Prodigiousman
Juniors
- Messages
- 933
I feel that only Melbourne or the Tigers are capable of the level of football that will win the competition so they are my pick.
However given the way the McIntyre works I can't be sure they can actually line up in the Grand Final.
I just can't see Manly being able to beat Melbourne with the Storm's strength being their slow down of the play the ball and nullifying the opposition forwards (which is Manly's strength).
Everyone might want to write off the Tigers after they got beat by a Titans team that had to win that game and had their best players back. The Tigers didn't have Hodgson, Whatuira and Payten - that's 3 big omissions from the team that will take the park in September.
I believe the Tigers are the only team that can really worry Melbourne at full strength - the way they move the ball is so much crisper than the Sharks did last night and look at the worries the Storm had out wide when the Sharks moved it across the field.
To put it another way - the Tigers best football is better than the best of every other team in the comp in my opinion, and the Storm are easily 2nd but there's a big drop off to 3rd and 4th. Come September you need your A Game - and if the Tigers bring it - I can't see any pretenders standing in their way until they meet the Storm - which hopefully will be in the Grand Final.
Why the other pretenders can't win:
Eels - Tim Smith can't sustain good form over a month of football.
Bulldogs - Unless Mason, Williams, O'Meley and Tonga are fully fit they don't have the depth to contend and even then i'm not sure they're capable of the football needed to win this year.
Warriors - Big question marks over Rovelli and Witt as a premiership level combination - both good players on their day but you don't win comps without a quality playmaker who can step it up in the big games.
Cowboys - Can't tackle on a good day let alone a bad one. No O'Donnell or Tronc puts incredible strain on their forward rotation and Bowen/Thurston cannot do it all for 4 straight weeks.
Broncos - wrote them off when Lockyer got hurt, just too big an obstacle for any team to overcome.
However given the way the McIntyre works I can't be sure they can actually line up in the Grand Final.
I just can't see Manly being able to beat Melbourne with the Storm's strength being their slow down of the play the ball and nullifying the opposition forwards (which is Manly's strength).
Everyone might want to write off the Tigers after they got beat by a Titans team that had to win that game and had their best players back. The Tigers didn't have Hodgson, Whatuira and Payten - that's 3 big omissions from the team that will take the park in September.
I believe the Tigers are the only team that can really worry Melbourne at full strength - the way they move the ball is so much crisper than the Sharks did last night and look at the worries the Storm had out wide when the Sharks moved it across the field.
To put it another way - the Tigers best football is better than the best of every other team in the comp in my opinion, and the Storm are easily 2nd but there's a big drop off to 3rd and 4th. Come September you need your A Game - and if the Tigers bring it - I can't see any pretenders standing in their way until they meet the Storm - which hopefully will be in the Grand Final.
Why the other pretenders can't win:
Eels - Tim Smith can't sustain good form over a month of football.
Bulldogs - Unless Mason, Williams, O'Meley and Tonga are fully fit they don't have the depth to contend and even then i'm not sure they're capable of the football needed to win this year.
Warriors - Big question marks over Rovelli and Witt as a premiership level combination - both good players on their day but you don't win comps without a quality playmaker who can step it up in the big games.
Cowboys - Can't tackle on a good day let alone a bad one. No O'Donnell or Tronc puts incredible strain on their forward rotation and Bowen/Thurston cannot do it all for 4 straight weeks.
Broncos - wrote them off when Lockyer got hurt, just too big an obstacle for any team to overcome.
