I hate round two. If tipping was tricky in round one, round two is even worse. Was that epic win last week a fluke or a sign of good things to come? That first round loss just early season rust or a portent of doom? Unfortunately the cruel gods of footy have already struck for Brett Stewart, Nathan Fien and Shane Shackleton. All three will be out of the game for most of the year if not the season.
But there were some great games with the Tigers v Manly game having everything from some old fashioned aggression and some new fangled sparkling attacking footy.
With hope that things will be more settled so that I can show off my tipping prowess to my new work colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I present the tips for round 2.
St George Illawarra v Canterbury Bankstown, Friday 7:35pm, WIN Stadium
The Bulldogs have never lost a game at WIN Stadium. But I can’t see them extending that record. Without Hazem, the Bulldogs have lost a 6-8 point advantage over the other teams. And with Ennis spending the week on the sideline, they side looks quite weak. The Dragons to continue with their dull but effective game plan and get the win.
South Sydney v Gold Coast, Friday 8:35pm, ANZ Stadium
Both teams were ordinary last week with the Titans still pulling off a win. The Bunnies have the potential but still haven’t found the way to unlock it. They are going to have to earn my tip this year. Hence the Gold Coast for me.
New Zealand v Cronulla, Saturday 5:30pm, My Smart Stadium
Both teams were gallant in defeat last week. The Sharks are in with a big chance in this game. However if the Warriors can replicate their form from last week (apart from the bits where the other team scored) then they should celebrate Michael Luck’s 100th game in style.
Newcastle v Melbourne, Saturday 7:30pm, Energy Australia Stadium
So I was wrong about the Knights. They have held together admirably yet it is too early to tell whether adversity has made them strong or it was a one off. The Storm are without Cronk which limits their attack. That doesn’t matter as they still are a great footy side even with an unsure Smith at half. I’m tipping Melbourne but not with much confidence. The Knights like to prove me wrong and they could very well do that.
North Queensland v Penrith, Saturday 7:30pm, Dairy Farmers Stadium
Yes, the Cowboys almost pulled off a remarkable comeback win but that does not cover up some worrying signs (apart from Thurston). The Panthers have a good record against the Cowboys. Their first half against Canberra showed the potential the side has this season. As long as Elliott gives them some coffee at half time the Panthers should get this one.
Parramatta v Manly, Sunday 2:00pm, Parramatta Stadium
Manly blew the lead, Stewart blew his ankle and Rose blew his cool on Monday night. The Sea Eagles were good in parts but have some defensive issues. And while the Eels lost last week, their defence was superb considering the weight of possession against them. If the Eels limit their mistakes and get their off loading going they will roll on to victory.
Easts v Wests, Sunday 3:00pm, SFS
This game should be a thrill a minute if both teams replicate their games from last week. I’m finding it hard to really split the two teams. It will come down to goal line defence and that is a weakness of the Tigers. I’m going to tip the Roosters as they seem to have the ability to control the game, something the Tigers lacked at times on Monday night.
Canberra v Brisbane, Monday 7:00pm, Canberra Stadium
If it was the midst of winter, the Raiders all the way. But the nights are still relatively balmy and that suits the visiting sides. Brisbane seems to have unearthed some great youngsters but no one has any idea if they have what it takes to produce good form week in and week out. Usually things go wrong when I underestimate the Broncos but the Raiders at home puts me on their side of the fence.
The Sure Thing: Hard to say but I’m going to take the Dragons.
The Roughy: The Knights or the Sharks. Both teams are in with a show.
15 responses so far ↓
Bismark O'Measles // Mar 19, 2010 at 6:45 am
Dragons
Bunnies
Warriors
Storm
Cows
Eels
Tigers
Raiders
Good luck!
Mountain Boy // Mar 19, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Bulldogs – I think Kimmorley still remembers how to tee one up (or will he opt for the sand?), admittedly not as good as Hazem, or “mummy I need to go toil-ey Soward”, but good enough. Bulldogs with more flair in attack. Take the loss to Newcastle as more credit to the Knights, than a poor dogs performance.
Souths – Nothing like home town sentiment. First home game to see his purchase big Sam- Russell must be there waiting in the wings to lead off post-match “glory, glory to South Sydney…”. Also Channel 9 and Fox are counting on big Sam to produce and keep their ratings up. Cardinal and myrtle, I think.
Warriors – Not a high quality game envisaged, but Seymour may have some insight into what tricky Ricky has planned.
Penrith – Yes I was there at Penrith Park in 1998 when the Panthers gave away the biggest half time in history. Leading 26-0 over the hapless Cowboys. Somehow the visitors won the second half 36-2. Final score Cowboys 36 Panthers 28. Leading Canberra 22-0 at half time brought back memories. When the flood gates started opening, I was in not much doubt where it was heading. A big slice of luck with the Purtell intercept was enough to hold the levee banks. Might have been just the bit of luck , and scare needed to keep Mr Complacency at bay.
Parramatta – Hard to gauge. Yes, Parra stats showed they defended well, but against one-dimensional Dragons attack. Manly were unfortunate to face the situation of a referee threatening them with a sin-bin (usually an indication the ref intends to load the other team up with possession ie. try scoring opportunites). Injuries and suspensions for Manly could be the difference.
