Are we playing finals in 2021?

[Jono078]

Last time I used the NRL ladder predictor it had us finishing 7th.

This time I have us finishing 8th with a record of 11-13, with us losing the last 2 games going into the finals.

I had wins against Broncos, Sharks and Bulldogs, and losses against the Titans, Broncos and Raiders.

Feels so odd still being in the finals race when this in many ways feels like one of the spoon years.

 

[Walk On Home Boy]

Last time I used the NRL ladder predictor it had us finishing 7th.

This time I have us finishing 8th with a record of 11-13, with us losing the last 2 games going into the finals.

I had wins against Broncos, Sharks and Bulldogs, and losses against the Titans, Broncos and Raiders.

Feels so odd still being in the finals race when this in many ways feels like one of the spoon years.

If anything this shows how soft the comp is this year. There's no way we should even be thought about as a finals contender. The Broncos are currently a better side than us in every way, the Tigers beat us twice and even the Bulldogs have a ton more resilience and heart than us.

Most weeks we're the worst side in the comp imo. Certainly the most disappointing and underachieving. Should we make the 8 somehow, the system needs an overhaul.

 

[Rod]

Lol the Bulldogs have won 5 less games than us and their P/D is twice as bad, let's pump the brakes a bit.

Whoever gets the 7th and 8th spots are going to be class below the other 6, whether it's us or another equally underwhelming team like the Titans.

If a bog average team is going to make it it might as well be us. It also would have meant we went on a run to end the season, presumably with close to our best team on the park.

 

[perverse]

If Pearce and Ponga don't play the rest of the year out together, we're straight up done. You need both of them on the field (for different reasons) to make us even pretend to look like a football team. Pearce is the glue, Ponga is the points. With both of them having more injury cloud question marks on them, it's about time to pull up stumps - especially when the teams around us are finding form when they need it, and we're floundering. Even if they risk further injury (or play through a lot of pain) to get on the field, they're not going to be at their best, and we need them to be.

 

[Yosh]

Does our attack look better here than it does in 2021??

Apparently, a couple of years ago the Storm realized they can't win the middle forward battle and it wasn't the right attacking approach going forward. I don't know if it exactly coincides with when AOB left the Storm??

 

[Jono078]

I actually watched that and thought the same thing Yosh. And I used to think our attack under Brown was so bad at the time.

still the same old issues back then though! Right side defense rubbish and inexcusable errors.

Sione has to be one of our most disappointing juniors after all the hype. Besides his rookie you you can probably count on one hand how many good games he had for us. I legit would probably say Tuala is better than him.

 

[Yosh]

I actually watched that and thought the same thing Yosh. And I used to think our attack under Brown was so bad at the time.

still the same old issues back then though! Right side defense rubbish and inexcusable errors.

Sione has to be one of our most disappointing juniors after all the hype. Besides his rookie you you can probably count on one hand how many good games he had for us. I legit would probably say Tuala is better than him.

Fitzy actually looked good there. Pearce too. Real pity Fitzy didn't really develop for some reason.

 

[Jono078]

Our for and against is rubbish so we're going to have to make it by being 2 points ahead of the team below us.

But if we win 4 of our next 5 that gives us a 12-12 record and I believe that will be enough to get in this year. Although I'd much rather we just win our next 5, which is doable if we get the spine together for the remaining games. Titans and Broncos are no pushovers though.

 

[Zoidberg]

View attachment 51600

Our for and against is rubbish so we're going to have to make it by being 2 points ahead of the team below us.

But if we win 4 of our next 5 that gives us a 12-12 record and I believe that will be enough to get in this year. Although I'd much rather we just win our next 5, which is doable if we get the spine together for the remaining games. Titans and Broncos are no pushovers though.

I do agree however, if we do get 4/5 or 5/5 wins that points diff will quickly improve.
Just get the wins.

 

[AusKnightRKO]

We can win our next 5 if we keep our team on the park.

 

[Knight Tales]

Most outstanding thing against Raiders was no Pearce. No excuses for a loss against Brisbane. Staggs out. We should win comfortably.

 

[Rod]

Problem with this Broncos game is they'll only get 3 days between games due to today's one being pushed.

Sometimes the short turnaround can help though so who knows.

 

[Zoidberg]

Problem with this Broncos game is they'll only get 3 days between games due to today's one being pushed.

Sometimes the short turnaround can help though so who knows.

At least we didn’t seem to pick up any injuries, maybe apart from Brailey

 

[Alex28]

We win the next two games - we are in the 8. From there - who knows? Beyond week 1 would be a great achievement given the injuries we’ve had.

 

[perverse]

We win the next two games - we are in the 8. From there - who knows? Beyond week 1 would be a great achievement given the injuries we’ve had.

That's an ambitious statement given our for and against. I'd say we need to win at least 3, probably 4 of the next 5 to start breathing easy about making the finals. We've made it almost as hard as we could have for ourselves.

From there, and with our full strength team on deck, I could probably imagine a universe where we win week 1 and possibly even week 2. Highly unlikely (especially week 2 with Souths or Parra), but it's not impossible to imagine. Gotta get there first and hope we can keep blokes on the park, though. Not a given.

 

[NK Arsenal]

Think we can win 4/5

But have a feeling conceding those last 2 tries yesterday will hurt us with our P/D being rubbish already

I hope I’m wrong and we can put the dogs and broncos away (twice) and get it as close to 0 as possible

 

[Yosh]

I have a feeling we will put 50 on one of the next three teams. Also, I don't worry about F/A because we will win the remaining games and finish outright 7th.

 

[Alex28]

That's an ambitious statement given our for and against. I'd say we need to win at least 3, probably 4 of the next 5 to start breathing easy about making the finals. We've made it almost as hard as we could have for ourselves.

From there, and with our full strength team on deck, I could probably imagine a universe where we win week 1 and possibly even week 2. Highly unlikely (especially week 2 with Souths or Parra), but it's not impossible to imagine. Gotta get there first and hope we can keep blokes on the park, though. Not a given.

I meant that we win the next 2 games we are back in the 8. Agree we need to win 4 or 5 of the next 6 to make the finals…

 

[Apey]

Did the ladder predictor and had us finishing 7th. That was without dropping a game. We could probably afford to drop the Titans game as they have a tough run home.

 

[Old dog]

Taking it one game (wins hopefully) at a time, this week is a biggy