if anything from my point of view, if sacking Madge was required, should have been at the end of last year not half way through.

I can't see it being totally his fault for where we sit on the ladder, we just don't have the cattle.

Be wary of the teams that sack their coaches, normally turn things around.

Tiger

Can you imagine what would of happened if the tigers and warriors were playing this weekend

"Dia duit gach duine" i dteanga ní mo theanga féin,

Lordy, lordy … wasn’t last night’s SOO a great game. Had everything except a good old fashioned punch-up. One of the best Origin matches I’ve seen in a long while. This is why I love this game (even with stupid rule changes and poor refereeing). Not sure I would’ve given MoM to Munster though. I thought either Carrigan and/or Cotter could have just as easily won it.

Unfortunately I won’t be going to Game number 2 here in Perth. It would’ve been a great birthday present to give myself but maybe next time. We can get $50 tickets but they’re “restricted view” seats (behind huge support pylon things) and you can’t see bugger all so not worth the money. The next cheapest are $150 and they’re up in the nose-bleed section so again, not worth it. The “primo” seats will set you back anywhere between $350-$500 each so yet again, not worth it. Hey it’s not the end of the world and I will get to one sooner or later, preferably in Sydney and Brisbane.

Please note that teams showing an asterisk (*) after their name have had an extra week’s rest. OK, let’s do this thing …

Cowboys vs. Dragons @ Townsville
Probability @ 75-25
Ladder Position = Cowboys
Bookies Favourite = Cowboys

Cowboys
"I thought Tommy Gilbert was awesome tonight. Those guys [Gilbert and Heilum Luki] are surely going to be included in the conversation around Origin whether it's the rest of this series or potentially in the future. I think that was only Heilum's third start in his career and he played really strong, scored a try, really threatened them, defended well. But we still coughed up too much ball in both halves, had to do it the real hard way. I'd just like us to be smarter at times," coach Todd Payten said.

Possession - 53%
Completion Rate - 77% (35/45)
Post Contact Metres - 590
Tackle Breaks - 38
Missed Tackles - 46
Errors - 10
Penalties Conceded - 3

Dragons*
"We've done a good job over the last seven weeks. We've won five out of seven going into the bye now. We'll be better at the back end of the year. It was always going to be a tough day coming here, back to Belmore, with a new coach. They've got some brilliant players and they're hard to defend against. They probably played their best game of footy for the year and they kept coming. We had to win it a couple of times there and the fact we had the resilience to do that was really pleasing. We scored 32 points which is enough to win two games. Our attack is building nicely now," coach Anthony Griffin said.

Possession - 48%
Completion Rate - 77% (27/35)
Post Contact Metres - 525
Tackle Breaks - 27
Missed Tackles - 32
Errors - 10
Penalties Conceded - 6

The Cowboys bounced back last week with a very good win over the Titans. Their attack showed up again but the Dragons will prove a tougher challenge than the Titans. While the Dragons have won 2 from their last 3, they’ve only beaten the Warriors and the Bulldogs and the one they lost was against the Titans so I’m finding it hard to make a case for them.

Verdict: Cowboys by 16

Titans vs. Rabbitohs @ Cbus
Probability @ 35-65
Ladder Position = Rabbitohs
Bookies Favourite = Rabbitohs

Titans
"We just have to keep getting on with it. Stretch those periods that we're playing well for longer periods and we can't have the bad periods, that's what we're doing at the moment and we've been doing it for a long time and that's what's killing us. It's not so much about getting players back, it's just about competing harder... now we've lost JC so we've got some work to do. The minute he went off the field we didn't look a real threat in attack so it's a worry. We know we're miles off, but we're going to keep working at it and try and string some wins together, but definitely not giving up. They're just big moments that we aren't winning and then we're on the end of a big score against us," coach Justin Holbrook said.

Possession - 47%
Completion Rate - 75% (28/37)
Post Contact Metres - 508
Tackle Breaks - 46
Missed Tackles - 38
Errors - 12
Penalties Conceded - 7

Rabbitohs*
“If we get back to playing how we know we can play, the tries will come. Pretty special effort from the boys to be down 12-0 although at half-time we were behind, I didn’t think we were doing much wrong. I felt like tonight it was a real motivation for us to stick to what we know is going to work. Real simple mindset and how we wanted to play and I felt from that point on we stayed at it. The whole second half was outstanding to be fair. We know what works, we gotta stay at it. Our challenge now is to be consistent and start stringing some performances together,” coach Jason Demetriou said.

