Official NRL 2014 Thread - Souths winners by default

[mxlegend99]

There are some very poor players being named for some of the sides who are typically strong and you would put money on for top 4 spots.

This Storm 1-7 is weak as hell:

1 Billy Slater
2 Sisa Waqa
3 Will Chambers
4 Mahe Fonua
5 Young Tonumaipea
6 Ben Hampton
7 Ben Roberts
8 Jesse Bromwich
9 Cameron Smith (c)
10 Bryan Norrie
11 Kevin Proctor
12 Ryan Hoffman
13 Ryan Hinchcliffe

Interchange
14 Kenny Bromwich
15 Tohu Harris
16 Jordan McLean
17 George Rose
18 Mitch Garbutt
19 Slade Griffin
20 Joel Romelo

Manly side has an awful front row and average wingers:

1 Brett Stewart
2 Cheyse Blair
3 Jamie Lyon (c)
4 Steve Matai
5 Peta Hiku
6 Kieran Foran
7 Daly Cherry-Evans
8 Josh Starling
9 Matt Ballin
10 Brenton Lawrence
11 Anthony Watmough
12 Justin Horo
13 Glenn Stewart

Interchange
14 Jesse Sene-Lefao
15 James Hasson
16 Jamie Buhrer
17 Dunamis Lui

Rabbitohs backline is fucking awful... fortunately Greg Inglis is good enough to carry them.

1 Greg Inglis
2 Nathan Merritt
3 Beau Champion
4 Bryson Goodwin
5 Lote Tuqiri
6 Dylan Walker
7 Adam Reynolds
8 George Burgess
9 Issac Luke
10 Sam Burgess
11 Chris McQueen
12 Ben Te'o
13 John Sutton (c)

Interchange
14 Ben Lowe
15 Joe Picker
16 David Tyrrell
17 Luke Burgess
18 Joel Reddy
19 Kyle Turner

Coach: Michael Maguire

These sides have fantastic top 17's, but the money thrown into them has sure killed off their depth. Injuries to the wrong players for long periods of the season could put these sides in the battle for a spoon rather then the top 4 as we would expect right now. Roosters somehow have the strongest top 17 and fanstastic depth... wonder how they'll go at keeping such a strong roster without Schubert being the salary cap auditor though.

[mxlegend99]

Eels:

Eels

1. Jarryd Hayne
2. Semi Radradra
3. William Hopoate
4. Willie Tonga
5. Vai Toutai
6. Corey Norman
7. Luke Kelly
8. Tim Mannah
9. Nathan Peats
10. Fuifui Moimoi
11. Ben Smith
12. Manu Ma'u
13. Kenny Edwards

14. Junior Paulo
15. Peni Terepo
16. Darcy Lussick
17. Kelepi Tanginoa
18. David Gower
19. Mitchell Allgood

[Candy Arse]

On paper that's the worst Broncos side to ever take the field.

For the Raiders, Wighton 5/8 Campo halfback as expected.

[Madmya]

I can't believe Hoffman is five eighth. I'd like to know what the thinking was there. There's just no way in hell it's a good move, surely blooding a rookie would be the better option. Brisbane's forward pack and bench is good, it's the backline that is woeful. With Hodges at centre and Hoffman as a winger it looks a lot better but we'll be missing in the halves all season.

[mxlegend99]

The other thing is Parker at prop and a bench full of props.. but whatever positions they play, the pack is strong. Hoffman at 5/8 is ridiculous as he isn't much of a ball player. The backline in general is very weak, but if you throw Hodges in and move Hoffman to the wing as you mentioned, it's not too bad if those other guys are fighting for a single wing spot outside of Reed.

Hoping Wighton is a beast at 5/8. I see him as a great dream team investment. Figure his defensive load at the very least should increase and put his average score up. Throw in more touches of the ball which should lead to linebreaks, linebreak assists, tries and try assists and he's surely going to increase in value even if he isn't one of the players worth keeping long term.

Not sure about the Eels forward pack. A lot of names I don't really recognise, or atleast can't match up to seeing play personally. Eels fans on LU talk them up, but even if they are strong it just seems like a lot of inexperienced players to be up against a side as powerful as the Warriors.

The biggest LOL though has to be Ben Roberts at halfback for the Storm. Seriously... they have the best or second best halfback in the NRL. But when he's injured the next inline is a bloke who was so shit he wasn't even able to get a start in the Eels side in the wooden spoon years, and when he was on the field he stood out easily as one of the worst in a poor bunch of players. I can't believe that Craig Bellamy thinks he is the best choice... unless he is literally the only player available.

