Finals.

[Panther Pete]

You can pretty much rule out week 1 against the Eels now. Looks like it’ll be Roosters or Raiders.

Yep, at this stage we are playing the Raiders. If Eels go on and beat the Tigers we play the Roosters. Last week I was certain we would play be playing Parra in week 1.

 

[WestyLife]

Yep Eels can only play Storm or Sharks. Most likely Storm though and we get Roosters.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Going down to the wire, still could be either Roosters or the Raiders. I think I’d prefer to the play the roosters actually. Raiders seem to be improving all the time.

 

[soc123_au]

Tigers having a red hot crack here. Anyones guess at this stage if its Roosters or Raiders for us next week. I'm hoping Raiders, Chooks will be fired up next week.

 

[Jane Murray]

Tigers having a red hot crack here. Anyones guess at this stage if its Roosters or Raiders for us next week. I'm hoping Raiders, Chooks will be fired up next week.

I'm hoping for the Roosters, to be honest. The Roosters are there for the taking.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Roosters it is then. We’ve got this.

 

[WestyLife]

Eels about to get buried under Suncorp.

 

[Jane Murray]

Eels about to get buried under Suncorp.

Some one should call the priest to administer them their last rites.

 

[herbert henry1908]

I get that some think the roosters will be fired up, but having 60 points put on you can also sap your confidence. Also if you look at their wins this year they’ve lost a lot of games to the top teams. Lost to the storm twice, lost to us & lost to the raiders once.

 

[franklin2323]

I get that some think the roosters will be fired up, but having 60 points put on you can also sap your confidence. Also if you look at their wins this year they’ve lost a lot of games to the top teams. Lost to the storm twice, lost to us & lost to the raiders once.

Yeah they have been off for huge parts of the year

 

[age.s]

Yeah I feel better about getting the Roosters over the Raiders.

Look forward to putting 40 on them and having all and sundry complain about our soft draw in the finals.

 

[maple_69]

So win next week and we likely play Eels/Bunnies in the prelim. I can’t see their packs, or the Chooks, dealing with our intensity and relentlessness.

 

[tripster]

Something that worries me about the finals is Cleary’s goal kicking form. Normally that is one of his strengths. But he is rarely succeeding with any of his sideline conversions this season. I hope it doesn’t end up costing us a game.

 

[Smug Panther]

Win next week and we win the comp

 

[betcats]

I think we stack up alright against the Rorts. Leary is a weak defender and Flanno isn’t much better, Kikau and Marto will give them fits.

 

[lsta5838]

Personally I think the defending champs coming off a flogging is a massive challenge - maybe our biggest all year (of course it is a finals game) too.. and I think we are up for it.

 

[Jane Murray]

I can not wait for Friday. I am pumped for this.

A blockbuster between minor premiers Penrith and back-to-back premiers the Sydney Roosters at Panthers Stadium headlines the opening week of the 2020 NRL finals.

The match-ups are locked in after Saturday's slate of games with only the scheduling of the four fixtures across next weekend still to be revealed.

The Wests Tigers threatened to throw a late cat amongst the pigeons when they led Parramatta with 24 minutes to play as a loss would have dropped the Eels to fifth and denied them a double chance.

But order was restored and Eels' win lifted them over the Roosters and into a clash with second-placed Melbourne Storm at Suncorp Stadium.

The fourth-placed Roosters, reeling from a shock 52-point flogging at the hands of South Sydney on Friday, must find a way to get back on track against a Penrith riding high on a 15-game winning streak.

In the elimination finals the Raiders (5th) will host Cronulla (8th) at GIO Stadium in a rematch of their round 20 clash, albeit with full-strength line-ups, while the red-hot Rabbitohs (6th) will welcome the Knights (7th) to ANZ Stadium.

The Sharks limped into the finals without beating a top-eight side all season while the Raiders will welcome back a number of their stars who were rested on Saturday.

The NRL will officially announce venues and kick-off times at the end of the round after Sunday’s games.

 

[WestyLife]

Some one should call the priest to administer them their last rites.

This is all they'll get from the Storm if anyone gets the movie reference.

 

[franklin2323]

Something that worries me about the finals is Cleary’s goal kicking form. Normally that is one of his strengths. But he is rarely succeeding with any of his sideline conversions this season. I hope it doesn’t end up costing us a game.

We have been scoring out wide more this year. Still he kicked at 80%. A few more sessions will fix it

 

[kinghippo]

We couldn’t ask for a better time play the roosters.
We were always going to have to play them to get the trophy, we may as well do it while in great form at our home ground.