2010 NRL Season

My top 8 for this year (In Order)
1: Melbourne- They are just so good. To be honest, they are one of the great teams of the modern era with starts like Slater, Inglis,Cronk,Finch,White,Hoffman and Johnson. How can you not have them on top. They will be there for Grand Final Day.

2. Penrith- So many good signs last year for this team, they had the talent but just couldnt play a strong 80 minutes. Now that they have a genuine halfback in Luke Walsh and the inclusion of big Daine Laurie, who can less the workload of Franky boy, the mountain men are due for a big season.

3. Parramatta- Memorable run last year only to be pipped on the line. 2010 is going to be the best chance parra have of winning a comp with big name signings of Poore, Shackleton and Timana Tahu, who is fitter than he has ever been before, which is a bad sign for other teams, not just nrl teams but rep teams like queensland and the kiwis.

4. Brisbane- Hot/cold team. Ivan Henjak has had a full season and charge and now knows whats required to win the tight games with his men, expect a big season from these blokes.

5. Canterbury- Brilliant season last year. Their hopes rely heavily on Jamal Idris. A freak in my opinion but his big downer is his defence, I could defend better than he does. If he improves that and remains like a bull when he has the ball in his hands, shut the gate.

6. North Queensland- I dont know why I have put them in here. Their hopes rely on the big 3: Bowen, JT and Payne. If this combo plays together all season, then they are a huge chance.

7. St George Illawarra- I think they will battle into the 8 this year because of last year and mentally it will hurt for a long time. I have seen some shattered faces but none more so than Soward last year against the broncs. I think he is hurting from that still and that will hinder on his game this year.

8. Gold Coast- Again, another side who will battle into the 8 because of last year. The last 2 months were just awful for them but that was due to their key player, Scott Prince, not being 100%. If he remains injury free, the titans can play a part in the finals.

MELBOURNE VS PENRITH GRAND FINAL

SOUTHS TO GET THE SPOON

ROOSTERS TO IMPROVE BIG TIME

Melbourne (Key men in 9, 13, 7, 6 and 1)
Bulldogs (As long as Kimmorley stays healthy)
Parramatta (Three key signings)
Dragons (Wayne Bennett)
Gold Coast (Great home record and the best half in the game at the moment)
Souths (Recruited well, my only query is Sandow)
Penrith (Another big year for Lewis)
Sea Eagles (Have the best forward in the world - Watmough)

Melbourne will win the comp and $7.50 is huge overs. If they win 3 of their first 4 games they'll be crunched into $3.50 favorites.

My big smokie this year is West Tigers. They have recruited well, but I'm not convinced Lote can transition back to the NRL, especially at fullback.

mmmm .....dont know if i agree with penrith here...or north qld...

thinking that the cowboys have an average year again...thurstons head will not be in it...just a feeling i get,bowen will get injured and i dont think they have great depth...

if penrith are relying on dane lawrie then they are in trouble...they are just to hot and cold for me

think melbourne will be strong but not the side they were...to let dalls johnson go to england will proove a big big mistake...he was the heart and soul of that forward pack...i dont believe they can replace him

parra are a massive chance...tahu will run riot this year...all the focus on hayne will free him and the other backs up...with poore and shackelton they now have great depth.

broncos...just keep producing...think they will miss the attacking ability of hunt and hodges(half of the year anyway) but they keep throwing up good juniors

saints..agree here nudge...all relies on soward...he is a confidence player..i think it was shot in the semis...there chances rely on him....and the ability to get over there choking,which they did big time last year

doggies...comes down to 1 person..kimmorley...if he is healthy.they play well and will be right up there,if not then average...lost a potent attacking weapon in eastwood,and will be very hard to replace el magic

titans...just never seem to get there...small quick side which works for them,yet works against them to..round abouts again

eagles...not really sure how they will respond with the loss of orford...was a hot and cold player...pressure now on kieran foran...will he be up to it...lost some attacking depth in cuthbertson...will improove if brett stewart doesnt go to jail...(my mail is he is in big trouble)

sharks...think these guys if they stay healthy are the big improvers..recruited well..decemated by injury last year...look out for this guy...albert kelly...absolutely could be anything

souths...mmm..have bought again..yet still not sure about there depth...massive forwards.will serve them well...but will it be for 80 or 60 minutes..this may go along way to how there season unfolds..dont know if they have the backs though...john lang a big plus

tigers....really like there forwards ...big and mobile..galloway will have a big year...have added some depth...but all relies on benji.....will b there abouts

raiders...well 4 the last couple of years have thought.mmm..spoon..yet they have missed..will continue to win at home yet loose away...have some good juniors

warriors...my tip for the spoon this year...there are troubles afoot over the tasman...stripping price of the captaincy is an interesting one...no depth....love manu though