Possession - 57%
Completion Rate - 80% (34/42)
Post Contact Metres - 667
Tackle Breaks - 45
Missed Tackles - 16
Errors - 8
Penalties Conceded - 4

The Titans have been pretty ordinary of late. Their effort last week was embarrassing I must say. Obvious I know, but they won’t win too many more unless they get their act together, and quick. The Rabbitohs aren’t really travelling that convincingly at the moment either but they’re still good enough to get this one done.

Verdict: Rabbitohs by 12

Roosters vs. Storm @ SCG
Probability @ 40-60
Ladder Position = Storm
Bookies Favourite = Storm

Roosters
"It was really stop-start the whole first half, penalties and errors, and it felt like we lost the ruck. They were more dominant in the way they carried ... they won that area. I feel like we asked enough questions to get the points we needed to win that game but overall really disappointing not to pressure right to the end there. To let in 22 points and then miss some of the opportunities that we did have we end up with the score line that we got so we didn't deserve to win," coach Trent Robinson said.

Possession - 54%
Completion Rate - 76% (30/39)
Post Contact Metres - 586
Tackle Breaks - 41
Missed Tackles - 24
Errors - 11
Penalties Conceded - 10

Storm*
"I thought we were pretty dominant in the first half. We probably left a couple of tries out there in the first half but I really liked the way we started the second half, we had plenty of intent with our running and a bit of desire with our defence. We scored early in the second half and then our defence won it from there. We can certainly still get better but some of that lack of smoothness comes from the fact a few guys there haven't played too much together but as far as competing tonight it was really good. It's a nice way to start the weekend," coach Craig Bellamy said.

Possession - 56%
Completion Rate - 88% (38/43)
Post Contact Metres - 535
Tackle Breaks - 27
Missed Tackles - 22
Errors - 10
Penalties Conceded - 6

The Roosters had some big names out last week but I felt they should’ve beaten the Raiders. This tells me they’re still struggling to get some cohesion happening. The Storm are humming along and regardless if they get players back from Origin or not, they should still be too good for the Roosters. I’m hoping they won’t be but logic says they will be.

Verdict: Storm by 10

Broncos vs. Raiders @ Suncorp
Probability @ 65-35
Ladder Position = Broncos
Bookies Favourite = Broncos

Broncos*
"We just wanted the Broncos to run out in the second half. The energy wasn't there, the commitment to each other wasn't there so it was a good turn around for us. Half time couldn't come quick enough for me. The Titans were playing some good footy ... but our guys just weren't in there physically. We weren't too much worried about the scoreboard, it was more what we needed to do as a team, particularly with our defence. There have been a few distractions this week for the playing group and I thought they came together beautifully in that second 40. They got around Payne and it was a really good second half," coach Kevin Walters said.

Possession - 54%
Completion Rate - 86% (38/44)
Post Contact Metres - 672
Tackle Breaks - 41
Missed Tackles - 28
Errors - 11
Penalties Conceded - 4

Raiders
"It was tough win. We prepared knowing it was going to be a grinding, gritty game ... we played accordingly. We made tackles tonight, some one-on-ones, that if we had’ve made last week we win that one too. I think we can play better than what we did tonight. There's some stuff we have to fix up so we just keep striving to be better," coach Ricky Stuart said.

Possession - 46%
Completion Rate - 76% (32/42)
Post Contact Metres - 587
Tackle Breaks - 24
Missed Tackles - 42
Errors - 11
Penalties Conceded - 5

The Broncos are playing beautifully at the moment and their confidence is right up there. They’re sitting 4th and deservedly so. While the Raiders had a good win over the Roosters last week and have won some others recently, I’m not sure why, but I’m still not convinced. Having said that though, wouldn’t be surprised if the Raiders got up.

Verdict: Broncos by 8

Tigers vs. Manly @ Campbelltown
Probability @ 35-65
Ladder Position = Manly
Bookies Favourite = Manly

Tigers*
"What we're trying to do at the moment is make sure we build really strong foundations to be able to win those sorts of games. I think we've actually shown that over the last couple of months where there's periods in the games that have hurt us but there's also some really good passages. We had really good control in the first half but we went from 86 per cent completions down to 60-something in the second half and that applies pressure and you have to be able to handle it better than we did tonight," (former) coach Michael Maguire said.