The Dragons side is also pretty weak. Michael Witt at halfback when Sam Williams is available? Jack De Belin starting at prop, and having no front rowers on the bench. The forward pack is going to get smashed up the middle if the Tigers actually have a decent game plan and try to exploit their pack. If they do a typical gameplan from when Benji was playing though, I could see the smaller (but more mobile) Dragons forward pack actually being suited to that. They're also going to have to play that sort of footy themselves, as I can't see them making metres up the middle through anyone except Leeson Ah Mau and Trent Merrin.

Panthers side is exactly as named and if we were full strength in depth I would be disappointed at the safety approach. But with George Jennings, Eto Nabouli, James Roberts and Sika Manu unavailable through injury, the guys named really have no competition from anyone except Kevin Naiqama who has been poor in the trials and 9's, and Matt Robinson who is lacking match fitness due to having broken his neck last year and in his first game back from that in the trials picking up another minor injury that forced him to miss the rest of the trials. I expect we will start the season off slowly, and unfortunately we're against a pretty decent Knights side who should be much more settled then us and be able to win even without Mullen. We have 6 players making their debut for us on Saturday, and we looked very much like a team who had never played together in the final trial against Newtown. We smashed them comfortably as you would expect of a first grade side against a reserve grade side, but it was individuals playing well as opposed to a team playing well.

My Round 1 tips:
Roosters def Souths (13+)
Bulldogs def Broncos (1-6)
Knights def Panthers (6-12)
Sea Eagles def Storm (1-6)
Cowboys def Raiders (13+)
Tigers def Dragons (13+)
Warriors def Eels (6-12)
Sharks def Titans (13+)

But being Round 1 with no form other then trials with completely different teams from this week, I'm not confident in any of those tips. None of the games are big mismatches IMO, and I think every side is a decent chance in Round 1.

[DjBigK]

Pretty fair analysis there mx.

On the Parramatta front I'm worried about our inability to consistently defend particularly down the flanks as well as ill discipline and errors from poor decision making (eg. forcing passes). The expectations are rightfully at an all time low, but I'm still eager to see how we come together as a team particularly under a coach who has a lot to prove. Getting into the eight would be a remarkable achievement given the last two seasons.

[Candy Arse]

If the Eels make the 8, whoever their new coach is (forget right now) wins coach of the year without question.

[Candy Arse]

P.S Raiders will beat Cowboys. Upset special...

[Madmya]

Brad Arthur is the new Parra coach.

Shit didn't even notice Parker named at prop. This has me interested now, I'm hoping he's got a left-field approach to this game.

[mxlegend99]

I've mostly looked at the teams thoroughly for dream team. Parker was never in doubt for the Broncos, but it shocked me not seeing him named in the #13. I'm now not sure of his dream team value... odds on he will still get big scores. But playing front row could mean that he gets less game time, and as a result lower tackle counts, less hit ups and less likely to have assists to his name. His goal kicking has also been pretty shit, so he might be putting out numbers similar to the guys that are just below him in previous years. But as the highest priced player by miles.

As shit as a heap of rookies make NRL sides look, I fucking love seeing sides littered with them in Round 1. Any that looks like they will get atleast the first 3 rounds is a must buy... he goes up in value and allows you to spend more elsewhere.

[Madmya]

I'd be very surprised if Parker doesn't play 80 mins.

[pilonv1]

Hoffman at 5/8 is ridiculous

[Candy Arse]

Mark Gasnier has gone on record to pick the Broncos for the wooden spoon.

I really, really hope that happens.

[Madmya]

Yeah Hoffman is such a dud choice at 5/8th for reasons mx mentioned. I mean, I don't want him at fullback because of his lack of ball playing skills... now he's our 5/8th!

We are so not wooden spooners though. I can't see Dragons and Tigers besting us over a season.

My pick for the spoon is the tigers.

[pilonv1]

Enjoy the 1hr delay QLDers

[Madmya]

The joke's on you, our curtains aren't faded.

[mxlegend99]

Well, tips are 0/1 so far. Surprised that such a dud backline like the Souths was able to outplay an excellent backline like the Roosters. GI was the only bloke even close to being as good as his opposite number (well it's not really close.... he's a million times better then Mini). But the Souths looked great.

[mxlegend99]

Panthers overhaul game day experience

Two giant television screens, ordering beverages on your phone, walk-through merchandise stands, and even a new goal-kicking routine from Jamie Soward... it seems Penrith's playing roster wasn't the only department to undergo an extreme makeover in the off-season.

Even the iconic Panther scoreboard didn't survive the overhaul, taken down earlier this week to make way for a second screen – the way most of us take in our sport these days – making Sportingbet Stadium just the second arena in NSW with two high-definition screens.

"The Panther [scoreboard] hasn't gone by the way," Panthers Group's head of marketing Anthony Frantzis reminded NRL.com.

"We will one day resurrect the Panther and it'll be used on the other fields in the developing precinct at the back of the Leagues club, or even on a wall commemorating its time with the Panthers.

