Bomber Bears
Cancelled
Round 24
Well the battle for the top four and the top eight has heated up after last weeks results. Newcastle’s loss and South Sydney’s big win puts them on collision course for the round 26 clash. Both have a tough run up to that match, Newcastle having Brisbane and Canterbury and Souths having North Qld and Brisbane. Newcastle drop one or both of these matches and Souths keep winning it lines up nicely. Of course the Bulldogs will also have aspirations, but with a poor for and against and Manly coming up this weekend I don’t think they have what it takes.
Meanwhile, two points separate the 4th placed Cowboys and the 7th placed Wests Tigers. With North Qld in average form and doubts over Thurston’s fitness coming up against the red hot Rabbits, and St George playing terribly, door is definitely ajar for the fast finishing Tigers and Warriors. Wests in particular have a comfortable run home, with Parramatta, the Gold Coast and Cronulla coming up.
Melbourne Storm vs. St George Illawarra – Plenty of rumours around about the mood in the Dragons camp at present, players not getting along etc. Amazing how a side that looked supremely confident in the first half of the season can look so poor at present. Melbourne have been hit by injuries, Cronk out for a couple of weeks, Blair has now dropped from the named side as well which could see Smith to 5/8 and Hinchcliffe starting. Gasnier is out for St George with Brett Morris staying behind due to his partner giving birth. Continual doubts over the fitness of Soward make it a tougher match for them as well. Big crowd expected for this one and it’s pretty hard to tip against Melbourne at present.
South Sydney vs. North Qld – South Sydney are on a roll at present, having demolished Parramatta and Canberra within two weeks. Tougher ask for them against North Qld. What helps them is continual doubts over the match fitness of Thurston and the general fitness of Scott. Without those two playing well the Cows tend to struggle, although Bowen has been in pretty good form. Souths will be desperate for a win to keep the ball rolling, and with a reasonable turn out expected (Souths and North Sydney members free for Luke Stuarts farewell) should be fired up enough to win.
Gold Coast vs. Canberra – Dear god, cripple fight and a half. Gold Coast have no halves left, Canberra is missing Dugan now, both sides in pretty terrible form. Toss of the coin job this one. Home advantage says ****, but really could go either way.
Penrith vs. New Zealand – Penrith will be boosted by the return of Michael Jennings, and the 2000 or so people he handed tickets out to for this match. Otherwise they still have some injury concerns, with Lewis again out. The Warriors have recalled Hohaia and, after a rubbish first half were much improved in the second half in the win over Newcastle. With Penrith’s season over and the Warriors having a lot to play for I’ll tip NZ here.
Roosters vs. Cronulla – Paul Gallen in doubt for the Sharks which makes their task somewhat more difficult. Easts will be on a bit of a high after their excellent performance against the Dragons. Carney and Myles are again missing thanks to internal suspension, whilst Kenny-Dowall has been named but is in doubt with injury, with Tom Symonds a chance of coming into the side. Pearce and Anasta will need to play well, but I think the Roosters are more than capable of winning this game.
Manly vs. Canterbury – Fortress Brookvale has proved to be a graveyard for opposition sides this season, with Manly winning every home game. Manly were poor against Parramatta, winning more through the poor work of the Eels. Canterbury however were fairly unimpressive against Cronulla, with a fortunate call near half time being the difference in the end. Don’t think much of their halves and their forwards aren’t all that great either. Manly and their impressive halves should be good enough to finish the Dogs season for good.
Wests Tigers vs. Parramatta – Parramatta comfortably beat the Tigers last time they faced off. Since then the Tigers have won 5 straight whilst Parra have lost 5. Such is the nature of these clashes. Parramatta have won 15 of 23 clashes, with one of the other matches a draw. So I guess whilst every form guide points towards a pretty comfortable win to the Tigers, who may get Tuqiri back, you can’t rule out Parra in this one.
Newcastle vs. Brisbane – Probably the toughest game to pick of the weekend. I don’t really rate Brisbane that highly, but they’ve been pretty impressive the last two weeks. Newcastle is never an easy venue to play at and Newcastle has been in fairly good form, despite a loss in NZ last week. Brisbane should be good enough to win, they seem to be playing well at present, but Newcastle will be keen to attempt to secure their place in the finals. Brisbane, just.
North Sydney to back up their upset victory over Canterbury with a match against the Cronulla/Melbourne NSW Cup side this weekend at North Sydney Oval. Have been in pretty good form, looking for their third win on the trot. Come on you Bears.
