Round thirteen selections

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Newcastle Knights – Friday night – ANZ Stadium

Cook, Walker, Gagai and Murray have been named to back up from Wednesday for the Bunnies. Same same for Ponga and Klemmer for the Knights. Keep your eyes peeled for line-up changes but all six appeared to get through Origin game one without injury. Sam Burgess has been scheduled for surgery, but he's playing anyway. He's likely to be out for two weeks after he plays on Friday night. There'll be plenty of interest around the return of James Roberts, who was still a teenager when he last played for the Rabbitohs eight years ago. If his body allows it there's every chance he'll deliver a breakout performance. A top four contest and it's the game of the round – I'm with the Bunnies to bounce back from the loss last week.

Verdict – Rabbitohs by 4

Result – Knights 20 defeated Rabbitohs 12

Wests Tigers vs Canberra Raiders – Friday night – BankWest Stadium

Moses Mbye should be ready to rumble after his brief involvement on Wednesday night. For the Raiders, Papalii, Wighton and Cotric have been named. Cotric could be in some doubt and Papalii could be feeling his feelings a little more than usual after a powerful and bruising performance for Queensland. The Raiders do welcome back a couple of key returns on Friday night in John Bateman and Jordan Rapana. They're a much better side as a result but the Raiders recent form has been a little bit down. They've lost four of their last six and their two wins were over the 14th placed Panthers and 16th placed Bulldogs. I'm leaning ever so slightly to the Tigers, who have the all-important home-ground advantage and fresh legs following the bye last weekend.

Verdict – Tigers by 2

Result – Raiders 28 defeated Tigers 0

New Zealand Warriors vs Melbourne Storm – Saturday afternoon – Mt Smart Stadium

I'll keep this nice and brief – the Warriors have beaten four teams this season, and those four teams are the bottom four teams on the NRL ladder. The Storm are on the top of the ladder.

Verdict – Storm by 4

Result – Storm 32 defeated Warriors 10

Cronulla Sharks vs Parramatta Eels – Saturday night – PointsBet Stadium

When these sides met in round four the Eels won 24-12 but just about everything went wrong for the Sharks. Gallen and Moylan didn't play, Shaun Johnson was injured in the warm-up, Josh Dugan went off after a head knock in the 7th minute and Aaron Woods broke his foot in the second half. Despite all that the Sharks made it a contest. This time around the Sharks are playing at home, Gallen and Moylan are fit to play, and the Sharks have enough players available to rest Josh Morris after Origin (Dugan in the centres, Gray on the wing). The Eels did well against an under-strength Rabbitohs last weekend but their only win away from home (i.e. ANZ or BankWest) was over the Panthers.

Verdict – Sharks by 4

Result –Sharks 42 defeated Eels 22

North Queensland Cowboys vs Manly Sea Eagles – Saturday night – 1300SMILES Stadium

The Cowboys season looked all but over until Taumalolo returned from injury. Since then they've found some mojo and are in equal seventh (on points at least). They'll be hoping Michael Morgan is fit to play as he's pencilled in to replace Jordan Kahu at fullback. Meanwhile the Sea Eagles welcome back their number one in Turbo Tom. Note that Turbo Jack and Turbo Cherry-Evans have been named on an extended bench so they may or may not play. There must be some doubt about Cherry-Evans given his lack of match fitness. The return of the Turbo has me a little worried, as I'm sure he'd like to let Brad Fittler know he's keen to be named for the next Origin contest, but Manly have lost their last two games in Sydney to teams (Titans and Panthers) they should probably be beating. The Cowboys backline looks like a patchwork quilt, and if Morgan doesn't play I'm probably wrong, but the Cowboys at home.

Verdict – Cowboys by 2

Result – Sea Eagles 22 defeated Cowboys 20

Brisbane Broncos vs Gold Coast Titans – Sunday afternoon – Suncorp Stadium

It was for a time the great Queensland Derby, but it faded in significance with the rise of the North Queensland Cowboys. The Broncos, like the Cowboys, have won three in a row and on recent form you would expect them to win again. The Broncos do have four forwards backing up from Wednesday night which adds a little uncertainty, but the Broncos aren't exactly short of quality forwards, and the ones that didn't play on Wednesday should be nice and fresh after the bye.

