Eels Draw compared to Knights

[K-Man]

So, went back over the draw to confirm my suspicions.
Everyone is saying how tight the finals race is, and that it will be difficult for the Knights because they have the hardest draw in the last 2 rounds compared to the Eels, Warriors, Dragons, Panthers, Raiders etc.

But the media don't actually look at WHY we have the hardest draw. WHY it is going to be more difficult for us than the others. The fact is, it's just plain and simple bad luck that we are playing 2 competition heavyweights and the others are not. It's not because the other sides have already played them, that's for sure. It's a joke.

The facts:
The Eels and Knights currently sit on the same number of points. The Knights have a superior for and against which puts us inside the 8.
There are 2 vital rounds remaining, it may require 1 or 2 victories to seal a finals position.

The Draw:
So it all hinges on the last 2 matches - we play Storm and Broncos, they play Dragons and Warriors. Those games decide the teams fate.

Is this fair? Let's see - the Knights will be playing both the Storm and Broncos for the SECOND time this season. The Eels played both these top sides ONCE each.

Which team did we play once that the Eels played twice? You guessed, the Bulldogs.

So we have played 2 extra matches against 2 extremely difficult opposition. And they played one extra match against a side that almost hand over the 2 points on a platter.

That is quite simply unacceptable. It's potentially a 12 point swing on the table (if we were to lose our 3 matches discussed, and they were to win their 3 corresponging games against weaker opposition).

But the media just ignore it. If we miss out it will just be swept under the carpet. We had the tougher last 2 games, so our position on the table is misleading, the critics will say. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic

And don't get me started on the Dragons. If the Eels do sneak in courtesy of beating the Dragons this weekend, and we end up tied on points with the Dragons as a result, we will be behind them on for and against - this against the team that played the Storm reserve grade side.

It just makes me so angry because there is no excuse for this type of injustice. It WILL cost us a finals place.

 

[Adsy]

Yep the draw sucks ass.

We also played Manly n Roosters twice while only getting to play Penrith n Souths once.

Saying that you can only play who is in front of you and any team can beat any one on their day so we have to knuckle down and win one of these last 2 games.

 

[Apey]

And don't get me started on the Dragons. If the Eels do sneak in courtesy of beating the Dragons this weekend, and we end up tied on points with the Dragons as a result, we will be behind them on for and against - this against the team that played the Storm reserve grade side.

Check out pete in the finals bound thread in the NRL section :lol:

 

[Adsy]

Check out pete in the finals bound thread in the NRL section :lol:

That guy is the definition of wanker.

JM should f*ck him up.

 

[BG]

the Knights will be playing both the Storm and Broncos for the SECOND time this season. The Eels played both these top sides ONCE each.

Worse than that, the Eels played the Storm minus their Origin stars--practically a gift two points (although they almost threw them away). Given the Storm's dominance it's almost a 6 point start to Parra over any team that loses twice to Melbourne and doesn't get a gimme game in the SOO period.

Being prepared to play with the cards you're dealt during the season--fifty-fifty ref's calls, bounce of the ball, injuries and so forth--is one thing. They're all part of the fabric of the game. Getting dudded by a deck that's stacked from the start is a total and extremely nasty joke.

 

[Nuke]

I'm one of the biggest Knights fans you're likely to meet, but there is no conspiracy or NRL people plotting against us at the beginning of the year (well, late last year when the draw was released).

You look at it now and you see Melbourne, Brisbane, Manly, Cronulla, ect, up the top of the table with 2 rounds to go. They've won more than they've lost and considered difficult to beat. You look at the other end of the table, and you see Souths, Canterbury, and North Queensland down the bottom fighting it out to avoid the wooden spoon.
Rewind 9-10 months ago when the draw was released. Yes, you'd probably expect Manly and Melbourne to be tough to beat (but should they get a few key injuries, they could've been in for a hard season themselves), but given recent seasons, you could also expect Souths, Canterbury, and to a lesser extent, North Queensland to be hovering in or around the top 8. It may look right now that Parramatta had it easy playing Canterbury (a 2008 'gimme' game team) when they did, but back in October/November 2007 when they did the draw, that would've looked like a tough game. Cronulla -especially being the relatively unpredictable team they are- you never know in the off-season if they're gonna be up the top, in the middle, or down towards the bottom of the table. Same goes for the likes of Parramatta, St.George-Illawarra, ect.

You get what I mean? It's late and I've lost track of what I was saying, but I hope I got my point across!

 

[sharks8601]

we had the bye first found last year
first round!!!! but sh*t happens
i dont think the nrl are against anyway
they may favour a particular team however

 

[BG]

Forget the conspiracy theories. The way the system is set up some teams are bound to get a free ride and others will be dudded. Unfortunately this year Newcastle got the worst of it. I know there probably isn't a perfect solution but what we have now is absolutely ludicrous.

 

[K-Man]

I don't think there's a conspiracy against us.

I think the entire draw is a farce. Of course you can't predict who will perform above expectations and who won't before the season, but that's hardly the point.
The fact is that when 16 teams play various combinations of matches against the other teams, the draw will end up being unfair to someone. The knights aren't the only team affected, we are just the most affected this season.

The NRL is just too tight to have a system like that. It's unfair. It's not only hard on the club and fans of that club that get the raw deal, it's a farce that affects every rugby league fan, because the finals won't necessarily include the best 8, or most deserving 8, teams.

Quite frankly, if the Eels make it and the Knights don't, nobody can claim that it is due to any reason other than the lopsided draw.
Taking 2 points of the Storm minus rep players, whilst other teams lose 4 points to the Storm....well that's just about the difference between 6th and 11th in the NRL.

