Round 13 Discussion

[Big Pete]

Friday
6:00pm - Melbourne Storm vs Newcastle Knights
7:50pm - Parramatta Eels vs Warriors

Saturday
3:00pm - St George Illawarra Dragons vs Wests Tigers
5:30pm - Sydney Roosters vs Brisbane Broncos
7:30pm - North Queensland Cowboys vs Gold Coast Titans

Sunday
2:00pm - Manly Sea Eagles vs Canberra Raiders
4:00pm - Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs vs Penrith Panthers

 

[Big Pete]

I almost feel like these weeks aren't worth talking about until Thursday, such is the nature of Origin and the impact it can have on these games. However, initial impressions can always be fun, so without further ado...

The round kicks off in what should be a one-sided affair to Melbourne. Whether it plays out like that though remains to be seen, I'm not sure what it is about Newcastle, but they've always had a decent record against Melbourne and even when they don't win, they usually push Melbourne a lot further than you'd expect. I could easily see this being a tight first half, perhaps with Newcastle going into the break with their tails up but that Melbourne bench is awesome. Jordan McLean, Joe Stimson, Kenneath Bromwich & Nelson Asofa-Solomona is the bench of nightmares and up against the fairly inexperienced Newcastle Knights line up they should run over the top of them in the second half. One change I'd be keen to see is Brandom Smith for Cameron Smith, the young Kiwi hooker has earned rave reviews from BHQ's very own 1910 and I must say he was the best dummy half I saw in the Holden Cup in 2015. With a bit of that Queensland Cup seasoning, I could see him becoming a mainstay, not just in the NRL but also for the Kiwis which will be awesome because Issac Luke has been past it for a few years.

Speaking of the Kiwis, they travel to ANZ Stadium to take on Parramatta in what will be a season defining game for both teams. Both sides come off impressive performances and could really separate themselves from the pack with a result here. It's just a matter of who rocks up on the night, if the Warriors play like we know they can, they should have too many points for the Eels. I always like a game that keeps me guessing and I'm genuinely looking forward to this clash.

Saturday kicks off with Lolohea's debut for the Wests Tigers. Lolohea reminds me a lot of another young half by the name of Carlos Tuimavave who was a clearly talented ball-runner but couldn't quite find himself as an NRL player. They've even found themselves in a similar place in regards to their overseas move, except while Tuimavave found himself at the Knights who were going off the rails, Lolohea has found himself at the Tigers. Hopefully he finds his feet under Cleary because he has the potential to be a real fan favourite, but at this stage it definitely appears to be at long odds. The impression I get is that he's going to struggle this weekend behind a well beaten pack and the Dragons will continue their impressive 2017 campaign with another gritty hard fought win. If Woods plays, expect a big performance from Paul Vaughan and about half a dozen posts in this thread questioning why he wasn't at Suncorp on Wednesday night.

The Gold Coast Titans have a lot to answer for after their non-show against Manly. They were utterly disappointing last start and really fell back down to earth after impressive showings against Brisbane, Cronulla & Melbourne. I think they'll be a lot better here, but against the North Queensland Cowboys I fear they'll give up too much of a start and the Cows will draw on their experience to see themselves through. Once again, Coen Hess will give Kane Elgey plenty of nightmares as the Cows keep themselves in the running for a top 4 spot.

I'm really looking forward to Sunday, two big season defining games, why does Origin have to be a factor again? Manly & Canberra is a real toss of the coin, whoever shows up on the day type affair while the Bulldogs/Panthers certainly has my interest. For years, Panthers fans have called for Matt Moylan to play at five-eighth and they've got their wish against a Canterbury side that is slowly but surely destroying whatever enjoyment I get out of their game. Generally whenever Hook made changes like this, it usually resulted in a good performance and I hope it's the same here with Penrith going 3 from 3 and starting their own surge up the ladder. Of course these spikes were always short lived, so if you know any Penrith fans, just let them enjoy their little run, don't go ahead and spoil how the experiments usually turned out.

 

[Organix]

So here is another fine example of NRL.com having terrible editors. It appears the cowboys are sick and tired of the Titans playing ad-lib football. But they aren't concerned or even wary. Oh no, wait, my apologies, they are preparing for second-phase play. If only the editors had picked up the typo in the god damn heading of this article! [emoji35]

 

[Big Pete]

No Cameron Smith tonight for Melbourne.

Slade Griffin who has had a number of terrible set-backs with injury will come into dummy half with former Cowboys NYC player Brandon Smith coming onto the bench. (Keep an eye on him).

Meanwhile the Knights welcome back Lachlan Fitzgibbon into the backrow, enabling Nathan Brown to shift Mitchell Barnett onto the bench for a stronger 17.

The Knights are long odds, but they've been gallant so far in 2017 and have pushed some very good opposition. The loss of Cameron Smith should make life difficult, but the Storm still have plenty of quality players. For mine, the player I'll be watching closely is Billy Slater. If he absolutely kills it, I'm sure he'll be right in the frame for an Origin II call-up.

 

[Browny]

Slater tearing them up

 

[Battler]

Slater playing himself back into a QLD jersey.

 

[Browny]

Munster has a little too much grub in him

 

[Big Pete]

Newcastle cop some ordinary calls. How often do you see a scrum called back when something as weird as a ball being booted 15m from the opposition?

Slick play from Gagai.

 

[Browny]

So that's forward?

 

[Big Pete]

Lamb is maturing into a solid player.

He isn't getting ragged dolled anymore and his skill-set is beginning to shine.

Looks like the Knights just had a try taken off of them. They're really exploiting that Munster/Blair edge effectively.

 

[Big Pete]

I missed the opening portion of the game, so all I've seen so far is some resilient Knights defence. They've pushed the envelope and to the referees credit he wasn't having any of it, but they've made some big tackles when they've needed to be made. Brock Lamb in particular has silenced Slater with some quality defensive reads.

Melbourne have been very impatient so far. They're usually at their best when they get their big men over the advantage line before either playing short or long. So far they've been getting ahead of themselves and have been guilty of wanting to score off of every play. They just need to remember they have one of the best last tackle players in the game and should just get through their sets.

 

[Tera]

Did Sam Stone get injured?

 

[Big Pete]

Well that was freak-ish from Billy Slater.

To win the race for the ball, then to hold onto it, there aren't too many players who would be able to do that.

Kevie must be liking what he's seeing.

 

[Tera]

Well that was freak-ish from Billy Slater.

To win the race for the ball, then to hold onto it, there aren't too many players who would be able to do that.

Kevie must be liking what he's seeing.

Nah but his shoulder though

 

[Super Freak]

Did Sam Stone get injured?

Relegated to the bench.

Brown has been doing that with a few players this year. Rotating players around etc.

 

[Big Pete]

Cooper Cronk is the king of the cross-field kick.

It's amazing how adept Melbourne have been with that play. From King, to Folau, to Duffie and Vunivalu it's nearly indefensible.

 

[Super Freak]

Cooper Cronk showed why we should be kicking to Oates more often.

I heard earlier in the year Milford and Moga had been practicing that, but not sure what happened there. They never use it.

 

[Big Pete]

A couple of Knights defenders turn in and Slater just rips through.

Two tries, two try assists.

With the way he's put his arm up, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that shoulder.