The Run Home

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

currently 7 and 7
before the start of the season i thought we would be 9 and 5 possibly 10 and 4 up to the 2nd state of origin. after the first month it looked like we would be 2 and 12. we have turned the corner but still a long way to go.

the run hoome is differcult

sharks away
Tits at home
Bye
Manly away
Raiders away
Panthers home
Tits away
Soufs home
cowboys away
Tigers home
Eels at home

apart from the sharks and cowboys game and possibly the Eels we are playing teams in the same bracket as us fighting for 6th 7th 8th spot.

the experts reckon 28 points will get u playing finals footy and we are on 16. add in our other bye and it seems 5 more wins will get us in.
manly in perth will be tough and then they back it up by playing in canberra the week later. i hope they stay in canberra for the week and dont go home. cant see us beating sharks or cows so the tits home and a way is vital. who knows about panthers and soufs

can we make it

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Can we? Yes. Should we? Yes. Will we? Different story.

All five home games should see us as favourites. Then if you take care of that, we'd really only need to win one away game.

But when are we ever predictable? It's actually likely to be a top nine minus the Eels this year so gee, you only need to be average or just below to make finals.

As you say, the key will be to beat sides around us on the table. So that means the Tits, Raiders and Panthers most notably to me. Manly and Souths are already out of finals contention for mine and the Eels won't escape punishment. So if you win your home games then beat either the Titans or Raiders away, bang finals. Or drop one at home and beat both, or perhaps the Sharks this week or Manly in Perth. Can't see us winning in NQ and Canberra after the trip from Perth.

 

[TheDMC]

Hmm that seems a relatively easy run to me. Easy as in could be way way worse!

Only two games we are very unlikely to win - that's sharks and cows away.

Another two games would be tough to win, but if we played well we are a pretty good shot - raiders and titans away.

Manly away we should win, and we should win all our home games.

Should = playing good hard footy without major injuries.

5 wins from that lot should be relatively straightforward.

I wouldn't be surprised if we won 3.

 

[JJ]

Hmm that seems a relatively easy run to me. Easy as in could be way way worse!

Only two games we are very unlikely to win - that's sharks and cows away.

Another two games would be tough to win, but if we played well we are a pretty good shot - raiders and titans away.

Manly away we should win, and we should win all our home games.

Should = playing good hard footy without major injuries.

5 wins from that lot should be relatively straightforward.

I wouldn't be surprised if we won 3.

Yep, really good draw - but I've not seen anything to inspire any confidence - ride the origin wave for a bit, I guess

 

[Meth]

I think we will finish short a win, unfortunately

 

[VillaTheGorilla]

For me, the next three games are vital and if we win 2 out of them, we should go on to finals footy.
IMO we can win all three, but to get 6 points in the next 4 weeks including the bye....well be sweet.

But that's not really good enough, we shouldn't be scraping in to the 8 in the first place, I wanna see us win 7 of the last 10 and make a big push. We've got th team to do it and a win over the Sharks could be the catalyst for our season.

If we play half as good as we did against the Broncos were in with a sniff

 

[JJ]

If we play half as good as we did against the Broncos were in with a sniff

That's the issue though, they've played like that once - and the Bronco's were miles short of their best, and with the refs making some different decisions it could have been game on at half time...

Round 16, and they've played really well once as a team - that disgraceful really

 

[Penrose Warrior]

That's the issue though, they've played like that once - and the Bronco's were miles short of their best, and with the refs making some different decisions it could have been game on at half time...

Round 16, and they've played really well once as a team - that disgraceful really

Twice? Bulldogs and Broncos?

Anyway, it's still piss poor.

Villa is right, we shouldn't be talking 5 from 10 or whatever it is - we should be talking 7 or so to finish 5th/6th and earn a home final. What's to fear above us? The Eels are going to be docked points and in round 26, their season will be over. The Dogs are okay, but they're an average side - as are the Raiders Titans and Panthers. Those teams will all beat you if you turn up and let them out-effort you, but they're sides without any particular X-factor or wow factor that the top 4 have. Ie basically if you're on, you beat them.

