NRL r2

[goldmember]

This weeks ratings:

Bulldogs 125
Cowboys 122

Raiders 115
Knights 114

Broncos 124
Warriors 115


Storm 123
Dragons 118

Sea Eagles 122
Sharks 116

Panthers 121
Roosters 120

Eels 124
Rabbits 116

[Sportz]

How did they go last week?

[goldmember]

5/7 last week, with the panthers and cowboys going under. Just looked at the prices and most of them differ from mine as i have only 1 team rated under $1.60 and thats the Broncos @ $1.25

[thefan]

ill take canberra with the line
dragons/storm points over
warriors with the line
manly scott donald first try scorer

[Sportz]

5/7 last week, with the panthers and cowboys going under.

I got 5/7 too. I had Penrith and the Warriors. :o

[Desi]

Me too Sports...hopefully my adjustments will come up with better results...although Brisbane (who are looking strong) always appear over the odds so could be good for a line on Warriors... who have got rid of Hohaia (pedestrian last weekend) and brought on Ropati but still persist with Meli and Hoopi (slow to respond on defence and overrated on attack if you ask me)...

[goldmember]

Andrew Johns didn't train today as he has a hip flexor problem but is expected to play,Matt Kennedy passed a fitness test and will play, if joeys not 100%, it'll tip it towards a raiders win now, still rate them with the warriors as the worst teams in the league, no i still can't tip them, knights to win.

[Searay]

Forget it goldmember, the knights cant win against the raiders at home first up, the raiders have pretty strong forwards and their outside backs are nearly the quickest in the comp. Jason smith has been copping a hiding from everyone about his age and fitness, believe me, that only spurs a league player on , and he will dominate this game. Definatly the raiders, no question!

[Desi]

Matt Elliott has a solid if unspectatcular squad and tends to keep to a very simple game plan...the difference with the Raiders is in their halves and they should be more organised and primed to win their first game at home...

Good call Searay re NQueensland...of course all my tips centred around the Doggies eek! Ref was shocking and Utai should have been taken off after gifting a try and not scoring one himself...(got him in my dream team yikes!)

[thefan]

What a bad week of footy...upsets after the other. Anyone who backed fav must of had a hard time. Only scored 3 points for local tipping comp this week.

Raiders/warriors and Manly. I cant even believed that I backed the dragons...

[Searay]

NRL WRAP UP - RD 2

COWBOYS/BULLDOGS- In my opinion 9 times out of ten u can tell how a side is going to be travelling after their first set of six in defence.Right from the whistle the cowboys had the game won, thir defence was awesome and they shouldnt lose at home all year.The dogs need o,meley back and any other side in the comp would not have gone within twelve of the cowboys, so the dogs are the real deal again.

RAIDERS/KNIGHTS- Raiders solid start against injury plaged knights, and they need the bye next week! The raiders are only backable at home this year against second rate sides.Their short 2-3 quality players of a real good side.

DRAGONS/STORM- The storm are red hot and how far they can keep it going remains to be seen, i would just keep backing them untill they lose or get injuries, if they stay uninjured they could string the first 8-9 games togethor.
The dragons have massive internal problems, and my mail is that brown will go this year and some of the players. Hopeless.

BRONCOS/WARRIORS- The broncos are woeful at stringing 2 wins togethor but i still failed to listen to myself, but thought the warriors were a great bet at the line, still not a top side the warriors, and the broncos now have work to do to get up for the roosters next week.Broncos attack for me is pretty pedestrian with too many inside balls from lockyer.

MANLY/SHARKS- I thought hopoate had cost me big time, thats one of the worst incidents ive seen, but then the sharks got up to their old tricks with the worst discipline coming from them. All they had to do was control the footy and say yes sir, no sir and they would of put 50 on the sea-eagles with 12 men. But as i said they are a low football side and will just win a few at home this year.

PANTHERS/ROOSTERS- Same as the friday nite encounter, the roosters were never in doubt after the first set of six, their defence was awesome and full credit to ricky stuart who is a master of getting the best out of his troops in an underdog situation. No one gave them a chance including me. Pendith may stuggle this year, and i think their attack is so pedictable, with gower running so many overs lines its not funny! Ive never seen him turn the ball inside and they lose plenty with no girdler.Full credit to the roosters.

SOUTHS/EELS- Well Brian Smith should be embarrased and the players will cop it like nothing else,having played under him myself. He will have them doing nothing but defensive drills all week and he should have to buy each and every player a new attitude if they are to become competitive this year. In saying that the rabbits were outstanding and if they can keep their best squad on the field, they may win around 40% of games this year.

