BigBlog

Well folks, here is the final standings...After 26 weeks of friendly office tipping, we can declare Craig H as the winner of the 2008 Tipping Competition buy a mere 4 points...Bev B tipped well to hold onto 2^nd place, with Steve H picking up a well deserved 3^rd...The final top tipper prize goes to Carol-Ann H, who managed to tip a perfect round to finish off the season...And of course, the Wooden Spoon for 2008 will be shared by Brannie L and Marc T...I'll post a final wrap up a bit later in the week, and hopefully give you some details for the GF party...

Roosters v Dragons
The Roosters must win if they want to finish in the top four. That motivation alone plus playing at home should be enough to get them the two points. The Dragons won't be easy. They are in good form at the moment. They are looking for four wins in a row and playing with a lot more confidence. The Roosters have Anthony Minichiello back who will give them a lot more impetus from the back. They have certainly missed him. We're just waiting for the Roosters to emerge from their mini form slump. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Dragons triumph but I think the Roosters have plenty of incentive to win.

Broncos v Knights
Broncos at home, coach Wayne Bennett's last game, Tonie Carroll's last game, fourth place if Roosters lose ... so there is great incentive for the Queenslanders to win. You just wonder whether Newcastle can lift again after such a massive effort against Melbourne Storm last week. Teams tend not to come up too well after playing Melbourne. Plus Newcastle have to go on the road. To lift for one game without Buderus isn't as hard as lifting for two. But having said that, Newcastle like playing Brisbane and like playing at Suncorp Stadium. And I wasn't overly impressed with the Broncos against the Bulldogs last week. The Broncos should win which will make it a nervous wait for the Knights for the rest of the weekend.

Panthers v Sea Eagles
It's been an awful year for the Panthers. They have shown some glimpses of great play but they have been awful for the past six weeks when their season has been on the line, starting with that 74-12 thumping by Canberra. Manly are showing they deserve to be considered Premiership contenders with Melbourne Storm. Their defence on Monday night against Gold Coast was outstanding. They have a solid look about them. Jamie Lyon should be back. They have got the distraction of Steve Menzies's last premiership match at Brookie out of their minds. I can't see Penrith getting close. The big question is how many points Manly will win by to try to win the minor premiership. A negative for Manly is that they might try too hard too early to score points. But I can't see Penrith upsetting Manly in the form that both sides are in. So Manly will win quite comfortably.

Eels v Warriors
Geez, this is a tough one because the Warriors just don't play well away from home. Away from Mt Smart Stadium they are a different side. Parramatta are a little bit like Penrith - promised so much and delivered so little. No Brett Finch again this week. Parramatta are at home but the Warriors have so much to play for. I think the Warriors are in with a big chance of winning this one. If they can play the way they normally do at Mt Smart Stadium they will win. What's Parramatta's state of mind going to be like? They've got nothing really to play for. It's just a toss of the coin. I'll go for the Warriors because they have a little bit more to play for with a spot in the eight. But I'm saying that with no confidence at all.

Sharks v Cowboys
Cronulla are equal first but their for-and-against is inferior to Melbourne's and Manly's. They need one of those two sides to get beaten on the weekend - which is highly unlikely - for them to finish in the top two. Realistically they will finish third but they will want to beat Cowboys first. No side wants to go into the play-offs having lost their last game. They will have a home semi-final but they will want to be playing good football heading into the finals. They have won four of their last five and they will be taking on a Cowboys side that may be a little bit relaxed after their win last week against Canberra. And the threat of the wooden spoon seems to have eased somewhat. That was a wonderful motivation for the Cowboys last week. The Sharks have so much to play for and I wonder whether the Cowboys can back up two weeks in a row. But any team with Johnathan Thurston in it is always dangerous and they did play very well against the Raiders last week. Their defence was outstanding. And will Cronulla suffer a let down after the Greg Bird incident even though they played very well last week? I can't see that happening. Cronulla at home will be too strong.

