**Official** NRL 2009 Thread

[Ausage]

Agree.

Week 1:

Game 1: 1 v2 (Play for a week off)
Game 2: 3 v 4
Game 3: 5 v 6 (loser is knocked out)

Week 2:

Game 1: Loser of 3 v 4 plays winner of 5 v 6 (knocked out)
Game 2: Loser of 1 v 2 plays Winner of 3 v 4

Week 3:

Semi Final 1: Winner of 1 v 2 plays Week 2 game 2 loser
Semi Final 2: Week 2, Game 1 winner plays Week 2 Game 2 winner

Week 4:

Semi Final 1 v Semi Final 2

There's pretty much zero incentive to win the game in bold. Also teams 1 and 2 are guaranteed a place in the semis.

 

[luffy]

Agree.

Week 1:

Game 1: 1 v2 (Play for a week off)
Game 2: 3 v 4
Game 3: 5 v 6 (loser is knocked out)

Week 2:

Game 1: Loser of 3 v 4 plays winner of 5 v 6 (knocked out)
Game 2: Loser of 1 v 2 plays Winner of 3 v 4

Week 3:

Semi Final 1: Winner of 1 v 2 plays Week 2 game 2 loser
Semi Final 2: Week 2, Game 1 winner plays Week 2 Game 2 winner

Week 4:

Semi Final 1 v Semi Final 2

The way the Top 6 runs here is:

Week 1

Game 1: 3 v 6
Game 2: 4 v 5

Week 2:

Game 3: 1 v 2
Game 4: Winner Game 1 and Game 2

Week 3:

Game 5: Loser Game 3 v Winner Game 4

Week 4:

Winner Game 3 v Winner Game 5

Obviously that's less games, so it won't happen, but it's a good system.

 

[NUFAN]

rook·ie (rk)
n.
1. Slang
a. An untrained or inexperienced recruit, as in the army or police.
b. An inexperienced person; a novice.
2. Sports A first-year player, especially in a professional sport.


Anyone else annoyed that Jamal Idris won this award?

I feel for Mortimer, Dugan or Croker even who were up against a player who had previous experience as an NRL player before the start of the year.

EDIT - just read Simon post pretty much the same thing on the page before

 

[Son Of Coco]

Yep, that's the Qld home ground.

It's always going to throw up anomalies like that, but I just think the emphasis should be on big crowds, showpiece events and really showcasing what is the best club footy we have to offer.

In any case, I really don't think Suncorp or Skilled Park or Dairy Farmers offers such a big advantage to either team, when two Qld teams are playing.

Doubt you'd find any of the QLD teams would agree with that.

 

[Ausage]

Dugan or Mortimer should have got it anyway. Idris benefits massively from his hair.

 

[luffy]

Idris got like 1 Dally M point throughout the season.

Dugan got about 10 and i'm unsure as to how much Mortimor got. So, personally, i reckon it should have been one of those two.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Bring back the top 5 imo. Those finals used to be so awesome. Obviously will never happen as they want the TV matches for having more games but still. Five would really make it a best of the best scenario.

I used to like the 5 team play-off when the Super League used it, meant that winning the minor premership was a real advantage. When they switched to six there was no real difference in first or second, save the home tie.

Half the teams making the play-offs is too many IMHO, devalues finals footy when (at least in theory) teams with losing records for the season make them. In 2007 yer Broncs made it with a 11-13 season record, which doesn't scream a team worthy of play-offs to me.

 

[Ausage]

I used to like the 5 team play-off when the Super League used it, meant that winning the minor premership was a real advantage. When they switched to six there was no real difference in first or second, save the home tie.

Half the teams making the play-offs is too many IMHO, devalues finals footy when (at least in theory) teams with losing records for the season make them. In 2007 yer Broncs made it with a 11-13 season record, which doesn't scream a team worthy of play-offs to me.

The big positive about 8 team playoffs is that towards the end of the year there are still very important games left. Half the games in the last few rounds would be meaningless without things like relegation or international club championships to keep things interesting.

And really, teams that sneak into the finals like the 07 Broncos (09 Essendon for a current example) never end up a factor in the scheme of the finals anyway. I'm a fan of 8 team finals personally.

 

[Mister Wright]

I used to like the 5 team play-off when the Super League used it, meant that winning the minor premership was a real advantage. When they switched to six there was no real difference in first or second, save the home tie.

Half the teams making the play-offs is too many IMHO, devalues finals footy when (at least in theory) teams with losing records for the season make them. In 2007 yer Broncs made it with a 11-13 season record, which doesn't scream a team worthy of play-offs to me.

Given the current poor scheduling of our representative season, it is necessary to have an 8 team comp and allow those teams heavily affected by representation a chance of making the finals. The Broncs were actually sitting first (IIRC) on the ladder and were the team to beat until Lockyer did his knee 6 weeks out from the finals. We never recovered from that.

 

[luffy]

Tragedy rules Glenn Hall out of tonight's match.

Ouch, no one deserves to go through that. Shattering news really, hope the Sea Eagles can win it for him tonight.

 

[Burgey]

Tragedy rules Glenn Hall out of tonight's match.

Ouch, no one deserves to go through that. Shattering news really, hope the Sea Eagles can win it for him tonight.

That's awful for him and his family. All the best to them.

Still don't want Manly to win though.

 

[Simon]

That's awful for him and his family. All the best to them.

Still don't want Manly to win though.

This exactly.

Poor guy.

 

[howardj]

My favourite league weekend of the year coming up.

