***Official*** NRL 2008 Thread

[morgieb]

..as distinct from the other 15?

They're even more crap than the other 15! Thank **** no good players were dropped.

 

[morgieb]

Season prediction time? I think so

Table at end of season

1 Parramatta Eels - lol next
2 Brisbane Broncos - about right
3 Melbourne Storm - could be about right
4 North Queensland Cowboys - see above
5 Manly Sea Eagles - about right
6 New Zealand Warriors - could be, but need to be more consistent
7 Canberra Raiders - don't think so, are going well, but they'll eventually get sctrected too much TBH.
8 Sydney Roosters - i think they'll be higher, but need to pick up game
9 Penrith Panthers -
10 Cronulla Sharks
11 Wests Tigers
12 South Sydney Rabbitohs
13 Canterbury Bulldogs
14 Newcastle Knights
15 Gold Coast Titans
16 St George/Illawarra Dragons

Premiers: Brisbane Broncos
Runners Up: North Queensland Cowboys
Top Tryscorer: Michael Jennings (Penrith Panthers)
Top Pointscorer: Luke Burt (Parramatta Eels)
Rookie of the Year: Matt Keating (Parramatta Eels) or Josh McCrone (Penrith Panthers)
Origin Debuts: Qld - Michael Jennings, Israel Folau and David Taylor NSW - Todd Carney, Dean Collis and Anthony Laffranchi
Origin Series - Queensland 2-1
Dally M Winner: Johnathon Thurston
Best Buys: Travis Burns (North Queensland Cowboys) and Joel Monaghan (Canberra Raiders)
Worst Buys: Wes Naiqama (Newcastle Knights) and Mark O'Meley (Sydney Roosters)
Coaches Not to See out 2008 - Brian Smith (Newcastle Knights) and Nathan Brown (St George/Illawarra Dragons)

Other Predictions
Hazem El Masri to see out the season in Premier League
Parramatta to finish first in the Under 20's comp as well as first grade
St George's injury curse to hit again
One team will be winless after 8 weeks
Melbourne will suffer a premiership hangover and be midtable come middle of the season
Willie Mason will be dropped from the NSW side mid Origin series
At Least one Raiders player will be selected in Origin
Sonny Bill Williams will suffer another serious injury
Anthony Minichiello will regain his NSW #1 Jersey but not make the Australian team

Edited for you.

 

[Burgey]

Marshall out for 2 weeks (apparently) due to pain caused by scar tissue in his injured knee. Kid can't take a trick atm.

 

[James90]

Ladder at the end of the regular season

Melbourne Storm
Sydney Roosters
Brisbane Broncos
Manly Sea Eagles
Gold Coast Titans
North Queensland Cowboys
Parramatta Eels
Canberra Raiders
-----
NZ Warriors
St George/Illawarra Dragons
Wests Tigers
Newcastle Knights
Cronulla Sharks
Penrith Panthers
Canterbury Bulldogs
South Sydney Rabbitohs

Eels and Raiders possibly too high, Sharks and Bulldogs possibly too low. I'll blame it on having to say something outlandish to generate responses.

 

[chaminda_00]

Has the Kiwi squad been named anywhere. If not when is it named?

 

[99*]

Has the Kiwi squad been named anywhere. If not when is it named?

Think it's tommorow, not that it really matters. Have heard that the English clubs are going to refuse to let their Kiwis go even if they are named in the squad.

 

[James90]

Normally they rest the test players the week before the match don't they? Surely the Warriors can't do that. Maybe I'm getting confused with Origin.

 

[Johnners]

Round 7 Results

Mr Wright - 35
Tozzer - 34
James90 - 33
Clapo - 33
Morgieb - 32
Boy Brumby - 32
DCYE - 31
Burgey - 30
Simon - 29
Bugssy - 28
Chaminda_00 - 28
99* - 24
Matteh - 23
B]superkingdave[/B] - 21
Pinchy81 - 19

Well done to Brumby & Morgieb who were the only 2 to pick at least 1 of the 2 upsets correctly (Dragons & Tigers). Simon had his 2nd poor round in a row which has dropped him back 6 behind the leaders, whilst Stedders & Myself moved closer to Tozzer & Wright who only got 3 each, compared to our 4.

