Are we playing finals in 2021?

[Old dog]

That’s a tough call

 

[Jono078]

He wasn't alone tonight.. Wighton with some absolute shit kicks, Timoko with a couple of crucial drops (including on the try line) and Hodgson gave away a few cheap penalties.

One thing it shows though, is if we can really hit our peak heading into the finals then anyone is beatable on any given day. I will not write this season off prematurely,

 

[Knight Tales]

Raiders looking like they might steal one from the Storm... Typical.. This would be a huge win for them which may just secure them a top 8 spot.

They played really well and came up just short. The Sharks game is now even bigger after that loss. If we win we go four clear of the Sharks and if things go our way we could be in the 8 win or lose last week.

 

[Burwood]

That’s a tough call

the send off, or that he’s cost them the season?

 

[Old dog]

the send off, or that he’s cost them the season?

Blaming him for season, sure was loose tackle but unfortunately it happens, they all made some mistakes that cost them, he may have contributed to the loss of one game but not the season

 

[Jono078]

Just having a muckaround with the ladder predictor... We can still miss the 8 if we win only 2/3 to finish the season.

Obviously that means those below us will need to win their remaining games.

Anyway destiny is in our hands, I hope we respect that and don't give it up easily.

https://ladderpredictor.nrl.com/ladder

 

[Zoidberg]

I think if we drop a game we have to hope the favourites keep winning. Don’t want Melb resting players.

 

[Yosh]

With Turbo out, if we finish 7th does that mean we either play Manly or Eels? Both look ripe for the taking.

 

[Old dog]

Give me Eels before Manly please

 

[slotmachine]

As garbage as we have been 5 wins, 7 losses at the halfway point leaves us well in the frame for finals because the comp is full of suck from 6th-16th

Warriors (home)
Cowboys (home)
Raiders (home)
Broncos (home)
Sharks (away)
Bulldogs (away)
Titans (home)
Broncos (away)

Will have Pearce back, Clifford and Lodge. Win 7 of those 8 and we're in I reckon.

Well lodge didn't show up but the team did for the most part.

0/4 in games we were expected to lose.
5/5 in games we were expected to win.

 

[Rod]

With the Titans playing the Storm tonight and the Raiders playing Manly, we *should* be 4 points clear of 8th by the end of the weekend. Would be hard to even drop to 8th at that point, even for us.

 

[Yosh]

If we finish 7th... That would mean AOB has taken us from bottom dwellers to 8th and 7th place finishes. If we win our first finals game and get knocked out in the second round, do you lads consider his two years a success?

 

[Jono078]

If we finish 7th... That would mean AOB has taken us from bottom dwellers to 8th and 7th place finishes. If we win our first finals game and get knocked out in the second round, do you lads consider his two years a success?

It's actually a tough one to answer.

Injuries have not been kind this year so we don't know what we're truly capable of, but there's still some glaring issues which don't fill me with confidence that he is the man.

I think he deserves next year, on the condition he makes some changes with his staff and implement something that looks like competent 2021 (for 2022) NRL football.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

If we finish 7th... That would mean AOB has taken us from bottom dwellers to 8th and 7th place finishes. If we win our first finals game and get knocked out in the second round, do you lads consider his two years a success?

Didn't we finish 7th last year aswell?

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Yeah we were 7th last year and a decent chance to finish 7th again this year. Considering we’ve been absolutely murdered by injuries the last 2 years I think it’s a pass mark.

 

[Zoidberg]

With the Titans playing the Storm tonight and the Raiders playing Manly, we *should* be 4 points clear of 8th by the end of the weekend. Would be hard to even drop to 8th at that point, even for us.

Watch the Titans win this.

 

[Jono078]

Even if they don't win they should take great confidence from this if they stay in the game and then they'll obliterate us next week.

 

[Knight Tales]

Titans are exactly the sort of challenge we need between now and the finals. We also 7 from 11 in 'home' games this year. Playing in Qld is potentially a huge bonus for us because we have adapted quite well to the move. There is also no bonus to home ground advantage for any side really, cos none will likely be from Qld. Storm have an argument but they could play on Mars and still get the same results.
I can only hope O'Brien has driven home these facts to the side. Uncharted territory. We have little to no pressure or expectation. We can start hot in finals games as we did with Souths. Total fade out followed in 2020 cos our right side defence was taken apart. However I see the Sharks game as the toughest of this run and we survived it. They can certainly drag a game into the gutter as they did with us. We found a way to win it. I hope the next three weeks are all similar TBH. Teams throwing everything at us. Cos that would be our best hope of going into week 2 of the finals.

 

[slotmachine]

If we win our first finals game and get knocked out in the second round, do you lads consider his two years a success?

That's a pass mark.

 

[perverse]

If we finish 7th... That would mean AOB has taken us from bottom dwellers to 8th and 7th place finishes. If we win our first finals game and get knocked out in the second round, do you lads consider his two years a success?

The thing is, it's not just the end result on paper that matters, how we get there is relevant too. On the plus side, I think you could say that with the majority of our key men on the field, we've been quite resilient this year. On the negative side is our attack. It's dreadful, and there's no reason it should be outside of the way we're coached. Another negative is that we fell to shit far too much without our key guys. I wasn't expecting wins, but I think expecting us to hold our gloves up better isn't asking too much.

If we win week 1 of the finals, I'd say that's a C- taking everything else into account. If we'd shown resilience without Pearce and co, he might be getting a B. If we were a good attacking outfit as well you're in the B+ to A's range, as we likely be significantly higher in the ladder if the above boxes were ticked. Making the 8 would be a formality at least.