2005 NRL ladder predictions

[gregstar]

pimp shark has massive head injuries - sharks - 4th! baaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaa haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaa - oh dear that was a classic!
do have fulltime carers near you pimple shark?

 

[Kris_man]

Sonny Bill was seen by many as the next big thing last year prior to season's start and Willy Tonga was also seen as a very talented junior that had been kept out of the starting line up by two internationals.. Comparing Tonga and SBW to Chalk Weyman and Miller is a little off the mark. Not to say they won't be great players but both SBW and Tonga certainly were no where near as lo-fi as that lot....

if you're talking about critics opinions, then Michael Weyman has massive wraps on him. Same goes with Todd Carney, who i didn't mention 'cos he's never done anything special in first grade, and to a lesser extent Terry Campese. but the point i was making is that those three (Chalk, Miller and Weyman) have all shown that they can deliver in the top grade. that's why i find it odd that people say we have too much "unproven" talent. inexperienced perhaps, but not unproven. these young guns won't be our weakness in '05, our weakness will be the uncertainty about has-beens such as Tyran Smith, Matt Adamson and Jason Smith, as well as Elliott's bum chums such as Troy Thompson and Michael Robertson.

in regards to Willie Tonga - hindsight's a wonderful thing, isn't it? nobody bar a select few was expecting him to do anything special in season 2004.

 

[Iafeta]

Sonny Bill was seen by many as the next big thing last year prior to season's start and Willy Tonga was also seen as a very talented junior that had been kept out of the starting line up by two internationals.. Comparing Tonga and SBW to Chalk Weyman and Miller is a little off the mark. Not to say they won't be great players but both SBW and Tonga certainly were no where near as lo-fi as that lot....

if you're talking about critics opinions, then Michael Weyman has massive wraps on him. Same goes with Todd Carney, who i didn't mention 'cos he's never done anything special in first grade, and to a lesser extent Terry Campese. but the point i was making is that those three (Chalk, Miller and Weyman) have all shown that they can deliver in the top grade. that's why i find it odd that people say we have too much "unproven" talent. inexperienced perhaps, but not unproven. these young guns won't be our weakness in '05, our weakness will be the uncertainty about has-beens such as Tyran Smith, Matt Adamson and Jason Smith, as well as Elliott's bum chums such as Troy Thompson and Michael Robertson.

in regards to Willie Tonga - hindsight's a wonderful thing, isn't it? nobody bar a select few was expecting him to do anything special in season 2004.

Willie Tonga in my opinion showed some special touches for Parramatta in 2003. The fact Brian Smith discarded him shows how reckless his recruitment cuts have been in the past. If they'd recruited right, Parramatta would never have gone through the torment they have since 2001. They had the hallmarks of a great squad, but only kept one or two of the cream of the crop in the likes of Nathan Hindmarsh, letting the others like PJ Marsh, Willie Tonga, even guys like Brett Hodgson and Scott Donald go recklessly.

Weyman is a good prospect, but its not the stuff top 13 hopes are based on. Fear not, I've changed my prediction since you've punted Bugarelli and McLinden who were the worst two players starting first grade consistently in the NRL by a long margin, I think you'll leapfrog the Sharks into 14th.

 

[Kris_man]

Ruben Wiki and Steve Price are both overrated.

 

[RABK]

Ruben Wiki and Steve Price are both overrated.

Idiot, 2 of the most consistent forwards of the past decade. 2 i'd love to have at the knights. I rate Carney and Weyman, thats it. Hardly enough to claim a guaranteed top 8 spot.

 

[innsaneink]

Ruben Wiki and Steve Price are both overrated.

RAIDERS:

Biggest loss: Ruben Wiki, and Luke Davico a close second. both are awesome players.

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/viewtopic.php?p=993891&highlight=#993891

Full of sh*t!

Come and tell us next where we are missing your sarcasm.

 

[RABK]

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Owned.

 

[Kris_man]

I rate Carney and Weyman, thats it. Hardly enough to claim a guaranteed top 8 spot.

when did i claim a guaranteed top 8 spot?

 

[Kris_man]

Ruben was great in his day, but he's over the hill now. Price was never great.

 

[RABK]

I rate Carney and Weyman, thats it. Hardly enough to claim a guaranteed top 8 spot.

when did i claim a guaranteed top 8 spot?

A fellow raider supporter did and when i questioned his post, you argued for his post.

 

[Kris_man]

fair enough. i agreed with him in principle, but i think he was being a bit too optimistic.

 

[RABK]

I have no beef with you Kris, i respect you most out of all the raider posters. Although you did say price and wiki are overated. Thats a tad off the mark.

 

[Iafeta]

Ruben was great in his day, but he's over the hill now. Price was never great.

30 tackles, 20 odd hit ups a game, multiple games for Queensland, 4 tests for Australia, 222 games for the Bulldogs and 2 premierships suggests you have not a clue what you are talking about.

About 6 weeks ago you were bowing at the feet of Ruben Wiki, now he's "over the hill". Sad, very sad. A hero of pretty much all Raiders fans, I guess there's got to be one to bag him.