Round 7 brings us the first lot of byes for the season, so there are only 6 games to tip this week.

Round 8: 2-4 May 2008

Country vs. City
Knights vs. Titans
Panthers vs. Eels
Tigers vs. Broncos
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys
Warriors vs. Raiders

I've put the Country vs City match in, but if the majority don't think it should be included, it won't be.

 

[Simon]

Normally they rest the test players the week before the match don't they? Surely the Warriors can't do that. Maybe I'm getting confused with Origin.

naa they dont, NZ name their team on Sunday night. Usually the Australian team is named one week before the match as well but because the City vs Country match is this week they had to name the test team a little earlier so the internationals were exempt.

 

[Simon]

Edited for you.

some of my predictions arent looking shocking tbh.

 

[Simon]

Country vs. City
Knights vs. Titans
Panthers vs. Eels
Tigers vs. Broncos
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys
Warriors vs. Raiders

 

[99*]

Country vs. City
Knights vs. Titans
Panthers vs. Eels
Tigers vs. Broncos
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys
Warriors vs. Raiders

 

[Mister Wright]

Country
Titans
Eels
Broncos
Cowboys
Warriors

Actually the 2nd week of byes.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Country vs. City
Knights vs. Titans
Panthers vs. Eels
Tigers vs. Broncos
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys
Warriors vs. Raiders

Will be at City vs. Country, looking forward to it.

 

[Johnners]

Country vs. City
Knights vs. Titans
Panthers vs. Eels
Tigers vs. Broncos
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys
Warriors vs. Raiders

EDIT: Think it's the 1st time in about 2 years I've tipped against the Knights. <3 Scott Prince possibly as much as I did Johns.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Country

Knights
Panthers
Broncos
Cowboys
Warriors

Eels keep letting me down when I back them so are guaranteed the win now I've gone for Pennie.

 

[Burgey]

Country vs. City
Knights vs. Titans
Panthers vs. Eels
Tigers vs. Broncos
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys
Warriors vs. Raiders

 

[morgieb]

Country vs. City
Knights vs. Titans
Panthers vs. Eels
Tigers vs. Broncos
Rabbitohs vs. Cowboys
Warriors vs. Raiders

BTW Tigers wasn't really an upset if you look at the record against the Sharks.

 

[howardj]

I thought those banned Bunnies players were drunk or hungover. Turns out they only had some alcohol in their system, and were stood down for this reason. I think it's an absolute joke. I mean, they've hardly disgraced themselves. If they were drunk, hungover or got into an alcohol-fuelled fight the night before, then fair enough.

However, to ban guys for being 0.01 or 0.02 is just enforcing rules just for the sake of it. No wonder why players get into trouble when they are allowed a night out - they get so excited at finally being able to have a drink, that they end up going too hard. In my view, you don't foster a responsible, adult culture by having such ridiculous, zero-tolerance rules.

All you do is foster resentment and make babies out of the players.

 

[Simon]

I thought those banned Bunnies players were drunk or hungover. Turns out they only had some alcohol in their system, and were stood down for this reason. I think it's an absolute joke. I mean, they've hardly disgraced themselves. If they were drunk, hungover or got into an alcohol-fuelled fight the night before, then fair enough.

However, to ban guys for being 0.01 or 0.02 is just enforcing rules just for the sake of it. No wonder why players get into trouble when they are allowed a night out - they get so excited at finally being able to have a drink, that they end up going too hard. In my view, you don't foster a responsible, adult culture by having such ridiculous, zero-tolerance rules.

All you do is foster resentment and make babies out of the players.

Would agree if the club didn't have a no drinking policy, the players know they are not to drink at all and they have. Fair enough to stand them down for a week imo.