Verdict – Broncos by 8

Result – Titans 26 defeated Broncos 18

Penrith Panthers vs Sydney Roosters – Sunday afternoon – Panthers Stadium

The Panthers have won their last two while the Roosters have lost their last two, astonishing really given where these teams are on the ladder. For the Panthers, Cleary has been named on an extended bench, while the Roosters have all four of their Origin players (Tedesco, Mitchell, Cordnor and Crichton) in their starting thirteen. The return of Cooper Cronk is of great importance to the tricolours, and the Chooks have resisted the temptation to start Mitchell in the halves, with Hutchison coming in for the injured Keary. Mitchell is a real query here – not sure if he's carrying an injury or an off-field distraction has become a....distraction. Despite recent results I'm tipping the Roosters, based on my thesis that they are a very good football team, and my other thesis that the Panthers aren't.

Verdict – Roosters by 8

Result – Panthers 19 defeated Roosters 10

Canterbury Bulldogs vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Monday afternoon – ANZ Stadium

Before the Dragons started their usual annual slide down the NRL ladder they were playing some pretty good football. In round five they were playing some very good football, when they beat the Bulldogs by 40-4. Now I don't expect anything like that here, but any semblance of that form should be enough to give them a chance here. The return of Corey Norman and Matt Dufty can't hurt either, and I'm hoping that Frizell and Vaughan are backing up for the Red V.

Verdict – Dragons by 4

Result – Dragons 36 defeated Bulldogs 12

Wally Lewis - round thirteen selections (in bold)

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

  • RABBITOHS vs Knights
  • Tigers vs RAIDERS
  • Warriors vs STORM
  • SHARKS vs Eels
  • COWBOYS vs Sea Eagles
  • BRONCOS vs Titans
  • Panthers vs ROOSTERS
  • Bulldogs vs DRAGONS

Comments

a's picture

Warriors season is slowly slipping away from them

mark ashford's picture

Oh Dear
My mate Steel Panther, a struggling Warriors supporter was at the Storm game tonight. The Warriors led for about 15 minutes only to be run down again. All I can say Steel is the time will come for your team as it does for most NRL teams. You have the most difficult of the draw, having to travel across "the ditch" for half of your games.
I feel for you mate....I feel for you.

Dragons-fanboy's picture

BigPeteBX,

Cheers mate!!!

a's picture

That was the best final 10 minutes I’ve ever seen for the cowboys

a's picture

That was the best final 10 minutes I’ve ever seen for the cowboys

Mary S's picture

Especially with 12 men for the last 16mins

newbie from perth's picture

Sorry for the late post here but was just about to hit the sack and had a quick look and saw a couple of comments so…

@ Baggy

Ah, all is clear now. Great to see ya pluggin’ away at those Uni assignments mate. We need some edjamakated people here in this country. Here’s hoping that “piece of paper” is worth something once you finish eh? I’ll cross my fingers for ya. Hope your other half gets better soon, I’ve been down that “sore back” road before and it’s no fun. Don’t know if this will help but it worked for me and no trouble for the last 30 years (now I’m showing my age). What about getting her onto some muscle relaxants? The stuff that fixed me was called Indocid. Just a thought bro’. Cheers.

@ Mr Ashford

1. Latrelle’s effort Wednesday night was virtually non-existent I’m sorry to admit. He just couldn’t get into the game for some reason(s). Only half-decent thing he did (right at the end of the game) was that run down the left with a couple of fends but he ended up being bustled over the line anyway. Either he had “one of those games” where he does nothing or he has things on his mind.

2. Hmm, that’s a toughie. We have a large contingent of Qld’ers over here to be honest so I’m thinking the Maroons should get a fair bit of support. Don’t know why, but a fair chunk of the WA born’n’bred fans seem to go for the Blues so it’ll be close I reckon. We have quite a few Kiwis here as well but not sure whether they “take sides” or they just love watching the spectacle. Bottom Line: No idea (ha-ha). Cheers...

Nighty-Night, don’t let the bed-bugs bite!

BigPeteBx's picture

Good Sunday morning to you Newbie.
Someone else made a similar post about Latrelle Mitchell's performance, or lack there of, on Wednesday night in SoO 1.
There were also others I felt had other things on their mind.
Lets start with the pre-match, where I feel several were more interested in not singing along, rather than playing the game and it reflected.
Its their choice if they wish, or wish not, but I'd leave the politics behind and get on with putting in a good display. As it was, Latrelle had a stint in the bin and NSW blew it, when they handed Gags that runaway fleet-footed intercept, when they were attacking close to the QLD line, for him to score and open the margin up.
I picked the margin in that match, but the other way around.

