Round 1 Who Wins and Why?

[Harold Bishop]

I said the Marshall one was debatable. I think if you put it to most league fans though Benji would come out on top. As for Dean Young being a better rake then Rob farah... LMFAO

Ben Hornby filled in admirably for Head. Prince has played for OZ and QLD as a halfback. Please...

I suppose Greenshileds has the edge on Hodgson..

Nah Hodgson is a better fullback then hornby and Greenshields.
Young will play for NSW before Farah.
Prince is so overrated, if you look at the Win/Loss record when Marshall plays, you will agree that Prince is being "carried". Prince was horrible against the Eagles last week IMO.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Tigers Vs Dragons - Tigers just because i think the dragons might have a slow start
Knights Vs Eels - Knights because of Joey, watch for him to get injured late in the match
Bulldogs Vs Panthers - Panthers, because the dogs will need a match or 2 for sherwin and holdsworth to click.
Sea Eagles Vs Raiders - close one, not sure. Ill say Eagles but its 50/50 imo
Warriors Vs Storm - Storm unforetunately. truth hurts, reality bites. i think we'll lose our opener, but at least i can bring myself to say it.
Broncos Vs Cowboys - cowboys because i think their speedy backline will run circles over the ageing broncos forwards.
Rabbitohs Vs Roosters - Im actually going to pick the Rabbits for this one. Looking forward to seeing Harrisons impact in the match.

 

[lucablight]

Nah Hodgson is a better fullback then hornby and Greenshields.
Young will play for NSW before Farah.
Prince is so overrated, if you look at the Win/Loss record when Marshall plays, you will agree that Prince is being "carried". Prince was horrible against the Eagles last week IMO.

What rubbish

 

[Harold Bishop]

What rubbish

How so? look how the Tigers started the year last season with Fitzhenry at 5/8th, and then watch the WCC and the Trial vs. Manly and tell me that the tigers attack isnt 75% weaker without Marshall.

 

[lucablight]

How so? look how the Tigers started the year last season with Fitzhenry at 5/8th, and then watch the WCC and the Trial vs. Manly and tell me that the tigers attack isnt 75% weaker without Marshall.

The attack looked weaker because Prince played badly with a poor kicking game. When Prince kicked well the Tigers did well. As for Prince playing poorly in the WCC and the trial it seems obvious he was under pressure with all the media scrutiny surrounding his future. Marshall may be a good player but he isn't a kicker of the ball. If anyone was carrying anyone it was Prince carrying Marshall by organising the attack so Marshall could use his individual brilliance.

 

[Big Mick]

Penrith will take the spoon

care to make a wager on that?

 

[Bumble]

Lol at all the tips of Roosters by plenty...

 

[Eddie.]

I may change a few after looking at the teams

Tigers by 12
Knights by 6
Panthers by 14
Canberra by 2
Storm by 10
Cowboys by 8
Roosters by 2

 

[effnic]

Lol at all the tips of Roosters by plenty...

Says alot about your great club doesnt it.

 

[Dr Crane]

I hate to flip flop already, but

Warriors by 8 x
Storm by 17 is what i'll run with now.

 

[Earl]

The old reverse psychology aint going to work mate.

Warriors by 10 :lol:

 

[bartman]

I actually think most teams and combinations will be rusty, and it will be a mistake-ridden opening round.

Predictions:

Tigers Vs Dragons - Tigers by 6, should be a tight game, could go either way

Knights Vs Eels - Eels by 6, again should be tight, could go either way

Bulldogs Vs Panthers - Bulldogs by 20, does anyone think Penrith will have gelled following Gower's (or his manager's) carry on in the off-season?

Sea Eagles Vs Raiders - Manly by 6 at home, this is a bit of a clash of the nuffies, isn't it?

Warriors Vs Storm - Warriors by 4 at home, making the most of short-term motivation from the salary cap fiasco.

Broncos Vs Cowboys - Cowboys by 4, will want to start on the right foot and Broncos are getting older.

Rabbitohs Vs Roosters - Souths by 8, I think they'll work better as a team in round one.

 

[Bumble]

Says alot about your great club doesnt it.

No, it shows that some of you (especially you...Manly by 30! :shock have NFI. Hey hang on, weren't the Tigers tipped by many for the wooden spoon last year? Remind me dunce, how did that end up? :lol::roll:

 

[Pantherjim.]

care to make a wager on that?

Judging by the time he's taking to respond, i'd say he's not that confident Mick! :lol:

 

[mepelthwack]

Saints by 8 - Dragons have just too much class, Tigers will be shown up here now that the adrenalin of finals football has passed
.

Tip is fine - reasoning is flawed at best.

 

[Bring Back the Spliff]

Tigers Vs Dragons
TIGERS 1-10
Tigers want to prove they are no 'one hit wonders' after some recent negative press - and Scott Prince will be keen to shut up the naysayers about his move to the Titans. Besides - the Drag-queens always struggle early in the season. It's a quaint little tradition of theirs! Not much in it though - expect PLENTY of errors from both sides.

Knights Vs Eels
EELS 11-20
Knights and Johns will not find their feet for a while. Eels also early strugglers - but will have enough in the tank to do the Knights.

