**Official** NRL 2010 thread

[Mister Wright]

LOL

 

[Simon]

Poor kid cant keep out of trouble, although it's hard to take it seriously with the "no complaint has been made" line.

 

[Ausage]

Carney in trouble? No way!

Yeah the Roosters REALLY want to clean up their image

 

[howardj]

Big kids in men's bodies.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Blah blah blah 'counselling' blah blah blah 'good kid' blah blah blah 'give him all the help he needs to get him through this tough time' blah blah blah

 

[howardj]

Bump.

Can't believe Hodges is out for most of the season.

He adds so much to Brisbane - gives us an intimidation, bad ass factor out wide.

 

[Simon]

Yeh, lets hope it doesnt mean a return to the Steve Michaels days. Surely between Kemp, Folau, Beale, Hoffman, Winterstein, Yow Yeh and Glenn we can keep him away from the side.

 

[Mister Wright]

It's a real shame because I think there was a good chance he was going to play in his best position at fullback.

 

[Simon]

Dont think Hodges has the speed or agility to play fullback anymore. He hasn't played the position for three years so I think it would have been a big ask for him, plus he's too dangerous at centre.

 

[Ausage]

Can't believe Hodges is out for most of the season.

I can believe it. Say what you like about the guy, he knows how to get injured.

2010 ladder predictions anyone?

1. Bulldogs
2. Eels
3. Tigers
4. Storm
5. Bunnies
6. Panthers
7. Dragons
8. Titans (could be anywhere between 2 and 14 depending on Prince's fitness)
9. Broncos
10. Raiders
11. Manly
12. Knights
13. Cowboys
14. Sharks
15. Roosters
16. Warriors

State of Origin - NSW 2-1

I miss the footy

 

[howardj]

Really fear for the Broncos this year.

We've lost so much aggression/strike power - Hodges, KHunt, Carroll, Taylor (won't include Clinton).

 

[Simon]

2010 Predictions then

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

Premiers: Canterbury Bulldogs
Runners Up: Parramatta Eels
Prelim Finals: Dragons and Storm
Leading Point Scorer: Michael Gordon
Leading Try Scorer: Brett Stewart
State of Origin: NSW 2-1
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Williamson (Roosters), Trent Hogkinson (Manly) or Albert Kelly (Cronulla)
State of Origin Debut: Brett Morris (NSW), Richard Fa'aoso (Qld) and David Taylor (Qld)

Other Stuff Which I usually get wrong
Todd Carney will actually see out the season without getting sacked! He might play ok too.
Jamie Soward will dominate the City vs Country clash and still not get picked for Origin
Panthers to be big improvers and become an attacking force.
Michael Gordon will become the second player to score 300 points in a season.
Brett Morris, Michael Jennings, Brett Stewart and Israel Folau will all score 20+ tries
NSW will win the first two Origin games as Qld struggled without a host of injured stars
Ben Hannant steps up to the mantle of best prop in the game.
Melbourne to struggle early in the season without Cooper Cronk.
Aidan Tolman will have a break through year and be a household name by the end of the season.
The Raiders will lose less than two home games all year.

 

[Ausage]

Leading Point Scorer: Michael Gordon
...
Panthers to be big improvers and become an attacking force.
Michael Gordon will become the second player to score 300 points in a season.

I think there's a good chance of that happening as long as he doesn't get injured.

As to the rest I think we'll be much more consistent than last year, with more depth in the halves, front row and back row. (like we needed it there though) Still too much dead wood in the squad for mine, and we've poor depth out wide and possibly weak at fullback (Coote is still unproven potential for mine, Flash has lost a yard of pace which I hope he gets back and I still carry Sammut related scars on my soul) but we're on paper, stronger than last year. Burns in particular should be a very good pickup, and I'm happy with the aquisitions of Laurie and Plum. I just hope we hit form at the right time tbh.

If Elliott doesn't make the finals with this team, he never will.

Just purchased my season tickets Incidentally my man Gordon provided the automated phone instructions.