Tipping a Kogarah boil over just quietly.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Manly being thoroughly dismantled it seems. Was quite surprised they got as much love as they did in the NRL/AFL finals tipping comp, tbh. As someone who's several thousand miles removed I always think "have I missed something obvious?", but couldn't see much of a case for the soon-to-be-ex-premiers.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Not sure if I tipped them, but if I did, it's because the thought of Melbourne playing footy makes me physically ill.

 

[morgieb]

1 Manly Sea Eagles - Nah
2 Cronulla Sharks - LOL
3 Canberra Raiders - Nah
4 St George Illawarra Dragons - Minor Premiers TBH
5 Melbourne Storm - Top 4 IIRC
6 New Zealand Warriors - LOL
7 Newcastle Knights - Correct
8 Brisbane Broncos - 6th
9 Canterbury Bulldogs - Wow, what a season.
10 North Queensland Cowboys - Think about right?
11 Parramatta Eels - Wasn't counting on Hayne's brilliance...
12 South Sydney Rabbitohs - Nah
13 Gold Coast Titans - Nah
14 Sydney Roosters - Even lower
15 Penrith Panthers - Nah
16 Wests Tigers - Nah

Premiers: Manly Sea Eagles - Could still happen...
Runners Up: St George Illawarra Dragons - Looking good...
Prelim Finals: Canberra Raiders and Cronulla Sharks - LOL
Dally M Medal: Terry Campese - Even bigger LOL.
Clive Churchill Medal: Matt Orford - Won't happen, too much of a choker
Leading Point Scorer: Luke Covell - Nah
Leading Try Scorer: Brett Stewart - Probably would've happen if he hadn't got injured...
Origin Debuts: NSW Terry Campese, Michael Jennings, Glenn Stewart, David Williams - All 4 made their debuts IIRC. Qld - David Shillington - Think he did?
State of Origin - Queensland 2-1 - Yes
Rookie of the Year: Donald Malone or Ben Barba - Nah
Buy of the year: Michael Ennis or Trent Barrett - Ennis is a good call. Barrett LOL.

Other
* Todd Carney will sign for the Wests Tigers - Roosters IMO
* Greg Bird will sign with the Canterbury Bulldogs - they respect guys who glass chicks. - Nah, culture's changed there heaps.
* Matthew Elliott will get sacked as Panthers coach - Good start saves his job....
* Craig Bellamay will quit as NSW coach after the Origin series - Looking likely
* NSW to play a lot of new players because of their general direness - Yes
* Melbourne to struggle a little with the depletion of their squad and fail to make the Top 4 - Still made the Top 4 despite an ordinary year by their standards....
* Canberra to exceed all expectations and make the Top 4 - Nah
* Karmichael Hunt will leave Brisbane and sign with Union (either Reds or France) - Bet no one expected him to sign with the AFL. Still left Brisbane though.
* Gold Coast to struggle again with injuries - Nah
* Injuries hit Parramatta again exposing their lack of depth - Denied
* Craig Fitzgibbon & Darren Lockyer will retire from the NRL - Fitzy did, Lockyer didn't.
* Nathan Friend will return to the Broncos - No
* Tigers & Panthers to battle it out for the spoon - No
* Roosters to have an injury crisis so big that it'll put the ****s back where they belong - So, so glad I got this one right.

...

 

[Simon]

Manly being thoroughly dismantled it seems. Was quite surprised they got as much love as they did in the NRL/AFL finals tipping comp, tbh. As someone who's several thousand miles removed I always think "have I missed something obvious?", but couldn't see much of a case for the soon-to-be-ex-premiers.

Manly beat them down there a few weeks ago and played pretty well against Titans last week. Having said that I was confident Melbourne would win.

 

[luffy]

1 Manly Sea Eagles- 5TH
2 Melbourne Storm- 4TH
3 Brisbane Broncos- 6TH
4 Cronulla Sharks- 15TH
5 Canberra Raiders- 13TH
6 New Zealand Warriors- 14TH
7 Sydney Roosters- 16TH
8 North Queensland Cowboys- 10TH
9 St George Illawarra Dragons- 1ST
10 Newcastle Knights- 7TH
11 South Sydney Rabbitohs- 10TH
12 West Tigers- 9TH
13 Gold Coast Titans- 3RD
14 Parramatta Eels- 8TH
15 Canterbury Bullogs- 2ND
16 Penrith Panthers- 11TH

Well, I fail.

 

[99*]

Sharks 11th? Excuse me while I laugh hysterically

 

[NUFAN]

1 Manly Sea Eagles 6th
2 New Zealand Warriors 14th so far off
3 Melbourne Storm 4th
4 St George Illawarra Dragons 1st
5 Canterbury Bulldogs 2nd
6 Souths Rabbitohs 10th
7 Brisbane Broncos 6th
8 Sydney Roosters 16th
9 Cronulla Sharks 15th
10 Canberra Raiders 13th
11 Parramatta Eels 8th
12 Gold Coast Titans 3rd
13 North Queensland Cowboys 12th
14 Penrith Panthers 11th
15 Newcastle Knights 7th
16 Wests Tigers 9th

* Love Warriors lineup, reckon they'll win always at home and will do good away this year. lol
* Kimmorley is going to help the Dogs and they have recruited very well. correct
* Souths on paper is a quality team, I don't think it'll be a huge surprise if they make the 8.they were close
* Sharks are a little overrated, Barrett does not scream winner for mine. Bird/Anderson/Kimmorley loss is bigger then the gains of Barrett/Tupou/Maitua. correct

overall pretty poor.