Bulldogs Vs Panthers
DOGS 1-10
Panthers been in total disrray in the off-season...and can react one of two ways - Stand up and hit back in a big way - or deadset struggle. My money's on the latter. Not a whole lot in it, and again - expect PLENTY of errors accross the board!

Sea Eagles Vs Raiders
EAGLES 11-20
Raiders pack looks weak as water - and the Eagles & their new crop of mercenaries will be keen to get off to a flyer (bad pun intended ) to justify their massive price-tags. As they are away from home - Can't see the Raiders putting up too much resistance here.

Warriors Vs Storm
STORM 1-10
Not much in it, I don;t think - but the class of the likes of Slater, King, Cronk and Smith - will be far too much for the Warriors - who have no halves - all they have is their pride.

Broncos Vs Cowboys
Cowboys 11-20
Don;t like the look of the Broncs, at all - they look to be in a fair bit of disarray to me. N.Qld will pick right up where they left off last year, and give the Broncos a handy tonking here!

Rabbitohs Vs Roosters
ROOSTERS 1-10
I REALLY don't think this will be the belting many people might expect. Rabbitohs showed what they can do when their minds are on the job against Saints in the Charity Shield - forget about the Melbourne trial - it was just that. A trial. Bunnies halves of Sutton & Walker look far stronger than the Roosters' Anasta & Finch. There will be eething issues for the Roosters and their new recruits, but the class of players out wide like The Count (if he plays) and Cross/Roberts - added to the grit of Harrison, Fitzgibbon & Morley - will see the Chooks over the line in what I see ending up as a pretty a dour affair. Expect some fisticuff-fireworks early too!

And now that I have made all that public - go out and put your $ on the EXACT opposite! You'll win a motzah! :lol:

 

[ozzy_ozman]

Tiggers v St. George:
St. George by 16: i still remember the double header in 03 between the tiggers and dragons and that was one hell of a firey game between the 2 teams and i still remember how saleh kept doing mistakes after mistakes for the dragons in the 2nd half... and i expect another firey match next friday nite and once all the dragons players are fit... they will run rampage over the tigers.

Newcastle v Parramatta:
Newcastle by 8: this wont be a one sided game... if newcastle contain the parramatta forward pack... than newcastle in the chance to win

Canterbury v Penrith:
Canterbury by 14: a lot of factors are going into this game for both teams... the dogs new halves combo and their new backline... Gowers off field scandal and how will john lang will take it...

Manly v Canberra:
Manly by 8: It will be interesting to see how manlys new signing orford will go in his debut game for manly and it will be interesting to how monaghan fairs in his new position at hooker...

Warriors v Melbourne:
Melbourne by 4: both teams have their star halfbacks last season... warriors have UNFAIRLY lost 4pts before the ball has been kicked... but i think melbourne will be too good for the warriors

Brisbane v North Queensland:
Brisbane by 14: A very tough QLD derby match here... Brisbane having avery end of season shocker and bowing out of the finals again... cowboys havent suprised us when they made it to the gf but only losing to the tiggers in the finals but im sure they will fire up again this season...

South Sydney v Roosters:
Roosters by 18: Roosters will be too strong for the rabbits

 

[lotti]

Ozzy Melbourne may have lost a star half back but they've gained a future star half back and I don't think Monas is going to be Hooker that's been decided and Monas isn't it he's up for 5/8. Orford has come out and said that's who he would like to partner with in the halves.

 

[ozzy_ozman]

Ozzy Melbourne may have lost a star half back but they've gained a future star half back and I don't think Monas is going to be Hooker that's been decided and Monas isn't it he's up for 5/8. Orford has come out and said that's who he would like to partner with in the halves.

oh thanx for clearing that up for me

 

[Raiders Plight]

Tigers v Dragons - Dragons by 10. Tigers will be off their game with all the negative press around them of late. Dragons will want to stamp their mark on the season as early as possible, no better way than beating the defending premiers.

Knights v Eels - Knights by 8. Apart from last year the knights usually start the season well, until johns gets injured. The Eels usually look like rabble for the first few weeks. Knights to get an upset win but it wont be a surprise.

Bulldogs v Panthers - Bulldogs by 16. The Dogs will want to wash away the bad memories of last season with a strong win, the panthers will put up a early fight but will struggle to contain the massive canterbury forwards.

Sea Eagles v Raiders - Raiders by 6. No pressure at all on the raiders to win this one, huge pressure on manly with their big offseason signings. We played 2 of our worst games against manly last year, Jason smith will want to beat them before his time is over.

Warriors v Storm - Warriors by 2. Tough one to pick, could go either way. The Warriors need to put in that extra bit more if they want to play in september, the storm will be hard to beat though. The go foward of Wiki and Price will give them the edge.

Cowboys v Broncos - Cowboys by 12. A big game for the cowboys, they couldn't topple their bigger brother last season after finally beating them the year before in the semi. The cowboys can match the broncos in class but will outmatch them in enthusiasm.

Roosters v Rabbitohs - Rooster by 10. Will be a physical battle with souths showing a lot of promise for the rest of the season. However the likes of Minichello, Wing, Morley, Harrison and Anasta will be too strong for souths.