What the fuck happened last
week? Teams that were decimated by
Origin absentees went on to win, teams that have been running shit hot for
weeks looked shit house, and once again, NRL tipping geniuses like myself were
left looking stupid. But handsome. So devilishly handsome.
What did everyone think of
Origin? I thought it was actually a bit
average. NSW looked absolutely shot in
the second half, and I thought QLD should have put it right up them. I wish I could say that the Blues defended
like fucking madmen against wave after wave of relentless Maroon attack, but
I’d be a big, fat liar. The
Queenslanders looked like they were just expecting the gaps to appear in the
defensive line – there was very little for the NSW boys to do, other than just
tackle the bloke in front of them. So
full credit to NSW for sticking to their defensive guns, full credit to QLD for
winning the game, but I’m not sure that either team dug deep enough and gave
the maximum 110% on this occasion.
For the next game, NSW should get
the fuck rid of Hodkinson – the guy is a fucking joke, and to be included among
the best players in Australia is an absolute kick in the dick to every other
player in the NRL, and probably a few supporters and at least one blogger as
well. Bring in Adam Reynolds or Jamie
Soward. Maybe give Blake Austin a
crack. Or the bloke without legs from
the ad on TV.
They should also find a
replacement for Jennings, who seemed to be having a contest with Trent
Hodkinson as to who could be least involved in the game. I think Jennings might have JUST snuck in a
win in that department, as at least Hodko managed to fuck up a kick into touch,
narrowly missing the grandstand by about half a field.
I’d also piss Farah off, but I
probably would have done that well before now.
Ennis has been carving it up this year, which I really hate to say, but
he is probably the form hooker at the moment.
Heh. Hooker.
QLD should also drop Inglis and
hope that it fires him up. The guy is a
marshmallow at the moment. It doesn’t
really matter who else they bring in; it would be a definite improvement.
Anyway, moving onto the weekend’s
games… and what the fuck is going on with the draw? Last week we had four games, this week we
have seven. What’s the deal with two
teams having a bye? HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Round 12:
Penrith vs Parramatta
This is officially the last roll
of the dice for Parra to do anything this year.
If they fail to impress this week, they are royally fucked for the
season and may not win again this year.
Statistically speaking, the last time Parramatta managed to direct the
ball through the big sticks in the middle of the field (i.e. kick a goal), was at
the 30 minute mark in the Round 9 game against the Melbourne Storm. Since then, they have failed to kick one. No penalties, no conversions. That's 215
minutes (including 5 mins of extra time against the Warriors) of football
without a goal. I don’t know whether to
be impressed or not.
Titans vs Rabbitohs
Hopefully the Rabbits wake up
this week and get back to playing some decent footy; they’ve been shithouse
lately. And if there’s a team in the
comp who can play their opposition into a bit of form, I think the Titans can
probably do it.
Raiders vs Broncos
Sigh. It hurts to do it, but my tip is going for
the Horses this week. God knows what
last week’s Canberra/Bulldogs game was all about – after the dour struggle that
was the rest of the weekend’s games, it was probably for the good of the sport
that about 90 points were scored.
Normally if you knock up 34 points, you’d expect to win. The Raiders are special like that. I think the Broncos earned some respect last
week with their win over the Knights without about 70 of their Origin stars,
plus Corey Parker. I reckon they might
just do it again. Sorry Raiders.
Cowboys vs Manly
I almost tipped an upset in this
game, then I realised that I’d be tipping Manly and felt so very, very
dirty. Hopefully the six minutes of
Origin that Mick Morgan experienced won’t have tired him out too much, as he’s
got a big ol’ team of Sea Eagles to destroy.
Warriors vs Knights
Gotta tip someone, might as well
pick the team without Gidley in it.
Always tip against Gidley. I’m
pretty sure that was in the Bible somewhere.
St George vs Cronulla
The Dragons are apparently
playing some good footy at the moment. I
say “apparently” because I haven’t actually noticed. I didn’t even realise that they still had a
team.
Roosters vs Storm
Gotta tip someone, right? I picked the Storm as I think following Origin, it proved that a lot of the Melbourne Maroons players are actually in decent form - Cronk's kicking game is back on track, Smith is running from dummy half more, and Slater's grubbiness is back in full force.
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