Round 18 Discussion

[Super Freak]

Sorry, I led everyone up the garden path - there has only been four with 13 or more straight wins in a season. The others stretched into the next season.
Only two of the four have ended up premiers in that year.

Which just goes to show how hard it is to maintain that form through to the Grand Final.

Sharks will drop off at some point, and it remains to be seen whether they would be able to get back to their best.

 

[Foordy]

Great win to the Sharks . If the Broncos cannot win this year I hope the Sharks go on to win it all. No team deserves it more and it would be a fitting end to a great career for Paul Gallen. What a great story, rising from the ashes, a win fifty years in the making. I just hope it's not the Cowboys, Melbourne or the Dogs. Up up Cronulla !!!

Paul Gallen is a whinging drug cheat and doesn't deserve to win a damn thing

 

[Morkel]

If the Sharks do win this year, put some money on the Warriors next year. Then the Titans. All the teams have a premiership, yaaaaaay!

 

[Big Pete]

It's going to be interesting to see where the Sharks winning streak will end.

I remember having similar thoughts last year, wondering when their losing streak would end. As it turned out it was a week or two later when they pulled off an amazing upset against the Roosters. Since then they've gone from strength to strength, to the point now where I believe they're a good chance of winning 20 in a row.

Let's look at their next opponents

Roosters (A) - Monday
On paper, the Sharks would have to be considered certainties. Sydney have only won 3 from 15 this year and have fallen into the habit of losing games at the death. On top of that, the Sharks have won their past 4 of 5 clashes against the Roosters. It's worth noting their sole loss was by 6 points, in a year where the Roosters finished as minor premiers while the Sharks took home the wooden spoon. It all points to a Sharks victory, the Roosters only hope is that a couple of the Cronulla Origin players come in a little flat while the Roosters hit the ground running. Cronulla don't have the best record on Mondays, they've been dubbed the Boomtown Rats by certain sections of the media, although their Round 4 East Monday win against Melbourne was pivotal to their 13 game winning streak. 14 in arow

Newcastle (H) - Sunday
Cronulla love playing on a Sunday afternoon. They haven't lost in that timeslot all season and up against the worst side since the Wests Magpies circa 1999 they should be odds on. 15 in a row.

Titans (A) - Monday
While the Sharks have managed to win 6 of their past 9 clashes against the Gold Coast Titans, a lot of clashes have been decided by close margins. I expect this to be similar, albeit still winnable. Heading into this season, the Titans were considered favourites for the wooden spoon. While a couple of individuals have turned heads and caused people to reconsider the talent of the side, ultimately the Titans are still a beatable side and a top four side like Cronulla should be able to over-power them on the road. Boomtown Rats factor and all. 16 in a row.

Raiders (H) - Saturday
It depends on how Cronulla back up from the Monday. Outside of their two wins against the Bulldogs, the Raiders have struggled to compete with the top teams of the competition, a bracket the Sharks certainly fall under having beaten the Raiders at GIO by 26 points earlier in the season. Their toughest clash of the lot but winnable. 17 in a row.

Dragons (A) - Saturday
The biggest danger game of the lot. The Dragons are the type of team that can really frustrate the top sides and given the histories against both sides and the match being played at the Dragons home turf, there is a recipe for a boil over. It depends on the Dragons really and what form they'll be in after their disgraceful effort against the Sea Eagles in Round 17. If they can get close to what we saw from them in 2015, this could be a belter. 18 in a row

Rabbitohs (A) - Saturday
At this stage, you'd have to think the Sharks will be too good for Souths. The Rabbitohs have been the real easybeats for a lot of the top sides so far this and you would have to think that the Sharks will have too many points in them. 19 in a row, equal to Easts 75 record.

Roosters (H) - Saturday
Well isn't this poetic? The Roosters defend their 40 odd year record against the Sharks. Could you imagine up, up Cronulla after 20 in a row?

Storm (A) - Saturday
This is likely the clash that they will drop, resting their players as they gear up to take on either the Bulldogs or the Broncos in the first week of the finals.

TL;DR - Sharks will win 20 in a row, conceding a loss in the final round to put themselves in good stead for the finals.

Now watch them lose next Monday against the Roosters. :laugh: Sorry Sharks fans.

 

[Big Pete]

In other news...

Lots of Intrust Super Cup (Queensland) action today.

Wynnum Seagulls 36 defeated Souths Logan Magpies 26
Burleigh Bears 36 defeated Norths Devils 32
Central Capras 24 drew Easts Tigers 24
Ipswich Jets 30 defeated Northern Pride 10

So the race for a Top 6 spot heats up with five teams (Seagulls, Magpies, Jets, Pride and Falcons) all in contention. Gulls and Jets have done incredibly well to come back into contention after slow starts and have come away with some great results in recent weeks. It's no wonder why they have some of the most passionate fans in the Intrust Super Cup.

The Bears v Devils scoreline looks misleading. The Bears were up by a big margin, only for the Devils to pile on a bunch of tries when the game was over. It was a good effort from the Devils at the death, but the Bears were well and truly dominant on the day.

 

[Super Freak]

Cowboys played with a lot of heart tonight.

Heavily depleted, playing in Canberra against a side only missing 1 Origin player, they should have been flogged.

But they stayed in the fight.

Broncos need to look at their attitude..

 

[Super Freak]

I heard the cat from the Panthers game was caught and terminated.

I hope it's not true.

Apparently it's a regular at the stadium. It's just the first time it's ever gone out onto the field.

 

[gordjw]

Kyle Feldt facing lengthy ban for hitting Jarrod Croker with shoulder charge off the ball - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[Broncoman]

A 5 week suspension is a bit over the top as it wasn't that brutal and I don't think Feldt has carry over points. He still deserves a 1-3 game suspension as that was stupid play.

 

[Super Freak]

I was looking at that thinking they couldn't see the difference between Coote and Feldt..

Then I saw it.

That's a bad one. He should get 5 weeks for that if Blair's effort last year was worthy of 2.

 

[Super Freak]

A 5 week suspension is a bit over the top as it wasn't that brutal and I don't think Feldt has carry over points. He still deserves a 1-3 game suspension as that was stupid play.

Not over the top at all.

Feldt comes flying in and takes out a player that didn't even have the ball. And when you consider Blair's effort last year, which wasn't anywhere near as bad as that, was worthy of 2 weeks.

We want to stamp this shit out, right? Then tough punishments need to be made.

A couple of weeks isn't going to do that.

If I were a player, I would gladly cop that.