Analysing The Top 8

[nswarrior]

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look at those odds. And Im pretty sure a few of us got on them at close to $4

Sure did

 

[nswarrior]

The amazing thing is Warriors are 3rd favourites at $1.50 to make the top 4 after Penrith and Brisbane

 

[Blair]

We've been out of the top-eight so long we've forgotten what a low bar it really is.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The amazing thing is Warriors are 3rd favourites at $1.50 to make the top 4 after Penrith and Brisbane

Just shows how good the rest of our draw is.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Sure did

I dropped $75 on them at $3.75, what did you get?

 

[nswarrior]

I dropped $75 on them at $3.75, what did you get?

$50 at $3.75, must have done it around the same time. I think it was after the 1st 3 games and the team looked like they had resilience

I can’t believe the turnaround this year. At the start of the year I would have been super happy if we snuck into the 8. Now o want top 4

 

[nswarrior]

We are in the top4 with a good run home. I think it has been 16 years since we finished in the top 4. It shows what an amazing season we are having esp. given where we were last year.

I think Penrith will be hard to get past for the top spot but how good would it be to finish in the top 2. We would have 2 home finals!!

 

[sup42]

Nerve wracking waiting for the final hooter in the Knights Storm game.

Huge upset, Warriors guaranteed top four spot.

Ours to lose from here.

Titans got belted, hopefully they are on the slide.

 

[nswarrior]

After seeing the games this weekend I really want to finish 3rd or better. Penrith look scary good.
Hope we can finish 3rd given the draw and have a chance against the Broncos even though it will be at Suncorp

 

[Blair]

After seeing the games this weekend I really want to finish 3rd or better. Penrith look scary good.
Hope we can finish 3rd given the draw and have a chance against the Broncos even though it will be at Suncorp

I was thinking the same thing, bugger finishing fourth and playing Penrith (at home?), they'd thrash us, wreck our confidence and, effectively, end our season.

I live an hour by train to Penrith and wouldn't even go to that final. Even if it's in Sydney, I'm not going. Waste of time.

 

[JJ]

I was thinking the same thing, bugger finishing fourth and playing Penrith (at home?), they'd thrash us, wreck our confidence and, effecively, end our season.

I live an hour by train to Penrith and wouldn't even go to that final. Even if it's in Sydney, I'm not going. Waste of time.

Each year they lose a couple of key players, but atm looks like they’ve adapted to losing Api and Kikau, and are still well ahead of the rest

 

[GoSouths]

Brisbane is almost a home game with all the support from the expats.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Knowing our luck Penrith will rest players in the final round, lose to the cows and hand the minor premiership to Brisbane, and we end up playing them in Penrith in the 2 vs 3 game…

 

[ozenzud]

We can actually lose two games from here and still finish in the top 4. I don't think we beat Penriff or Broncos (with Reynolds) in that first finals round. If Reynolds out, its still a big ask. They seem to have pace to burn which the warriors do not. Walsh has a lot of errors in him and it could be an upset. Making the semis is all I expect from the team this year.....saying that seems weird.

 

[JJ]

We can actually lose two games from here and still finish in the top 4. I don't think we beat Penriff or Broncos (with Reynolds) in that first finals round. If Reynolds out, its still a big ask. They seem to have pace to burn which the warriors do not. Walsh has a lot of errors in him and it could be an upset. Making the semis is all I expect from the team this year.....saying that seems weird.

yeah, agree - but top 4 is absolutely brilliant, Webster et al need to be planning hard to build on this, and not fade like the Cowboys and Sharks have - if Johnson maintains this form and stays injury free, we have a small window where we can be a legitimate threat to the comp...

 

[JJ]

Knowing our luck Penrith will rest players in the final round, lose to the cows and hand the minor premiership to Brisbane, and we end up playing them in Penrith in the 2 vs 3 game…

Possible, another question (which I never thought I'd ask) is once top 4 is iced, does Webster look to rest some key humans?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, we just struggled to beat the Titans with a player advantage for 50-odd minutes.

Having said that, some maneuvering away from Penrith for the top 4 (if we get there) would be ideal. Finishing top 2 obviously the absolute ultimate, seems unlikely though with the form of the Panthers/Broncos (and Broncs have a bye to come). Brisbane at Brisbane becomes the goal, even if we're unlucky or very likely unwilling to manipulate results to get that in the final round.

Would I be right in saying the team that wins the GF generally earns the week off in week 2 of finals?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Possible, another question (which I never thought I'd ask) is once top 4 is iced, does Webster look to rest some key humans?

It's always a vexed, messy, subjective one isn't it? Obviously with niggles you'd love to give guys a rest, but you'd want to have a strong enough points diff and advantage over 4th/5th to ensure you can do it comfortably. And even then, is Webster going to buy into taking the foot off the throat slightly? I know a lot of teams have done it, but some have chosen not to. I think a rookie coach would lean towards not, unless it was based on niggles to key players.

 

[JJ]

It's always a vexed, messy, subjective one isn't it? Obviously with niggles you'd love to give guys a rest, but you'd want to have a strong enough points diff and advantage over 4th/5th to ensure you can do it comfortably. And even then, is Webster going to buy into taking the foot off the throat slightly? I know a lot of teams have done it, but some have chosen not to. I think a rookie coach would lean towards not, unless it was based on niggles to key players.

yep - I wouldn't be looking to contrive a ladder position, but someone like Tohu might benefit from a rest? That said, momentum is huge, and unlike say Penrith, we don't have the history of performance to be confident to turn something around if resting goes well...

I never thought that we'd be discussing these things at the business end, regardless of what happens from here, really good season, best since Ivan left?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

yep - I wouldn't be looking to contrive a ladder position, but someone like Tohu might benefit from a rest? That said, momentum is huge, and unlike say Penrith, we don't have the history of performance to be confident to turn something around if resting goes well...

I never thought that we'd be discussing these things at the business end, regardless of what happens from here, really good season, best since Ivan left?

No question it's the best since Ivan left, 2018 we made finals but we were a pretender...although incredibly I look back on that season and Wiki says we were in the top 8 the whole year. 15 wins, 9 losses wasn't a bad record, either. Could be similar this year, and finish top 4.