddy
we've got that much daylight up here we don't need anymore.
you know fades the curtains, cows forget how to give milk etc
31 degrees here today. the sunshine state rules.
Baggy
no Hayne/Pain tonight better watch out Titans might just win one.

pabdul's picture

So you have dumb cows and bad interior design (curtains)
There are pros and cons but I like it
More time outdoors being active
Less crime most crime happens at night
Best of all bbqs pool parties and beach after work
I love the smell of aeroguard in the morning

christine's picture

Spartan warrior were are your tips Spartan ?

christine's picture

Padbul I will pay that one , they have never heard off double sided curtains how irish are they ...

mark ashford's picture

Paddy
just move to QLD you can have all that without fiddling with your clocks.

pabdul's picture

I'm at work and just saw your msg mark and I'm glad at second glance it said clocks
Haha Christine

pabdul's picture

I'm at work and just saw your msg mark and I'm glad at second glance it said clocks
Haha Christine

pabdul's picture

Stupid new iPhone given to me at work sorry for the doubles
I think parra easy tonight
When a clubs having coach dramas they usually lose
When they sack a coach and a new one comes in they usually win

Baggy_Gee's picture

Just worried that they might pull together with out the pain train. It's all good I have the BOYS winning but I need to temper my expectations so I don't blow up later.

pabdul's picture

I can see what your saying they did play better without the human headline and I expect them to come out firing but parra needs this one besides they don't have anyone that can say this is my house at anz

Baggy_Gee's picture

How I'm waiting to go home to Pirtek and see the new ground and us winning at our true home once more.

Mary S's picture

Hi 'The Thinker',
'a' has his tipping for Round 23 in the comments, but they do not appear as yet in your 1 page listing.

Baggy_Gee's picture

That's a very thin 10m

Havanna's picture

hi stumbled upon this blog,gosh very hip indeed.........really like the jibes and fun,im not a footy nut but i do enjoy watching the hunks and spunks.My fav things are travel,fashion and of course the football.
Hairdresser by trade and have the odd punt.Please understand im not a footy expert so i will do my best to be part of this,off for a shower and blow dry...........anyone with hot tips thanx byeeee for now.

Baggy_Gee's picture

Havanna while you dry the hair enjoy the way this game is going. Lots of pushed passes and the miracle play nearly every set. Wild wild football tonight.

Baggy_Gee's picture

Our forwards are doing the business tonight. That's 2 through the middle into a stiffish breeze with it behind us in the second.

pabdul's picture

Sorry to disappoint you tim baggy bailey but I just got home and living next to anz and there's no stiff breeze

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