knights....know stoney well from previously being coached by him...he will get tyhe best out of these guys...incredible coach...just not sure if they have the depth here though to run with the big boys....always seem to have some trouble in the club

roosters...well all comes down to what brian smith gets out of them...is a master at turning clubs around..were the roosters in to much crap to turn around...only time will tell...hope they are not relying on carney..dont reckon he will make it through the year

my top8 Eels Dragons Dogs Storm Eagles Broncos Bunnies Tigers/Sharks

Grand final...Eels.....Storm/Dogs

Origin...nsw 2-1

dally m nathan hindmarsh

bloody hell lads... NUDGEY WHAT ODDS THE BUNNIES FOR THE SPOON.. i will let you on for anything mate... never ever ever going to happen this year mate... never!!!
1 SOUTHS (seriously nudgey... very young backline last year and a lot of lads out of position... yeah we lose WINGY but UNCLE BULLY will relish the 60+ mins on the field, SUTTON will be lengths better, SANDOW will have a crapload more room to work in behind the leagues best forward pack, MEZZA and SIMMO out on the wings will be tryscoring freaks and CHAMPS and BESTY will carve them up, WESSER ripping them on the returns... TALANOU where do we put him... CAPEWELL.. VAI VAI?? competition in the backs for the first time in decades... have i mentioned the leagues best forward pack... dont worry about our depth pup we have oodles of blokes who are blooded... TYRELL for one, CLARKY... but just step back and have a look at our prop forwards- ASOTASI, STUART, TAYLOR, GEDDES, ROSS, PETTYBOURNE as a utility prop, BACKROW- PETTYBOURNE, BURGESS, LOWE, CROCKER... now add in STUART and TAYLOR who can drop into the backrow and we havent even mentioned MCPHERSON and CROSSMAN... ITS A MONSTER PACK and they can all step, throw the pass and play... youve goit to be freaking joking about the spoon... please nudgey DO NOT MAKE THAT BET!!!!
2. ST GEORGE (nemesis)
3. GOLD COAST
4. STORM
5 PARRA
6. TITANS
7. NTH QLD
8. EAGLES
Big dissapointments will be the DOGS and BRONCS... DOGS are too old and BRONCS writing is on the wall... might take both of them to get the spoon at odds.
GRAND FINAL brings back the biff and the olden golden days.... SOUTHS v THE DRAGONS at the SFS in front of 120,000 people going at it hammer and tong reliving the glory days... LUKE dummies and crashes over from dummy half with a minute on the clock... STUART takes the kick from in front as a reward for his tireless efforts for the rabbits over the last decade... he stuffs it shanghaing the ball into the crossbar and CHILLI is still crying unashamedly... BUNNIES by 3. Dont ya just get all tingly!!!! WHOOOHOO!!!

there is no way that south sydney will win the comp - its like putting a last start maiden into a group one! cannot and wont happen! $13 dollars is at least $20 under the odds, two back rowers dont win you a comp.simple as that

what about a PP tipping comp?

im pretty sure you will find that a last start maiden runner has taken home a few G1s mate... something in my memory banks tweaked at your post????????? Yeah we will open up a thread for the punters to follow our tips... worked really well last year and between us we managed to nail a few brilliant collects... i am also aware that LUC and KAGAN are working on something for the sports tipping mate... might be able to make some coin out of it to boot... although im not sure on the timelines... not the worst idea though mate... we all throw $20 in to KAGES and LUC... they take their cut and winner takes the loot... well at least 75% of whats left... 2nd can take the 25% and try again next year... wattya reckon?

P.S go the mighty bunnies...

There is so much talk about the Bunnies recruits. They look solid and yes Chills, I think they will be a top 8 for sure ;) BTW, let's get the sportsbet multi thread working nicely again this year. I will never forget that massive collect last year!

Sorry chilli but there's something about that South Sydney jersey that just makes good players not so good. I don't think they are premiership material, but top 4..........maybe

what you mean something in your memory bank? yeah mate im in for sure just let me know

as in i remember a horse ort two coming out of a maiden and winning a G1..

i know it was just a barrier trial... but seriously the bunnies were in another universe to the hapless Eagles... this is the year... bring on the Dragons..

They did look good. I might be eating my words come finals time.......

Bahaha, Its so funny seeing souths supporters getting excited over trial games.. It was 2 jersey flegg teams playing one another.. But hey, its probably all souths will win this year.. Hope they get backed in to win the comp so i can lay them for a whole heap more.. GO THE EELS..

I know Manly only played one bloke with NRL experience - Pocock I think he's called. Did the Bunnies use many first stringers other than the new superstar Burgess? I'm surprised Manly jumped out to a 12-0 lead!

hahaha its just a barrier trail lads but we killed them... we will do it all year... if you lay the bunnies this year it could spell potential disaster... BUCKO... what odds for you bunnies to make the 8 and 4?