Cheers all and have a great day. Back here this arvo.
Big Pete

Steel Panther's picture

Hey Mark.....guess it's my turn to say "oh dear" with your Broncos losing to the Titans this afternoon. Certainly didn't see that coming but the Warriors loss was definitely no surprise. Weather here the last two days has been "storm like" (no pun intended) and the Warriors played with the wind first half so as expected struggled in the second half. Funnily enough we travel to Cbus next week. Hope you are well my friend!!

mark ashford's picture

Hi Steel
Yes another "oh dear" moment. The Broncs are expected to beat the Titans especially at home. Not sure who was missing after SoO but it's still a game we should have won.
Panthers who are closer to the bottom than my underpants give a lesson to the understrength Roosters near the top.
Picking winners in this comp is harder than picking your nose, at least from your nose you get a result.
Thank you for asking and yes I'm very well

mark ashford's picture

Big Pete
I know this is a contentious issue but I feel we look after our indigenous people as best as we can. Huge amounts of taxpayer money goes to their welfare and I don't regret a single cent.
What upsets me is indigenous players (earning $200,000-$600,000 pa)
refusing to sing our national anthem. This has been copied from African/American NFL players who earn a hell of a lot more.
We are all Australians despite the colour of our skin and should give respect to this country that it deserves.

a's picture

Yes picking winners sure is hard so good luck guessing who’s going to be in the top 8

BigPeteBx's picture

Mark - I'm not into attacks of any nature. Our past is our past, as we attempt to try to reconciliate. It is how some/many try to squeeze more out of the "system" and players of any professional sports should know better.
I work with several types of indigenous peoples. I even know many from local sports backgrounds. Some, I've been on committee's with and shown them the way.
Agree, we are all from this beautiful country, but there are others, who might spoil it for all types of Australians and try to change what we have, just for them.
Keep well - Big Pete

christine 's picture

"a"
Don't worry about trying to pick your top 8 work on the other end start at the bottom end & work your way up get rid of the teams you know will be in the bottom too illuminate them then workout who you think will be just outside your top 8 leaving the rest to fall in whatever order too finish in the end , finals footy will get harder yet ...

christine 's picture

that was supposed to be illuminate ...

mark ashford's picture

Big Pete
I'm not calling out the indigenous players (maybe my post looked that way and if so I apologise). If a player doesn't like our anthem then don't sing it, simple it's everyone's choice. My problem is how the media beat it up. In my mind everyone in this country including all recent immigrants are equal, we all have a chance to excel and that's the great thing about Australia.
Our National Anthem can be a bit confusing, so maybe a rewrite, but keep the music as that is what the world knows.

manyana's picture

Mark, Judith Durham sings a slightly different version of the Anthem. Check it out on you tube. Cheers, manyana.

manyana's picture

WOW what a week for tipping!! To anyone who got more than 4 tips correct, I dips me lid to you.
Cheers, manyana.

christine 's picture

re:In regards to the anthem why should we have to rewrite the words / books all over again if they don't like it then don't play sport it's that simple , it isn't going to just end there it won't just be change one word then they will be changing titles ...

BigPeteBx's picture

No probs Mark - some don't know the words anyway and just mumble, especially as the cameras come past them. At least in some ways, they are making the effort, or are they.
I guess, then again, we could all be Jolly Swagmen along with Andy.

@ Mark & Thinker - just this weekend I saw (online) the Statue of Alfie. Tell you what, sure is close to the mark (NOT Mark A), with the facial image, but they could have blonded his hair up, a bit...hahaha.

Cheers all and keep well - Big Pete

christine 's picture

"a" I don't see too much change in the ladder happening from how it is now except for points difference but position difference I don't see any difference really too how it is now ...

NuL1F3's picture

My weekend started strong but then crashed and burned big time! Still, there are worse things than 50%.

BigPeteBx's picture

Evenin NuLife
You did well considering the way the round started out.
Big Guns falling over everywhere!
I think the best that were here, might have tipped 5 out of 8.
I was like you.

Cheers, keep well and have a good week
Big Pete

a's picture

Yes I think the national anthem is a part of our heritage and we should respect it

But with that being said I think it would be cool to have land down under as our national anthem

New Zealand have more than one national anthem so there’s no reason why we can’t have 2 either

christine 's picture

"a" go to nine.com.au homepage there is an article on a trial they want to run on autisim & gut bacteria they're wondering if there could be a link have a look at the article if you are interested ...

NuL1F3's picture

At least I am not alone haha. Thank you and to you too, I'm in Toowoomba this weekend visiting my second grand daughter (born 2 weeks after my first) so that will be exciting! I leave tomorrow so I will have to make sure I get my tips in today :)

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