Raiders v Bulldogs
If Canberra play the way they have up until last week they will beat the Bulldogs by a big margin. But are injuries catching up with them? Terry Campese was struggling with a hamstring problem last week. They reckon he is over it. He is such a key component of that side. He was a passenger last Saturday night in North Queensland because of his hamstring and it showed in the Raiders. Their offensive work was not what it had been in the past and maybe all their injuries are catching up with them. The Bulldogs have to win and hope the Cowboys get beaten to avoid the wooden spoon. It just won't happen. The Raiders have too much to play for. They have worked so hard to let it slip in the last two weeks. I think they will be almost impossible to beat at home. And if they are a genuine threat to this competition - which a lot of people think they are - they should win well.

Titans v Tigers
The only game this weekend where the result has no impact whatsoever on any position in the top eight. Both sides have had a disappointing end to the year. Injuries have played a huge role in their performances. More so the Titans than the Tigers. The Tigers have been bitterly disappointing. They've had so much to play for in recent weeks. The big question is can the Titans back up after Monday night where they had a very physical game against Manly? Luke Bailey is back. The Titans have a much better look about them this week. I think the Titans at home should do enough to get over the Tigers. Some of the Tigers players are playing for their future - but that won't be enough. The Titans will be too strong.

Storm v Rabbitohs
Melbourne will know how many points they will have to beat Souths by in order to finish first. That's a wonderful incentive. But the Rabbitohs will be no easy-beats. They have been in reasonable form of late. They've won six of their last 10 which is not bad when you consider they lost their first 10 or so matches. They're playing with a little bit more confidence. They were unlucky against the Roosters last week. They've got of lot of points in them but I'm not sure their defence is strong enough to hold out Storm in Melbourne. I think Storm have been waiting for this time of the year. I reckon they will be on fire. But whether they will win by enough to give them the minor premiership, we'll have to wait to find out.

Tight would be the word we are looking for, maybe not for 1^st and 2^nd, but certainly for 3^rd spot on the ladder, although trying to pick up a 5 point margin in one round could be a bit difficult...We had 9 tippers going for the $10 prize this week, and I'm please to say that a rank outsider got the money with a perfect margin pick of 14 points, was Kerriann H...Lynda T and Brian P are still fighting it out for a top ten finish, and with 4 points in the mix, the final round is going to be a fight to the finish...While I think of it, the margin game for the final round is Broncos v Knights...Good luck and good tipping...

Tigers v Sharks - The tigers need the magic of Leichhardt Oval to do its stuff, but boy oh boy this is a team out of form. They're just not aiming up, and coach Tim Sheens finally snapped last weekend by putting his players on notice. They've had so much to play for over the past couple of weeks, but the efforts they put in against Parramatta and Manly were pretty poor. Sheens quite rightly pointed out that Daine Laurie - he of eight first-grade games - is whacking guys in defence and scoring tries, but there has been a lot of that missing in the forwards. The Tigers need to find some forwards. They've got Gareth Ellis coming over next year from the UK but that's not going to help them against the Sharks. Cronulla have obviously had the week from hell with everything that's happened to Greg Bird, but they won games when he had an ankle injury earlier in the season and, I think, they'll be fired up and ready to go here. They're certainly not a one-man team and I think they will win. If the Tigers don't aim up, then they'll get spanked again.

Roosters v Rabbitohs - At the time of writing this, the Roosters are $1.30 on Tab Sportsbet to win this game, and the Rabbitohs are massive value at $3.30. I'm even prepared to say the Rabbitohs' form has been better than the Roosters' of late. The Roosters, I think, have been flat-out terrible, and their Origin forwards, in particular, just haven't backed up. They need to find something, and find it in a hurry, otherwise they are going to drop out of the top four. And it could be one game and over in the finals if they don't pick up their game. You can only take the Roosters on absolute trust, but, for the moment, I'm going to reserve that trust and say the Rabbitohs can certainly score more points than the Roosters. Fittler's men just can't score at the moment, as six points in their last two games testifies. I also think the Rabbitohs will be fired up after what happened back in round one with Craig Wing. Their season was almost ruined by that one incident and it took them a long time to recover mentally from it. Wing's back now and I think they can settle the ledger here.