Top 8 - 15/1 , Top 4 - 80/1.. No hope of making the top 4.. They'll lose a lot more games then they win this year.

All over Souths at 1.75 to make top 8. Load up and collect.

what will you let me on for bucko??

1.Paramatta
2.Souths
3.Titans
4. Melbourne
5. Wests
6. St George
7.Bulldogs
8. Manly

Gotta love 1.70 about tigers to make top 8 as well. My Opion anyway.

Melbourne to win the comp..why dont we start putting our money where our mouths are???

Affirmative Wicksy, Souths will make the 8 this year. I'm hopping on the South train!

If all things are equal (and they never are) Parra wins this by 4 lengths. They have a pack of tough/mobile/rep players. Mateo and Mortimer in the halves are untapped. Tahu, Hayne, Reddy, Grothe, Inu, Burt et all in the backs have speed/skill/power/size and rep experience.
It hurts me to say it but Parra look a pea to make the top 8 and top 4, and if they make the top 2 injury free they should make the GF. Rep season is the only thing that can hurt them, see Melb and Bris in recent seasons.

Second line of betting are Melb, Canterbury, Souths, Saints, and Bris. If Souths don't win the comp this year they never will, they've been fined for breaching the cap more than once in the last few years but they somehow got this team under it. It won't be the same next year so they need to win now. Melb are Melb and have Smith, Inglis, and Slater. Bennett is Bennett which helps Saints. Broncs are Broncs and Dogs are in a nice period. But they are all daylight behind Parra, except for Melb. When they are in form they can beat anybody

Wildcard is Manly - no halfback and lost 600 games of experience in 2 years (Menzies and Orford). Great backrow and have a winning mentality when right. Can't see them winning it though. Rep footy will hurt if they are going well. Will try to buy the first halfback on the market mid year.

Over rated teams are....... Newcastle - Seriously, rely too much on Kurt, Mullen can step up but he's the only one that wants to bet it will happen, Simpson and Cross are injury prone, did not recruit a single 1st grader.
..........North Qld - When they go well they are over rated, when Thurston is out they lose. Can't win the comp.
........... Penrith - are always going to improve but never enough. Have potentially the world's best player (Pritchard) and he won't put in. Bought a replica in D Laurie and he will only help when they are winning.

Souths are right for another 2 seasons WHIZ before we have to start getting rid of a few ageing warhorses... this "SQUAD" will be basically be same for the next 3 seasons with the depth we have at the moment... sometime in the next 3 seasons we will peak and be unbeatable...we have the talent now and its just a matter of when experience complements talent and turns into high performance hoping its this year!!

souths started well couldnt even beat the pensioners of the comp last night..another long season at redfern

haha bunny basher!!!! we played really well without our star forwards mate... dominated the first half and then SCOTTY went to town... was a very good trial.

real test comes this weekend against the DRAGONS in the challenge cup... this would be the first serious club hitout of the season... cant bloody wait.

$4 Knights to get the spoon? Take some. Word on the street is as many as 4 more more players may be charged and 6 more named/implicated in court. That equals 8 of the top 25 players...not counting injuries. Big names are not immune either.
Dark days ahead.

On the bright side, the Charity Shield was good to watch. Both teams blowing out the cobwebs.
But the Bunnies were good chilli! good to see. Only negative for them was that they didn't win and nearly lost. The Bunnies have got some points in them this year.

Anyone see the top 50 players in the Daily Tele this week (Phil Rothfield)? There is only 200-250 players in the comp....25% on the list is a high %. Still, I thought Jamie Lyon was lucky to get a start.......

I think he was spot with the top 5... UP THOSE QUEENSLANDERS!!!

CHILLI souths would win the comp if they treated every game as a Charity Sheild. The intensity they show every year in this game is great.
YOU WONT BEAT THE MIGHTY TITANS

This should make you happy too Nudgey. IMO the bet of the week for round 1 is Panthers 13+ or -7.5 @ $1.90. Raiders have little overall and 4 or more of their best out injured already. Saver for the spoon.
The choccy soldiers are S-P-E-C-I-A-L-S.

yeah, they do look specials Whiz. This is going to be a really good year for the mountain men

LOL WONGY... yeah i reckon TITANS are in for a super year as well as the rabbits... i dunno about the PANTHERS whiz and nudgey... they are severely lacking in the halves and i think if CAMPESE and HE$RBERT fire early they could fall into disarray... Panthers forward pack look formidable and their hooker could win them the game on his own... like the look of the RAIDERS pack with the likes of TILSE and THOMPSON off the bench they could very well hold their own and let the dominant halves combination control the match.. probably give the nod to the PANTHERS but am hoping their creativity will come from a rampaging LEWIS, PRITCHARD and WATERHOUSE cos i cant find any other creative sparks there... hope JENNINGS gets some ball. RAIDERS wont be wooden spoons this year... very much doubt it. CAMPESE is a match winner and we forget just how good he can be.