[Desi]

Great wrap up Searay and agree with your summaries from the games that I did manage to see...hopefully will be able to catch up with the rest of the games this week on Fox replays...

Cowboys proved that last year was no fluke and totally agree that they will be unbeatable at home where crowd support will be even more fanatic as the season wears on...questions on their depth for a long season as with Storm and other similar teams...Bulldogs actually had a chance to take a lead but will be better for the loss.

Souths played some great football and made the Eels team of supposed stars look like a load of overpaid has-beens looking forward to sharing an overpriced latte in Valcluse with the ozzie FAB FIVE...I know it takes time to get a team to gel but they should be shot mate! Personally have question marks over Smith as a coach....what do you reckon?

Manly didnt surprise with their win (nor did Hoppo with his cheap shot...his brain is got to be positioned around the arse area mate) Sharks will do well to even make the top 15...Brookvale stalwarts have put in a lot of time, money and resources for Desi Hasler, lets hope they get a good return...

Canberra did enough for a sound win over an inept Knights side (must be favourites for Wooden Spoon at this stage) and Joey seems to be going thru the motions but hes a champion so lets hope theres improvement soon or he may regret his decision to turn down offers from rugby...

Didnt see the Broncos v Warriors but Im staying away from Brisbane and definitely keeping my $$ in my pocket for any Warriors games till I can see some consistency...missed the Panthers v Easts but not surprised Ricky got his team up...Panthers looked good in pre season hype but may need a game or 2 to get their big forwards back on a roll...Storm v Dragons- looks like Storm are putting out the challenge to the rest that they are the real deal but will hold all bets till they play one of the better teams away from home...mind you thought St George would lift for this one but appear to missing Barrett and co...

The closeness of this years comp makes for interesting times and also some good betting opportunities (eg Manly +12) so reading ideas from learned pundits like yourself Searay and others hell, better book my fare to the WRC 2007 in France...ah oui monsieur....!

[goldmember]

Late news that just came in, Andrew Johns has a grade 2 tear in the butt, which will probablly rule him out for 3-4 weeks, insuring the knights to stay on the bottom of the table to at least round 6 or 7.

[Sportz]

Always thought he was a pain in the arse. :D

[Chuck]

and i'm sure John Hopoate would say that about some people to, or rather, them about him!

[Sportz]

He can't point the finger at anyone.

[Chuck]

no, just up them

[Searay]

If thats the case with joey, then the other lowly ranked sides may have won a couple by then and could spell big trouble for the knights and cement them at the bottom of the ladder for 3/4 of the year!

Desi. on Brian Smith , i do think he has had enough at the eels, i think he is in his 6th or 7th year(if someone knows they can correct me), they had their chance in 01 and couldnt convert, so after that they were chasing their tails and will continue to do so untill they get rid of the CEO, BOARD, and probably clean the joint out and rebuild because their attitudes are woeful!!

BYE BYE HOPPA- what a shame for manly though, they have worked hard in the off season , and in my opinion will make the eight, they probably would have gone even better with hoppa there because he is an extra forward for them and reads the geme pretty well for a big winger, but he is a dum dum and will miss the year!

CHEERS

[steve baret]

hey searay i'm new to this and liked your round up of the weekend of footy but souths to win 40% of games !!!!! can i have a guess who u support

[Searay]

Gday steve, dont support souths at all and actually dont support any side for that matter. To win 40% of games in this compettion is not that hard given these guys are proffesional footballers. That means they would have to win 9-10 games, 13 of which are at home and there last year at the football stadium. New coach and new CEO which is MORE IMPORTANT than a new coach for a club and team to go forward.If they touch on a few ares in defence they have the attack to score tries from anywhere. There new five - eight in John Sutton is an absolutely outstanding player and is in the scott hill mould. If he stays uninjured they will go close to winning that 40%.

CHEERS

[sparkus8]

Steve, it is not that big of a leap to think that the Bunnies can win around 40% of their games this year.

They have an improved squad compared to the team that won five games last season, so it no that hard to see them winning the extra 4 or 5 games needed to bump them up to 40%.

It will all come down to whether they can keep their top 17 on the park. If they can do this they will be quite competitive for the rest of the season.

[Desi]

Searay, totally agree... if Souths forwards maintain their momentum (from last weeks game vs Eels) against the Raiders and match it up front then Harrison, Fletcher, Williams and Sutton will do the rest (they are a halves pairing that will go from strength to strenth) Mc Dougall will score another bagful of tries...mmm wonder what Luke is paying for 1st try scorer?...not sure what the bookies ratings are for this match but hoping Souths could be a value line bet this weekend...