I mean, at the end of the day we basically only have to haul in one side to make the eight. All the sides below us are completely gash. Look at the Dragons' point diff (-107) in 11th. Abysmal.

 

[WithTheDawn]

We are normally only good enough to finish 9th. Luckily that will be just enough this year with the Eels being docked points. I reckon we slip into 8th spot. Will need 5 wins to do it, but perfectly doable with what is in reality a decent home run.

Wins agains the Titan x2, Manly, Panthers and Souths should be winable - no doubt we will drop one or two but hopefully replace them with the Tigers and Eels games. We are back into a position where I will be very disappointed if we don't make the finals, just like most seasons lately...

 

[JJ]

Benji showing that SJ is not the only half that can tear up Newcastle's left side defence :lol: #flattrackbullies

Newcastle, where myths are created in 2016

 

[Leber]

sharks away Lose
Tits at home Win
Bye
Manly away Win
Raiders away Lose
Panthers home Win
Tits away Lose
Soufs home Win
cowboys away Lose
Tigers home Win
Eels at home Win

can we make it

Based on that, I did ladder predictor and had us in 7th playing the Panthers away.

 

[WithTheDawn]

Yep, I'll take that. All winnable games other than the Cowboys one, which is certainly a tough one. Play like we did tonight and we can win most of the rest for sure. But we never seem to keep playing well at the end of the season, so not going to get too excited yet.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

We have the problem next week of backing up golden point, I think teams who play golden point lose the next week around 70-75% of the time.

SJ was clearly limping from about 60mins on.

 

[WithTheDawn]

SJ was limping around at the post game event as well, didn't look great. I really hope they give him a rest for next week - that way he gets two weeks off with the bye and should be right as rain for the run home after that. Give Hingano a run against the Titans and let SJ put his feet up.

 

[Blair]

SJ was limping around at the post game event as well, didn't look great. I really hope they give him a rest for next week - that way he gets two weeks off with the bye and should be right as rain for the run home after that. Give Hingano a run against the Titans and let SJ put his feet up.

You sound like a rational guy!

I was quietly watching the juniors yesterday when someone saddled up to me for some Warriors talk. Then the penny dropped, he was selling that event you went to after the game.

I've had Morman missionaries less smooth-talking than him! My out was saying I'll 'think about it', with a big emphasis on it being a winning post-gamer.

Another chuckle I had with the juniors was watching Bunty Afoa used as tackle-bag fodder during first grade warm-ups. They really gave it to him! Sometimes knocking him 2-3 metres backwards! His big hair was flying everywhere!

I understand he got re-signed during the week, this must have been some kind of initiation.

 

[MKEB...]

You sound like a rational guy!

I was quietly watching the juniors yesterday when a someone saddled up to me for some Warriors talk. Then the penny dropped, he was selling that event you went to after the game.

I've had Morman missionaries less smooth-talking than him! My out was saying I'll 'think about it', with a big emphasis on it being a winning post-gamer.

Another chuckle I had with the juniors was watching Bunty Afoa used as tackle-bag fodder during first grade warm-ups. They really gave it to him! Sometimes knocking him 2-3 metres backwards! His big hair was flying everywhere!

I understand he got re-signed during the week, this must have been some kind of initiation.

Who was biffing him farther? :lol:

 

[Blair]

Who was biffing him farther? :lol:

I thought the one who had the biggest glint in his eye was Lisone.

 

[Blair]

Let's hope last night wasn't our season's peak. You know, the 'Origin run of wins, ended by a close loss, and then we drop away. It's happened in previous years.

I don't know about you all but I'm bracing for it. The Titans upset us at home, we run out of gas in Perth, then we do what we usually do in Canberra and get rolled. That'd be the end of us for 2016, I reckon.

Bring on the optimists...

 

[Meth]

I think we will finish short a win, unfortunately

Starting to think we could finish comfortably inside the 8th, taking the Eels into account.

Then again, we could bomb.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Starting to think we could finish comfortably inside the 8th, taking the Eels into account.

Then again, we could bomb.

When are they taking the Eels points?