"It's just been positioned in a storage facility for it to be reborn again another day."

Recently Panthers senior management went on a fact-finding mission to the United States and UK, visiting powerhouse franchises New York Giants (MLB), LA Dodgers (MLB), the Dallas Cowboys (NFL) and the LA Clippers (NBA) and learnt the Panthers were as far behind US sporting clubs in game day experience as they were in geographical kilometres.

"The experience of going to the football, in our opinion, was underwhelming. Previously there was scant imagery around the stadium underpinning that this is our home ground. Visually, the stadium lacked presence. That was the first and foremost thing," he said.

"Short of tearing it down and building from scratch, we felt that there were a few things we wanted to do to make the stadium more emotive and more significant to all our fans and the first step in that process was to rebrand the whole stadium.

"We launched our new logo last year and after some initial concerns by supporters , everyone seems to be very happy now. In fact, quite amazingly, we're receiving more correspondence complimenting the new logo and how it resonates beautifully with everything we've done and continue to do since the change."

What will also 'resonate beautifully', Frantzis says, will be the VIP treatment for patrons who pre-order their drinks on an air service app.

"We trialled it for the first time two weeks ago in the trial against Newtown and we're trialling it again this week for beverages only," he said.

"But if all goes to plan, in next couple of weeks they'll be ordering food on their phones, paying for it on their phones and taking a 'selfie' of themselves prior to collection so the staff will know who it is.

"It will all be paid for, it will all be prepared and they can walk down to collect it, and walk straight back to their seats without waiting in line.

"A dedicated area called Kidz Korner [will be] an entirely revamped amusement area inside Sportingbet Stadium, including jumping castle, super slide, cup and saucer, bungee trampolines, pass the ball, face painting, balloons plus loads of fairy floss, all free."

It's all with the aim of improving traditionally poor crowd figures (their average of 10,337 was 15th in the NRL last year) and membership numbers (their 4837 members ranked 12th in 2013).

Perhaps the most surprising change however, on and off the field, is a rumoured new goal-kicking routine from new recruit Jamie Soward that – in tune with Frantzis's visual theme – might be a lot more aesthetically pleasing.

But that's a new innovation the newest Panther is trying to keep under wraps.

"I don't know, you'll have to wait and see," was all Soward could offer. "[Peter Wallace] has been kicking pretty well so he might be kicking this week."

If Soward's new technique is anything like the last one, you'd pay to go and see something like that.

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Gus has been absolutely amazing for our team. The money being put into our team is ridiculous. Our stadium getting a massive upgrade, the academy being built across the road to focus on junior development. He's easily the best signing we have made. Even if the team doesn't make the finals in his time with us, the other improvements he has made are just great for our club.

We have hit over 9,500 ticketed members this year. Absolutely smashing our sub 5,000 ticketed members from last year, and that improvement is without our side even making the top 8. If we have a successful year this year, we could be pushing for 15,000 and being around triple what we had in 2013. Unfortunately the weather is pretty bad this weekend and it's looking like most games will draw poor crowds. I won't be going if it rains tomorrow. Can't take a 15 month old and a 2 month old kid out in that sort of weather. With all 3 games on television tomorrow, I won't even have to miss the earlier games. Although the only game I think we can win tomorrow is the reserve grade one. Our Under 20's team is pure shit. I haven't heard of most of the players. Our first grade side will start off slowly with so many new faces, and the Knights have a strong team. If we keep it close I'll be happy. Reserves though... absolutely gun attacking side. The youngest Jennings boy will get a run in NSW Cup and he is being promoted straight from SG Ball, having never even played Under 20's. Excited and worried about that. In each trial the boys scored 50+ points and only had 12 or so put on htem. But I have no idea how strong the teams they played were. Anyways the footy is about to kick off. Not fussed about the winner here. But will be interested to see how the newlook Broncos backline and halves go.

[pilonv1]

Boncos are ahead but may have the worst set of halves in NRL history

[mxlegend99]

Dogs look fucking horrible. Forgot just how shit their spine is. Perret is ridiculously shit at fullback, Reynolds gives away too many penalties, Hodkinson doesn't stand out in any way and Ennis is by far the most overrated hooker in the game. I tipped Dogs but when you think about their spine , its hard to remember why I thought they could win. I got carried away in how poor the Broncos backs/halves looked and ignored the opposition roster.

8 points is nothing. But at the rate Dogs have played, Broncos could run away with it.

[pilonv1]

Atrocious game, both teams are terrible

[Candy Arse]

Both teams are garbage, horrid game.

[westical]

Eat a dick haters. Where's Reka?

[Reka]

I'm right here.

I'm not going to argue with the other guys - that was garbage.

[pilonv1]

Sucked in Manly

About time we had an exciting game