 

[Blewy]

2010 Predictions then

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


Premiers: Parramatta Eels
Runners Up: Melbourne Storm
Prelim Finals: Dragons and Tigers
Leading Point Scorer: Luke Burt
Leading Try Scorer: Tim Moltzen
State of Origin: NSW 2-1
Rookie of the Year: Albert Kelly (Cronulla), Andrew Fafita (Tigers) or Gareth Widdop (Storm)
State of Origin Debut: Chris Lawrence (NSW) Brett Morris (NSW), Keith Galloway (NSW) Todd Carney (NSW) and David Taylor (Qld)

Other Stuff Which I usually get wrong
* Todd Carney to be the shining light for the Roosters.
* Brett Stewart to be found guilty of ***ual assault charges and de-registered by the NRL
* Arana Taumata to be the buy of the Season, Combining with Marshall to take the Tigers top 4 and helping the Kiwis win the Anzac Test.
* Michael Jennings and Chris Lawrence to pair up for NSW and show QLD dont have all the young superstar outside backs.
* Ben Hannant steps up to the mantle of best prop in the game.
* Lote returns and is selected for Game 3 for QLD.
* Ricky Stuart sacked as coach of the Sharks, closely followed by Ivan Cleary at the Warriors, Jim Dymock and Stephen Kearney replacing them.
* Penrith to be known as the sleepers, not because they are the danger team but because they are lazy (Daine Laurie, Frank Pritchard etc)
* Souths to be the 1st team in NRL History to name a 17 containing 15 forwards.

 

[Ausage]

Leading Try Scorer: Tim Moltzen

Am I right in assuming that Moltzen is going to be your starting 7?

Thought he looked pretty good in the game I saw him play there.

 

[NUFAN]

Who would you have as Panthers as 1,6,7,9 and 14

I would go with:
1 Coote 6 Graham 7 Walsh 9 Kingston 14 Sammut - I don't rate Burns, Iosefa unlucky but he needs to do more than he did in 09.

Also, I don't think Panthers props are anything special at all, great backrow depth though, but someone like Nathan Smith is a little wasted coming off the bench when you've got 80 minute players such as Waterhouse and Lewis in the backrow already.

 

[Simon]

Elliott seems to like to use Wade Graham on the bench so it wouldnt surprise me to see
6 Burns 7 Walsh 9 Kingston 14 Graham and then move Burns into the 9 after about half an hour and bring on Graham. Not the worst move imo.

 

[Blewy]

I think there's a good chance of that happening as long as he doesn't get injured.

As to the rest I think we'll be much more consistent than last year, with more depth in the halves, front row and back row. (like we needed it there though) Still too much dead wood in the squad for mine, and we've poor depth out wide and possibly weak at fullback (Coote is still unproven potential for mine, Flash has lost a yard of pace which I hope he gets back and I still carry Sammut related scars on my soul) but we're on paper, stronger than last year. Burns in particular should be a very good pickup, and I'm happy with the aquisitions of Laurie and Plum. I just hope we hit form at the right time tbh.

If Elliott doesn't make the finals with this team, he never will.

Just purchased my season tickets Incidentally my man Gordon provided the automated phone instructions.

Isnt it funny Tigers fans are happy Laurie is gone... He's lazy and has an attitude problem... Pretty much expected considering he hangs around the man Mundane..

Am I right in assuming that Moltzen is going to be your starting 7?

Thought he looked pretty good in the game I saw him play there.

I think he'll start at fullback with Taumata at Half... Either way im happy...

 

[Simon]

How do people see Manly doing this year? Any team that have been successful but then loses its captain and halfback could struggle a bit. I reckon they'll do ok but outside of Watmough its hard to see who will step up for them when the pressure is really on, Foran is quality but young, Lyon is solid but hardly an organiser while Cherry-Evans and Hogkinson are rookies so who knows what they will bring.

 

[Simon]

I think for Penrith this year the pressure is really on the forwards, obviously Petero is a legend and he'll do his job but guys like Bell and Grant who the club have invested in over a good period of time need to show they belong this year. If the team is going well then Pritchard will play well and he'll improve them so I dont think Penrith need to worry about him.
With Gordon, Jennings, Tighe and Purtell they have genuine tryscorers in the backline, they just need to find a way to get them the ball in a good position.