Easts – When you win the spoon, you tend to get extra defensive workouts at training. That seems to be paying off if Round 1 is an indicator. Roosters to use the clinical Panthers trick of smothering Benji. Who would have thought, he doesn’t like the attention?
Brisbane – Young new talents seem to have Brisbane looking like they may have their sights set higher than last year. A fit Lockyer and Wallace will be the key, but at the moment, they are.
Mountain Boy // Mar 19, 2010 at 5:56 pm
reading Joey’s column he wrote on how he forgot to nominate a captain for his fantasy team last week – what drugs was (is) he on ?
senexx // Mar 19, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Dragons
Titans
Warriors
Cowboys
Storm
Eels
Roosters
Broncos
Bismark O'Measles // Mar 19, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Oh god.
Never have I seen a match ruined quite so badly by poor refereeing.
Sure it went both ways but the Titans got them when it mattered – two tries, a penalty and the opportunity to slot the golden f^&*(ing point all coming from dubious calls.
Poor game – poor result – just what the sport doesn’t need right now.
F%^&*(ed-off.
BOM
Shaun // Mar 20, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Yes, the refereeing in the South/Titans games was like watching rugby union. Some of the penalties were nit picking the rules to the extreme.
But South’s attack still look flat. Sutton did some good things but Sandow is an issue. He really needs to pick up his game.
Not that the Titans were any better. They have their own problems. The season will be like the last year where they win games by a few points and get trampled if they make the finals.
The Bulldogs were one-dimensional without Ennis. It was so obvious that Kimmorely was the focus of the attack. And for his troubles he got smashed as the Dragons played to the obvious. Roberts did nothing. The Dogs really need to find something or they will have a tough season.
And the Dragons showed that they can score points. They will be premiership favourites now but it is a marathon and not a sprint (as they learned last year). One worry is that they seem to sit on their lead and rely on their defence to get them home. That will do for know but as the season moves on, it could cost them a few games.
Shaun // Mar 20, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Apologies senexx. Your comment got caught in the spam filter.
senexx // Mar 20, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Thanks for freeing it.
Bismark O'Measles // Mar 21, 2010 at 8:50 am
Bum.
But for the sake of dubious refereeing, I’d have 5 from 5 this week.
senexx // Mar 21, 2010 at 9:49 am
So far I do have 5/5 Bismark but that may change today.
Shaun // Mar 21, 2010 at 8:35 pm
The refs have done a shocking job this round. Yeah, Parra’s third try was off a blatant forward pass but being against Manly, an ethical justification is easily made. There are suggestions that the pass to Grothe for the final try was forward as well but seeing the reply again, it was flat at the worst.
If you were following my tweets you know what I though of the game at half time. Full time was of course a different story. I’ve seen the Tahu try a few times since the game and still get excited watching it. That was one of the best and Hayne’s run to set it up was as good as any from last season.
I have no idea what happened with the Roosters v Tigers apart from the score. I only say about 10 minutes of the game. I’m wondering how much did the heat affect both Sunday games.
From last night, the Storm v Knights was a good one (Mungo of course may disagree on that). I even had a lazy $5 on the Knights and they almost pulled it off.
I didn’t see the Cowboys v Panthers. From the result it is difficult to make anything from either side. Relying on Thurston to pull them from the brink isn’t going to work all season.
Of course the Panthers are still having issues with staying awake during the second half.
As for the Warriors v Sharks game, when Warriors knocked on from the kick off and the Sharks then knocked on from the scrum you knew it was not going to be a high class game. But it was interesting for a scrappy game. The Warriors weren’t great but Sharks have seemingly no penetration in attack. Both teams seem to heading for a long season.
gilmae // Mar 22, 2010 at 6:36 am
Wests put on two tries in the first quarter and then got really dozey from the heat and let through about a billion points. They tried to catch up in the final quarter, but they’d let through too many.
I am finding I can’t allow myself to watch Titans’ games, I spend the whole damn thing hoping someone gouges Greg Bird. That’s bad, right?
Bismark O'Measles // Mar 22, 2010 at 7:02 am
he he … not necessarily.
Shaun // Mar 22, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Lockyer was just asked about the comebacks in the post match presser. He reckons most teams are not properly match fit. Once this happens, there will be less comebacks as the season rolls on.
Mountain Boy // Mar 31, 2010 at 10:37 pm
If I was a referee these days, I would think it easy enough to put a few lazy bradmans on the half-time / full-time double betting option in the game I am ref-ing. One team to lead at half time – the other to win the match. Also take the reverse option, then as long as its not a draw at half-time all is still good. In the second half provide ball to the losing team through penalty after penalty. Threaten the team in front with the sin-bin if its not going to plan. At some stage you should come out a winner. You may hear fans go on about the poor decisions, teams dropping their bundle, or teams coming from the clouds, but who cares, noone will suspect a betting scandal. Highly cynical theory I know, but think of how often this happens, think of what prices these half time reversals do pay ($5 or $6 a pop) – so with the knowledge that if it doesn’t come off every time – no big deal.
I remember years ago, a ten or twelve point lead at half time would have you feeling pretty good about yourself. Notice how you feel these days when leading at half-time? And how confident you also feel if your team is down at the break.
I am yet to work out the half-time reversals. I haven’t discounted teams betting against themselves.