Possession - 43%
Completion Rate - 69% (23/33)
Post Contact Metres - 413
Tackle Breaks - 16
Missed Tackles - 45
Errors - 11
Penalties Conceded - 2

Manly
"It has been a challenging month I guess so it was just good to get the win tonight. We realised it was important and it just puts us back on course a little bit, which is good. I feel like the effort around defence has been there, even though they had 28 against us last week. It has been our work and duty of care with the ball in hand that we haven't been good at but I thought tonight we were pretty good on both sides of the ball. We were finally able to build a bit of pressure and play a bit of field position. That will give the players and the team a lot of confidence going forward," coach Des Hasler said.

Possession - 56%
Completion Rate - 87% (35/40)
Post Contact Metres - 642
Tackle Breaks - 43
Missed Tackles - 19
Errors - 8
Penalties Conceded - 6

Manly returned to some good form last week with a big win but keep in mind it was against a Warriors side that were pretty average. The Tigers have been a little too inconsistent for mine and I just can’t see them troubling Manly.

Verdict: Manly by 14

Knights vs. Panthers @ McDonald Jones
Probability @ 25-75
Ladder Position = Panthers
Bookies Favourite = Panthers

Knights*
“It is sort of a new season starting for us now. I know a few boys will go and have a job to do for their state but the back end of the year is a bit of a reset for us. The more we can get this spine playing consistently every week ... there is a chance for this team. We are two out of the eight now so we can get there. We come back in a fortnight’s time against a pretty handy outfit in the Panthers, but I still believe this team will do something. We can fight our way into finals, we have done it before and I believe we can do it again," coach Adam O'Brien said.

Possession - 45%
Completion Rate - 71% (25/35)
Post Contact Metres - 420
Tackle Breaks - 12
Missed Tackles - 21
Errors - 9
Penalties Conceded - 6

Panthers
"I just think everyone did their job. Some of the boys who are regulars in the team I think they learned from last years. All the other guys just did their thing so I thought we played well as a team. It's a six week period and sometimes we are going to have the boys and sometimes we won't. Viliame Kikau has put together a stretch of games that is easily the most consistent since he has been here. I think he is probably trying to make the most of the season. We are probably fortunate that we have some guys who know what to do; Matt Eisenhuth and Charlie Staines have played a lot for the NRL team the last two years, Sean O'Sullivan has played well every team he has played for us but we can't fit him in the team so it is nice for them to get an opportunity. If everyone is doing their job it is much easier for them to shine," coach Ivan Cleary said.

Possession - 45%
Completion Rate - 86% (33/38)
Post Contact Metres - 595
Tackle Breaks - 16
Missed Tackles - 23
Errors - 10
Penalties Conceded - 8

The Panthers, even with so many players missing due to Origin, still managed to win last week, albeit against a gutsy, bottom of the ladder Bulldogs. The Knights had a win last time but they were just another side who beat the hapless Warriors. With players back after Origin, the Panthers should get this done fairly comfortably.

Verdict: Panthers by 16

Warriors vs. Sharks @ Moreton Daily
Probability @ 30-70
Ladder Position = Sharks
Bookies Favourite = Sharks

Warriors
"The first half was obviously the part of the game that was horrible. It is disappointing but we can't offer any excuses, we trained well during the week. The last two performances were losses but we played some footy. We have let ourselves down with some fundamentals but we certainly didn't let ourselves down with our intent early in the game. We let ourselves down with the intent today. There is no doubt we have gone through more than anyone but to do what we did today we can't lump that on being away from home. It would be nice to give them more than just a football team to support, it would be nice to go home and give them a team with the possibility of making the eight, which would seem a long way away with what we tossed up tonight," coach Nathan Brown said.

Possession - 44%
Completion Rate - 72% (26/36)
Post Contact Metres - 487
Tackle Breaks - 19
Missed Tackles - 43
Errors - 10
Penalties Conceded - 10

Sharks*
"We're lacking the consistency of the top few teams. They're looking the same every week they take the field and we haven't done that. There's probably only been two or three games where we haven't but that's a lot in 12 games. We're still working at it, we understand it and it's just where we are at, we've got to go through it. Obviously a stern lesson out of tonight and we'll go back to address it tomorrow and see what happens," coach Craig Fitzgibbon said.