I'm not just blowing up now that we are faced with such a difficult challenge, I've been harping on about this all year.

 

[Jobdog]

No doubt our draw has been more difficult than other teams, in particular the final two rounds of the comp when, as you say K-Man, you sort the men from the boys. However, blowing up about it won't change a thing. The draw isn't fair and it won't be a fair representation until all sides play the other sides twice (or once and we have a 15 round competition with 3 weeks suspended for Origin).

At the end of the day, if we're good enough, we'll get there.

 

[Serc]

Without a doubt our draw has been craptacular this year...and if we do manage to make the 8 it will make it an achievement to be really proud of. I'm not gonna complain about getting a crap draw this year if we get a better one in 09 and 10 when we are an even more competitive side ;-)

 

[keeney]

Well it really just comes down to chance doesn't it? We've had a horrible draw this year, but really if we finish an odd number position again its likely to be more or less the same draw is it not?

 

[Karmawave]

Give ya a tip.

The Knights had the game against the Eels earlier this season won and f*cked it up. ( Nice hands Faas , nice drop goal Cayless ) - no mess up , and we wouldn't even be talking about this draw right now.

What about our HOME loss to the Warriors a couple months ago? Who can we blame for absolutely choking in that one?

There's at least 2 wins the Knights completely butchered. ( not even counting our home loss to the Roosters )

Add those 2 wins to the points table, and see how relevant the draw becomes...

 

[perverse]

Give ya a tip.

The Knights had the game against the Eels earlier this season won and f*cked it up. ( Nice hands Faas , nice drop goal Cayless ) - no mess up , and we wouldn't even be talking about this draw right now.

What about our HOME loss to the Warriors a couple months ago? Who can we blame for absolutely choking in that one?

There's at least 2 wins the Knights completely butchered. ( not even counting our home loss to the Roosters )

Add those 2 wins to the points table, and see how relevant the draw becomes...

yep, and there are plenty more of those this year too.

yes, our draw has been pretty sh*t... however we've had umpteen chances this year to win that extra game or score those extra points... and we've failed to deliver by the absolute slimmest of margins on each occasion. honestly, i see a lot of the sharks '07 in the knights of '08 (and have done since day dot)... except we can score points too.

 

[BG]

Give ya a tip.

The Knights had the game against the Eels earlier this season won and f*cked it up. ( Nice hands Faas , nice drop goal Cayless ) - no mess up , and we wouldn't even be talking about this draw right now.

What about our HOME loss to the Warriors a couple months ago? Who can we blame for absolutely choking in that one?

There's at least 2 wins the Knights completely butchered. ( not even counting our home loss to the Roosters )

Add those 2 wins to the points table, and see how relevant the draw becomes...

Give ya a tip. This is completely irrelevant. No one's suggesting we've been one of the elite sides this year. They're the only ones good and consistent enought to get through an NRL season with few regrets. Most teams in a scrap in the middle of the table have variations on the same story. Might have upset a couple of better sides, won some close games, thrown a couple away, lost to a team they should have beaten which they hugely regret.

Fact is, the draw is making a massive difference to the final table. A good enough team might be able to come all sorts of adversity. Big deal. We haven't been that good this year but we've been a lot better than many expected and imho good enough--games we threw away and all--to deserve around 6th-8th spot. Wherever we finish in two weeks time, I've no doubt it will be 2 or 3 spots below where we would have with an equitable draw--and that reeks.

 

[Johns Magic]

I'm not that worried that we won't be in the finals, because I'm happy with what we've achieved this year.

The draw we got was always going to make it very hard, but it will make us stronger as a club next year.

 

[perverse]

I'm not that worried that we won't be in the finals, because I'm happy with what we've achieved this year.

The draw we got was always going to make it very hard, but it will make us stronger as a club next year.

this is very true. once we bow out of this years race, one way or another, i'm pretty sure i will feel the same way looking over our season in retrospect.

 

[K-Man]

Give ya a tip. This is completely irrelevant. No one's suggesting we've been one of the elite sides this year. They're the only ones good and consistent enought to get through an NRL season with few regrets. Most teams in a scrap in the middle of the table have variations on the same story. Might have upset a couple of better sides, won some close games, thrown a couple away, lost to a team they should have beaten which they hugely regret.

Fact is, the draw is making a massive difference to the final table. A good enough team might be able to come all sorts of adversity. Big deal. We haven't been that good this year but we've been a lot better than many expected and imho good enough--games we threw away and all--to deserve around 6th-8th spot. Wherever we finish in two weeks time, I've no doubt it will be 2 or 3 spots below where we would have with an equitable draw--and that reeks.

What he said!!!!!!!!!!

Our efforts in the actual games is completely irrelevant. Every team has those ups and downs. But when you play the better teams more often, it is more likely you will have more downs than ups, is it not?

Yes, we should've beaten the Eels, and the Warriors, and a few others. But I guarantee you if we were playing the Bulldogs this week instead of the Storm, it wouldn't matter because we would smash them and be in the finals.

 

[Karmawave]

Blaming the draw is just a massive load of sh*t.

Why focus on how hard our last 2 rounds are. Doesn't it mean that 2 rounds earlier in the season were a bit easier? :lol:

Any team who deserves to be in the Top 8, don't need to rely on winning either of their last two games in my opinion.

It merely rewards mediocrity.

 

[Hanscholo]

The draw has never been fair, and we always seem to be on the wrong end of it. The only solution is playing everyone twice, home and away.

It's so far down on the priority queue i doubt the NRL would even glance at it.

Parramatta wont make the finals, dont worry. Neither will we, but we had our shot at it and f**ked it up mid season.