Easy money with Panthers 13+... but the rabbits... there are some bad signs there... they looked very ordinary on sunday and that worries, even though its only round 1

dunno nudgey... thought we were terribly unlucky not to post a few tries when the game was in the balance and i dont just mean MERRITs dipsy doodle although it was the obvious one at a key moment... everything the chookies tried stuck like glue and nothing we did came off... gotta remember this is round 1 and we have a huge team in size... is always gonna take a bit of time to get it together... BURGESS, TAYLOR, SUTTON, STUART all look like blokes resuming from a spell and will only get fitter and better... is very hard to be skillful when you are having a big blow... thought there were some really good signs there especially when we started rolling down the middle with our big pack... they were absolutely killing the chooks and that was early on in the show as well... way too much drop ball and our defence down the right edge was a bit ordinary which was exploited by CARNEY on several occassions... i agree with LANGY who said you cant go into a game in the NRL and expecting to win... ya still gotta earn it. I generally judge a team by who is firing and who isnt firing... nobody int he bunnies fired which is a good thing... same as the PANTHERS mate... Jennings, pritchard (fired one shot), no waterhouse makes me think they could be in for a decent year but there still remains massive questions about their halves combo... thought KEATING was very very good for them. STill Raiders put on some very basic tries and CAMPESE, HERBERT didnt fire a shot the whole match and if PURTELL didnt get hands on that intercept the PANTHERS were just about gooone... i tell ya something for free... this is gonna be a terrible terrible season on the punt for the NRL... two of the worst perfoming teams in Rd 1 are up against each other Friday night in TITANS and RABBITS and i absolutely believe that both teams will play out of their skins and everyone will be saying WOW two genuine contenders just had a cracka of a match...

The Bunnies were rolling down the middle early and got a couple of early penalties too (always happens when a team is on a roll). But for mine that was the problem.....field position + possession but no points. The big fellas will start fast every week but they will be put under pressure from the 30 minute mark each week. I knock around with a former NRL front rower who backed the Chooks, he said all week that if the Rabbits don't score early points they will slow down and be vulnerable. The Chooks have a much fitter/quicker pack this year and wingers who like hard work. They got too many easy metres after the opening exchanges. That blueprint is no secret, but it still has to executed.
Yes, things stuck for Easts but that happens when you have blokes like Carney and Pearce running things, and they stuck to the game plan.
Sandow seemed more interested in putting on hits and yapping than running the team and Sutton was cold, put that down to round 1. After the "softening up period" those two have to step up and take advantage and run the game.....much the way Carney and Pearce did.
Great to see Mini Minichello back too, and Carney looked as though he hasn't missed a beat (I won't be comparing him to the big fella from Macksville yet though, unlike some in the media!). Top work from Brian Smith too, has obviously had a great effect on the club so far and his game plans are obviously very good. If the halves can hold form and stick to the game plan the Chooks will go ok this year.

Beware the wounded rabbit, they'll have steam coming out of their ears this weekend, and they will be ready to rumble! I doubt Dave Taylor will be doing any interviews this week.

Best formline from round 1 will obviously be the Saints vs Parra game. I tipped Parra to win the comp but no way was I going to put money on them against the Saints, it's like we forgot how well they started last year.

This was a tipsy turvy round... I think Melbourne are the benchmark by a long way

You could hear their underlying confidence after the game when Brett Finch was asked about Cronk returning. Finch said they would love to have him fit but they won the World challenge and the first 2 matches without him so they are going quite nicely and won't rush him. I reckon every other team in the comp would be rushing their no 7 back.
Cronk back in the 7, Smith back to 9, and Hoffman to return. Scary.

If they remain injury free, I think they are just about good things for the comp and I'd take the $5 or $6 thats offered for them now

I told you $7.50 was a gift. I guarantee you wont see that price again.

they cant win again lads... they dont look the goods this year at all... in saying that they do come good when it matters and win enough games to make sure they are their to capitalise on any opportunity... still i can see them make the 8 but i think their time is well and truly over... will be taking them on when they play some of the strong teams... SHARKS shouldve beaten them and KNIGHTS had it on toast... some of these stronger teams will put the knife to their throat... in fact KNIGHTS with GIDLEY in wouldve flogged them... Benchmark team at the moment is the DRAGONS and thats by a long long way after 2 rounds.

go the chooks cock-a-doodle-doo

ok, what are your tips for this upcoming round??? I have no idea who to pick

Have to say it's a nightmare round to be tipping.

I reckon Roosters to bounce back and Manly are my multi. Maybe toss in Tigers, not sure yet.

Knights can pip the Panthers at home but wouldn't put money on it.

Eels, Cowboys, Dogs

And the Storm by 1 point in the game of the round.