Possession - 52%
Completion Rate - 73% (30/41)
Post Contact Metres - 547
Tackle Breaks - 33
Missed Tackles - 30
Errors - 10
Penalties Conceded - 6

The Warriors are off the rails at the moment (which is a bit sad) and it’s not looking good. I think their sacrifice these last couple of years is starting to take its toll. The Sharks have had some confusing efforts of late but with the extra week’s rest, they should be primed for this one.

Verdict: Sharks by 16

Bulldogs vs. Eels @ Stadium Aust
Probability @ 30-70
Ladder Position = Eels
Bookies Favourite = Eels

Bulldogs
“Our decision making was a little bit erratic and a bit too bubbly and in the situations and making errors in yardage just not good enough. Giving penalties away in yardage … not good enough. I think we’re actually breaking teams up a little bit more and I’m actually quite happy with our attack but again, we’re giving the other team too many opportunities and we’re not resilient enough to hold them out. I thought it was a winnable game and we put ourselves in a position where we possibly could have done that but again, we didn’t and the other team were just better than us tonight and they put the gloss on it at the back end and took the game away from us. We literally, with our handling and ill-discipline, we need to fix that up and give ourselves a chance,” coach Michael Potter said.

Possession - 55%
Completion Rate - 90% (38/42)
Post Contact Metres - 598
Tackle Breaks - 23
Missed Tackles - 16
Errors - 4
Penalties Conceded - 6

Eels*
"Our second half defence was excellent, we were courageous on our try line. I don't think we had any football down the other end of the field. We only had five set starts in the second half which is very low. Defensively the desperation was outstanding. I thought our back five were outstanding in the backfield tonight," coach Brad Arthur said.

Possession - 48%
Completion Rate - 75% (31/41)
Post Contact Metres - 639
Tackle Breaks - 39
Missed Tackles - 30
Errors - 14
Penalties Conceded - 5

The Bulldogs are sitting last I know but they’ve had some good efforts lately. They just need to fix the basics and they’d be a lot better. Even though the Eels have had some strange (inconsistent) efforts this year, their class should be too much for the Bulldogs and they will be looking to close out the round with a big win.

Verdict: Eels by 18

Let’s finish off with another “Song of the Week”…

This guy’s from way back in the day and I still listen to him. This one is a big favourite of mine and as luck would have it I heard it on the radio driving home from shopping tonight. You’ll either love him or hate him (possibly) and some of you may not have heard of him at all. If so, get listening 😍.

https://youtu.be/nbZKcRy4ZlY

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

Christine, Christine, Christine

I thought you were a NSW supporter through and through. QLD only won because Klein was being paid well in Iceberg Lettuce.

The State of Origin Series is a 3 match contest, I encourage all Queensland supporters to keep gaining confidence and start to think you have the series already in the bag, it will be as you say"so much sweeter" to win on their home turf.

Can't wait for Perth.

Have a great weekend.

Tiger

Good to see you got in early tiger however I noticed just snuck back in late and jumped off to Tigers I'm sure tiger girl would be most disappointed in you you realise now all that could happen is the Tiger's will win

Tigerholic how about the warning when you change tips late
Your mate butcher could have followed you and took the Tigers and not saw that you changed you could have affected his position on the ladder

Hi walbottler,

I have to say I was intrigued by your comment on Rick's score, as it would have been corrected before this if a mistake had been made, so I checked.

Round 9 - Rick missed tipping the correct team for Rabbitohs/Broncos & Panthers/Eels matches, giving him 6/8 correct!

Round 10 - Bulldogs/Knights, Sharks/Raiders, Roosters/Eels were matches with incorrect tipping, giving Rick 5/8 correct!

Not sure what you checked to make the comment you did!!

Cheers,
Mary

You can take note of what everyone has tipped 20 - 30 mins before the game starts, but all tipsters have until the "Show/Hide" is in place to change their tips. I know because I have done so on occasion, and so have several other tipsters.

Once the "Show/Hide" goes our tips are final.
If you really want to see what people have tipped, walbottler, go to "See these tips on one page" after the "Show/Hide" disappears, which gives you the true tips - no magic (or anything else) in it!!

Cheers,
Mary

Not any of us saw Bulldogs having this kind of game against the Eels! :O Goes to show there are no certainties in NRL.