Knights v Storm - It's a crying shame for the Knights that Danny Buderus won't be there for this game. And I think this might suck a bit of the gas out of their finals charge; they might be a bit flat and deflated. But, then, they were awesome in the first half against the Cowboys; on the negative side, though, they did leak a lot of points in the second half, and, if you don't turn up at your best against the Storm, then you are simply no chance. Manly couldn't beat the Storm on their home ground, and, if the Sea Eagles can't win at home, then it's hard to imagine anyone else doing it at the moment. Melbourne look to be continuing their march towards another minor premiership and, I don't think, the Knights are going prove a hurdle for them here. It might be close for a good portion of the match, but the big four - Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith - will be the difference.

Dragons v Eels - The Dragons were awesome in Wollongong last weekend, and Mark Gasnier showed exactly why we are going to miss him when he goes to French rugby. When you could see what Gasnier could do with his hands and feet last weekend against the Warriors, you think, why can't he do that every week. But it's just not that easy. The NRL is a pretty tough competition. The Dragons have steadied the ship after a lean patch. They were wobbling badly through that post-Origin period and I, for one, had serious question marks about them. But they've started to look good again in the past few weeks and, I think, they'll handle the Eels pretty comfortably here. I think the Eels are complete imposters still, as they only limped home against the Bulldogs last weekend. If you were on the share market, nobody would be knocking down the door of a stockbrocker shouting "I want to buy some Eels".

Cowboys v Raiders - The Cowboys are at home and, even though they lost all those games in a row, they have rarely been blown away. They have been far more competitive than the Bulldogs have been in recent times and there were some good signs in their comeback against the Knights last week. The Raiders could easily have dropped the game last week against the Rabbitohs, but they turned into the side we know and love for the second half. But how long can they keep battling on losing player after player? Terry Campese has virtually made himself the star of the team, and, with the Greg Bird events this week, there's a chance he could be included in Australia's World Cup squad. His ultimate inclusion could depend on how far the Raiders go in the finals. You have to tip the Raiders in this one. I know it's another game on the road, and it's a long trip to Townsville, but they have a pretty good record up there. You have to really like their chances of sneaking into fourth spot.

Warriors v Panthers - The Panthers, not unlike the Tigers, are in pretty ordinary form at the moment. They look like a team ready for a lie down on a beach somewhere like Waikiki and, I think, they are in finals contentions under false pretences at the moment. I know the Warriors are coming off the back of a big loss, but we know what they've done at home in recent times. They've produced some wins against good teams and, I think, they can handle the Panthers pretty comfortably here. The Panthers simply need everyone at their best. If they don't have their top 17 in that frame of mind in Auckland this weekend, they could be beaten by some stretch.

Bulldogs v Broncos - The Broncos got home on the brilliance of Darren Lockyer last week, but I'm sure they won't need that to overcome the Bulldogs this weekend. I reckon Wayne Bennett would have given his side a real revv up this week. The Broncos have far too much to play for here, especially with a chance of grabbing a top-four berth. I suppose you have to take your hat off to the Bulldogs for their achievements in the first half against Parramatta last weekend. I gave them no chance in that game but they led at half-time. They could have even gone on with it in the second half if a couple of balls had gone their way. But if the Bulldogs even have a slight letdown on the back of last weekend, this could get ugly.

Sea Eagles v Titans - After all these seasons, Steve Menzies's final home game has arrived. And, with great timing, Manly looked as though they played themselves back into a bit of form against the Tigers last weekend. Matt Orford had a good kicking game for the most part, and the try-scoring freaks, Menzies and Brett Stewart, did there stuff. It was tremendous entertainment. But they won't get those sort of chances, or room, against the Titans on Monday night. The Gold Coast are a far better team than the Tigers, especially with Scott Prince back, and the Titans will be a good test for Manly. But with all the emotion surrounding Menzies, it's hard to go past the Sea Eagles. They'll win for the Beaver.

Well, well, well...What an interesting round of Rugby League we witnessed over the weekend. Not only did we have a few surprising losses, but we managed to get 4 tippers claiming perfect rounds. You'll see them on the tipping ladder, just look for the 19's next to their names...This leaves Craig H 6 points clear at the top of the ladder, leaving Bev B with a mammoth task if she wants the lead back. Steve H has managed to pip Sam H into 3^rd place by a single point and with Cornholio and Stephen H only 3 points behind Sam, it's going to be a pretty tight tussle for the top spots in the last 2 rounds...The ladder for Round 24 is below, have fun and good tipping...