Well after 3 and a half rounds I think we know where most teams sit (barring injuries). Did a bit of a break down of our draw and it seems to be in four sections:
Rounds 1-6 V Raiders, Roosters, Knights, Eels, Cowboys, Souths. Very tough opening 6 weeks. I said at the start if we can get 2 wins we've done well. After 3 rounds we're on track.
Rounds 7-12 V Manly, Dragons, Titans, Knights, Warriors, Dragons. This is where we need to make up games. Limited travel with Titans in Sydney and what was an away game V NZ now in Aus. 4 from 6 is needed but really 5 should be the aim
Rounds 13-16 V Panthers, Eels, Storm, Souths. Horror run however again maybe not as bad as it appears. Penrith without Origin players and other games smack bang inbetween Origins, these teams will have a stack of players and some may be rested. I'd like to think we can nab 1 win, 2 would be gold.
After this we have a bye. If things have gone to plan and we're on 7/8 wins then ready ourselves with a run 8 game run home which looks very friendly.
Rounds 18-25 V Broncos, Manly, Warriors, Dogs, Cowboys, Sharks, Panthers, Dogs. If we can go into this run needing 4/5 wins then surely we couldnt even blow it. I realise its early in the season but there seems very little upside to the bottom 4 and 5 of our last 8 games are against them.
I said it after the hysteria of the first two weeks, we can cop losses against the top 5 and 6. There will be less then half a dozen instances of a 7-16 team beating them this year. We have a good draw against the lower teams and if just win those we'll make the 8. AS a club we need to keep our heads if we do cop some beatings in the 2 tough sections. If we come into round 18 coming 11th/12th and 3 or so wins out of the 8 it isnt the end of the world.