NRL - Round 16,June 29th - July 1st

[Jumbo]

Games this weekend are as follows.... Friday - Knights vs Souths. Saturday - Titans vs Warriors and Panthers vs Broncos Sunday - Raiders vs Tigers and Dragons vs Eagles Monday - Bulldogs vs Roosters Wedesday - Queensland vs New South Wales. Lets have a quick look at the matches.... Friday - Knights vs Souths... Buderus,Gidley and Simpson are gone for Origin but the Knights still have Walsh and Mullen,the Bunnies miss no one. Souths have a terrible record against the Knights but the Bunnies do have a frantastic defence and very strong forward pack,at present i'm leaning towards the Knights mainly due to the fact that Walsh is running to the line and attracting players to him and when he does that the Knights look great and with Mullen waiting in the wings the Knights play does'nt die. The Bunnies are still struggling to score but they have shown against Manly and the Sharks that they are looking alot better in attack,this match will be very close and if the Bunnies can score points then the game is their's for the taking,the Knights without Gidley,Simpson and Buderus are not very good and with players comming off contract at the Knights i'm really unsure about this match,I have a feeling that the Bunnies are due here,but at present as stated i'm leaning towards a 2 point win to the Knights,but I could change my mind... Saturday - Titans vs Warriors... The Titans miss Bailey the Warriors miss Price due to Origin commitments. Although the Titans are going along very well at the moment I think they are due a loss here at home,the Titans are yet to lose at home but last week was very close in the end and they will not get the easy meters they found last week against the Knights.Lafrachii,Minichello,Rodgers and Prince have been outstanding of late but their last two wins were perhaps a surprise or one was anyway,the Titans beat the Tigers who had a very off game and then beat the Knights,but should of beaten them by alot more. The Warriors have had trouble scoring points all year long untill last week and with the Warriors finally winning I can sense a run of sorts on the horrizon,the Warriors will miss Price but the Titans will miss Bailey.Thw Warriors have looked likely all year but have had no luck,I think that may change over the next few weeks.... Saturday - Panthers vs Broncos.. Alot of missing players here Hunt,Lockyer,Tate,Cinovecva,Carroll,Hodges(Injury??)Berrigan is that all?I'm unsure and the Panthers,has Gower gone yet?? I'm actually leaning towards the Panthers here regardless of whos in and whos out.The Panthers have a very strong forward pack and if Wallace is back in then i can see the Panthers winning here. The Broncos played on Monday and we all know the curse and with the troubles at the Blue Mountains,I get the feeling that the Panthers may well have something to prove here and with the amount of talent out of the Broncos,I'm tippin the Panthers at present... Sunday - Raiders vs Tigers Now this match is a very intresting one,the Raiders lose Costigan the Tigers lose no one to Origin. The Raiders have every right to be angry with their efforts last week and although the offside call was bogus,you cannot allow a side to lead by that many at the break and expect to come back week after week. The loss of Costigan is significant I think as he has leadf by example in many of the Raiders games including last week. The Tigers on the other hand have no one missing to Origin but the real question is can they win at night? They have a dreadful record at night and that was once again outlined on Monday where for the second time on MNF the Tigers were spanked by 30. However this match is in daylight and I think the Tigers are worth the go here,Costigan is missing and the Tigers will want to arrest this latest losing streak... Sunday - Dragons vs Eagles The Eagles are missing Kite,Lyon and Stewart while the Dragons miss no one to origin. The Dragons have a great record against the Eagles and I actually have them as winners here,they were very good against the Eels two weeks ago and were ok against the Storm last week. The Eagles were blown off the paddock last week by the Bulldogs and may be in a bit of strife here today,Stewart is rock solid at the back and he is gone,Kite has looked great in recent weeks also and he is gone. The Dragons forwards will really rate thier chances here and against a weakned Eagles side if the Dragons can get on top early then I can see the Dragons winning here at present... Monday - Bulldogs vs Roosters The Bulldogs miss Mason and Ryan,but they lose little really with Hughes,Williams and Maitua playing very well.I though Roberts was outstanding last week also and the Dogs have looked likely over the past few weeks but last Friday against the Eagles was the first time they performed well for the full 80. The Roosters fell apart last week and they had thewir chances in the second half to come back but blew it. I actually once again like the Roosters here,they have been playing well and with a bit of luck i rate them as a very strong chance here to knock over the Dogs,but we'll see as Monday gets closer how I feel... Thats a start at least for the thread,see you all on Friday night.:ok

[pete]

Re: NRL - Round 16,June 29th - July 1st Great to see you back Jumbo:ok