 

[Raiders Plight]

I think kris man is being sarcastic, Rubes was one of our best this season even though he was suspended for a good chunk of it. Huge loss for us.

 

[Raider_69]

Ruben was great in his day, but he's over the hill now. Price was never great.

About 6 weeks ago you were bowing at the feet of Ruben Wiki, now he's "over the hill". Sad, very sad. A hero of pretty much all Raiders fans, I guess there's got to be one to bag him.

I hope you arnt generalising all raiders fans, i still bow to rubin, he is a god among men, nothing will change that, especially not taking a massive pay rise to returning home to his family. ALL HAIL MUSS!

 

[Utey]

1 Roosters
2 Bulldogs
3 Brisbane
4 St George-Illawarra
5 Cowboys
6 Parra
7 Penrith
8 Melbourne

9 West Tigers
10 Newcastle
11 Canberra
12 Sharks
13 Warriors
14 Manly
15 Souths

 

[Sterling]

its good to see everyone writing off the eels .......

ill head off to the TAB and put some money on them me rekons. $21 ... nice

don't go to the TAB - I'll give you $30.00 it would be the easiest money I ever made - no wonder the TAB keeps making a killing with people like yourself losing their money that quick...did you back Raddish in the Melbourne Cup??

i didnt back raddish in the Melbourne cup but i did back the Greeks in the EURO cup .... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

now go and back your roosters to choke in next years grand final ..... odds a pretty good for a hat-trick!

axed!

 

[greeneyed]

I quite like Parramatta and their supporters... I only don't like Fitzy and Brian Smith...... however, I really can't see Parra finishing in the 8.... I am not saying we will either, but I don't see Parra changing under their current regime.

 

[Kris_man]

I think kris man is being sarcastic, Rubes was one of our best this season even though he was suspended for a good chunk of it. Huge loss for us.

i wasn't being sarcastic. bitter perhaps, which may be blinding my judgement, but i just think the quality Ruben's performances is slowly decreasing. yeah, a month ago i was bowing down to him, but now i've changed. i dunno whether that's because i'm bitter because he left us when we need him most, or perhaps my judgement now is clearer as my Raiders bias is removed.

in regards to Steve Price - he's a good player, yeah, but he's not on the same level as the top props in the game. guys like Mark O'Meley, Shane Webcke, and Paul Rauhihi are all significantly better then him IMO, but he'd be on the next level down, on par with guys like Jason Cayless, Joel Clinton and various others. all i'm saying is that the way Warriors fans are talking, he's the player of the decade. he's clearly not. in fact, he doesn't even go close.

 

[Iafeta]

I think kris man is being sarcastic, Rubes was one of our best this season even though he was suspended for a good chunk of it. Huge loss for us.

i wasn't being sarcastic. bitter perhaps, which may be blinding my judgement, but i just think the quality Ruben's performances is slowly decreasing. yeah, a month ago i was bowing down to him, but now i've changed. i dunno whether that's because i'm bitter because he left us when we need him most, or perhaps my judgement now is clearer as my Raiders bias is removed.

in regards to Steve Price - he's a good player, yeah, but he's not on the same level as the top props in the game. guys like Mark O'Meley, Shane Webcke, and Paul Rauhihi are all significantly better then him IMO, but he'd be on the next level down, on par with guys like Jason Cayless, Joel Clinton and various others. all i'm saying is that the way Warriors fans are talking, he's the player of the decade. he's clearly not. in fact, he doesn't even go close.

The way Warriors fans are talking :lol: Gee, from what I hear Todd Carney is Andrew Johns, Michael Weyman is Glenn Lazarus and that winger is Martin Offiah. Most Warriors fans are trying to be optimistic, from the consesus it seems most fans are looking at a 6th-11th finish. I don't know how the Warriors fans are talking rubbish.

Steve Price was consistently the best prop last season, he was well ahead of Shane Webcke. Mark O'Meley was just as impressive. Rauhihi is very hot, and then stale as he showed for the Kiwis. He's ahead of Cayless and Clinton and is an outstanding captain.

The club was looking for two things, someone to go forward all day long to work with Paleaaesina and co who aren't stamina packed players and leadership. They picked that up with Price and Wiki. They probably also lacked a decent winger outside of Meli who is hot and cold, so they brought Byrne who has 30 odd tries from 60 games, not a big name buy but decent enough to fill a void while the production line in Auckland keeps on churning. They lost Marsh at hooker, but then got Fein who performed outstandingly for North Queensland, have the current Kiwis hooker in Louis Anderson and his predecessor in Tevita Latu. The other major issue was fitness which we are lead to believe is being worked on big time by the club.

Question is, what did Canberra pick up? Did they solve their halves problem? No. Did they solve losing all that experience? Slightly with Smith and Adamson, but are they up to NRL quality still? Who knows.

As for Wiki, admittedly not his best season last year, but it was still better than most of his team-mates. His performance for the Kiwis wasn't all that good, except for his final game, then again he was battling an injury that he probably shouldn't have been playing on with. Still, if I could have anyone out of Canberra, it'd be Ruben Wiki, given that he's gone, that makes me believe its going to be a long long season for the Raiders.