Well the battle for the top four and the top eight has heated up after last weeks results. Newcastle’s loss and South Sydney’s big win puts them on collision course for the round 26 clash. Both have a tough run up to that match, Newcastle having Brisbane and Canterbury and Souths having North Qld and Brisbane. Newcastle drop one or both of these matches and Souths keep winning it lines up nicely. Of course the Bulldogs will also have aspirations, but with a poor for and against and Manly coming up this weekend I don’t think they have what it takes.
Meanwhile, two points separate the 4th placed Cowboys and the 7th placed Wests Tigers. With North Qld in average form and doubts over Thurston’s fitness coming up against the red hot Rabbits, and St George playing terribly, door is definitely ajar for the fast finishing Tigers and Warriors. Wests in particular have a comfortable run home, with Parramatta, the Gold Coast and Cronulla coming up.
Melbourne Storm vs. St George Illawarra – Plenty of rumours around about the mood in the Dragons camp at present, players not getting along etc. Amazing how a side that looked supremely confident in the first half of the season can look so poor at present. Melbourne have been hit by injuries, Cronk out for a couple of weeks, Blair has now dropped from the named side as well which could see Smith to 5/8 and Hinchcliffe starting. Gasnier is out for St George with Brett Morris staying behind due to his partner giving birth. Continual doubts over the fitness of Soward make it a tougher match for them as well. Big crowd expected for this one and it’s pretty hard to tip against Melbourne at present.
South Sydney vs. North Qld – South Sydney are on a roll at present, having demolished Parramatta and Canberra within two weeks. Tougher ask for them against North Qld. What helps them is continual doubts over the match fitness of Thurston and the general fitness of Scott. Without those two playing well the Cows tend to struggle, although Bowen has been in pretty good form. Souths will be desperate for a win to keep the ball rolling, and with a reasonable turn out expected (Souths and North Sydney members free for Luke Stuarts farewell) should be fired up enough to win.
Gold Coast vs. Canberra – Dear god, cripple fight and a half. Gold Coast have no halves left, Canberra is missing Dugan now, both sides in pretty terrible form. Toss of the coin job this one. Home advantage says ****, but really could go either way.
Penrith vs. New Zealand – Penrith will be boosted by the return of Michael Jennings, and the 2000 or so people he handed tickets out to for this match. Otherwise they still have some injury concerns, with Lewis again out. The Warriors have recalled Hohaia and, after a rubbish first half were much improved in the second half in the win over Newcastle. With Penrith’s season over and the Warriors having a lot to play for I’ll tip NZ here.
Roosters vs. Cronulla – Paul Gallen in doubt for the Sharks which makes their task somewhat more difficult. Easts will be on a bit of a high after their excellent performance against the Dragons. Carney and Myles are again missing thanks to internal suspension, whilst Kenny-Dowall has been named but is in doubt with injury, with Tom Symonds a chance of coming into the side. Pearce and Anasta will need to play well, but I think the Roosters are more than capable of winning this game.
Manly vs. Canterbury – Fortress Brookvale has proved to be a graveyard for opposition sides this season, with Manly winning every home game. Manly were poor against Parramatta, winning more through the poor work of the Eels. Canterbury however were fairly unimpressive against Cronulla, with a fortunate call near half time being the difference in the end. Don’t think much of their halves and their forwards aren’t all that great either. Manly and their impressive halves should be good enough to finish the Dogs season for good.
Wests Tigers vs. Parramatta – Parramatta comfortably beat the Tigers last time they faced off. Since then the Tigers have won 5 straight whilst Parra have lost 5. Such is the nature of these clashes. Parramatta have won 15 of 23 clashes, with one of the other matches a draw. So I guess whilst every form guide points towards a pretty comfortable win to the Tigers, who may get Tuqiri back, you can’t rule out Parra in this one.
Newcastle vs. Brisbane – Probably the toughest game to pick of the weekend. I don’t really rate Brisbane that highly, but they’ve been pretty impressive the last two weeks. Newcastle is never an easy venue to play at and Newcastle has been in fairly good form, despite a loss in NZ last week. Brisbane should be good enough to win, they seem to be playing well at present, but Newcastle will be keen to attempt to secure their place in the finals. Brisbane, just.
North Sydney to back up their upset victory over Canterbury with a match against the Cronulla/Melbourne NSW Cup side this weekend at North Sydney Oval. Have been in pretty good form, looking for their third win on the trot. Come on you Bears.
