NRL Review for Round 4
Well a tough round to pick and we missed a few upsets this week; this is how we saw your team perform this week:
Rabbitohs: Occasion got to them, too much hype. Kidwell will be missed but big Joe will be a handy fill-in. Just a minor speed bump.
Bulldogs: Building nicely now, with two back to back wins. Cutler seems a real find. Shifty and Utai will find it hard pinning spots down.
Roosters: Not too many nice things to say here; except: Toupo, Mini and Wing. Everyone else needs to improve. Long year.
Broncos: Weren’t brilliant, but got the money. Will improve as focus moves off them. Eastwood really stepping up.
Knights: Threw the game away after starting so well. Better forwards effort. Losing Joey will give them a hangover for a few weeks. Mullen will step up.
Storm: Good enough to win when playing poorly. Ruck defence a little patchy and King is not faultless in line defence. But still the best team in the NRL.
Eels: Finally clicked in attack after forwards stepped up. Need halves cohesion. Blake Green needs a spot.
Raiders: Went from hero’s to zero’s in a week. Capable of beating most, but consistency is the next challenge. Zilman needs positional work in D.
Tigers: So unlucky yet again, haven’t played a bad game in 2007, yet find themselves win less. The Tigers really need a big bopper – forwards too light.
Cowboys: A la Storm, playing poorly at times but still have the talent to win games. Injuries killing them; Webb now O’Donnell.
Sea Eagles: Amazingly still unbeaten after never really setting the world on fire in any games. Should have scored more points with 60%+ possession against NZ. Orford and Menzies will take Eagles to another level.
Warriors: Rock solid defence, very unlucky this week. Must secure an away win to gain assurance in 07. Going ok.
Panthers: Most inconsistent team so far; playing like premiers one week, then has beens the next. Playing a style much like Warriors of yesteryear, flamboyant and risky.
Titans: Surprised everyone, forward pack dominating and creative backs. Still a little bit of an enigma. Meyers went well.
Sharks: Controlled the game for 80 minutes, strong showing – Bird is amazing right now, agressive and hard to stop. Might get on a roll, face hapless Tigers this week.
St George: Uh Oh – bad signs here. Usual injuries killing them, but losing confidence which is rare for the Red Vee. Missing Bailey badly.
Well done mate. Good, pithy analysis. What every league fan really wants.
I enjoy your website, but I think this kind of analysis is where your focus should be. Leave the extensive match reporting to the news organisations (there is always plenty of that stuff around anyway, so you should just report the scores) and focus on giving the league following public some real insight based on your knowledge and the amount of time you clearly devote to following the NRL. This is what is lacking in the mainstream media. Perhaps you could bring back the “power rankings” (where you rank the teams based on form every week, like the Tele used to)?
Congratulations on the website, but yeah, would love to see less match reports and more analysis, scoops and insight.
Peter