Broncos - away Manly - away Raiders - home Titans - away Knights - home Warriors- away Storm - away I don't see any reason we don't win all but 1 maybe 2 with our players returning for a total of 34 - 36 points.
Broncos are flying under the radar, huge test this week. I could see 2-3 losses at worst, 1 loss at best.
I just think if we match them in the middle our halves are better with Broncos not having an organising have and we half Maloney.
Broncos is 50/50. We've been dudded at Suncorp in recent years. Brisbane's pack is very strong so just need to get on top there and we should win. Manly at Brookie is still a tough one if they regain form, given they should beat the Storm tonight without Slater, Munster, Addo-Carr, Chambers etc. Hopefully the need to get revenge after they beat us earlier this year means we won't be complacent because they still have a strong side. Raiders really depends. If they are still in the race for the finals it will be tough but we are a much smarter footy side. Should win. Titans we should definitely beat too now that their momentum is gone. They have a solid pack but are pretty poor in defence. Should definitely beat Knights at home. 50/50 against Warriors away from home. They'll be keen to get revenge for our win last week but I still think Maloney and Cleary can get us the win here. Still think we have what it takes to beat Melbourne this year. They have uncharacteristically made lots of errors and we have Kikau, Blake etc. to challenge them and Maloney and Cleary in the halves. My major concern is that Melbourne use the game as a way of showing they are true premiership contenders and play one of their best games of the year (winning 26-6 or something), crushing our confidence. Very important we keep this close. If we win it will go a long way to give us confidence for the run in the finals. So, with all that in mind, we should definitely win at least 3, possibly 4. I would be really happy with 5 but even more pleased if we manage 6.
I would be happy with 5 out 7 wins and no further injuries. If we can snag 6 wins I will take it! We need to start very soon with our momentum.
The only way to beat the Broncos in Brisbane is to get early points and flog them. If its even moderately close they'll get legups.
I read somewhere that 28 pts should get you into the finals this year. The gap between 8th and 9th place is currently 6 pts. Short of a team chocking, the top 8 should stay as it is. We need 2 wins to make the finals. We need 5 wins to make top 4.
I think this year we will need 17 wins to make the top 4. 16 wins is very unlikely to be enough. It is a funny top 8 this year because of the gap between the top 8 and bottom 8 teams. Rabbitohs are already on 13 wins. Dragons and Storm on 12. All three have superior F/A. If Roosters win tomorrow they also got to 12 wins with superior F/A. Very hard to see us winning 6 from 7, so unfortunately I think our top 4 chances are slim. The Manly game was a critical one and has in all likelihood cost us a top 4 spot. In all likelihood we finish 5 or 6th, even with good performances for the rest of the season.
Top 4 means less this year as its wide open and Panthers get f**ked hard on the "home" ground bullshit anyways
This is how I think the season will finish: 1) Melbourne Storm Predicted Points: 40 Matches Remaining: Warriors (W), Raiders (W), Rabbitohs (W), Sharks (W), Eels (W), Titans (W), Panthers (W) 2) St George Illawarra Dragons Predicted Points: 40 Matches Remaining: Wests Tigers (W), Cowboys (W), Roosters (L), Warriors (W), Eels (W), Wests Tigers (W), Bulldogs (W), Knights (W) 3) South Sydney Rabbitohs Predicted Points: 38 Matches Remaining: Wests Tigers (L), Eels (W), Storm (L), Roosters (W), Broncos (W), Raiders (W), Wests Tigers (W) 4) Sydney Roosters Predicted Points: 36 Matches Remaining: Titans (W by 10), Sea Eagles (W by 8), Dragons (W by 2), Cowboys (W by 12), Rabbitohs (L by 6), Raiders (W by 8), Broncos (W by 4), Eels (W by 24) F/A: +157 5) Penrith Panthers Predicted Points: 36 Matches Remaining: Broncos (W by 8), Sea Eagles (W by 10), Raiders (W by 14), Titans (W by 16), Knights (W by 20), Warriors (W by 4), Storm (L by 14) F/A: +154 6) Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Predicted Points: 34 Matches Remaining: Raiders (W), Broncos (L), Sea Eagles (W), Storm (L), Cowboys (W), Knights (W), Bulldogs (W) 7) Brisbane Broncos Predicted Points: 30 Matches Remaining: Warriors (W by 16), Panthers (L by 8), Sharks (W by 4), Bulldogs (W by 12), Cowboys (L by 2), Rabbitohs (L by 14), Roosters (L by 4), Sea Eagles (W by 7) F/A: +5 8) New Zealand Warriors Predicted Points: 30 Matches Remaining: Broncos (L by 16), Storm (L by 18), Titans (W by 20), Dragons (L by 16), Knights (W by 12), Bulldogs (W by 10), Panthers (L by 4), Raiders (W by 8) F/A: -14 Finals: Week 1: Storm v Roosters Dragons v Rabbitohs Panthers v Warriors Sharks v Broncos Week 2: Roosters v Panthers Dragons v Sharks Week 3: Rabbitohs v Roosters Storm v Sharks GF: Rabbitohs v Storm So, for mine, it looks like we could play Roosters regardless in Week 2 of the finals, unless we beat the Storm in Week 1 if we make the four.
