NRL 2017
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Big week for me ,
Both my Aussie teams in grand finals , storm and tigers (afl) ,
happy days .
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Kieran Foran won't be playing in the RLWC. Looks like the Kiwis will go with Shaun Johnson, Te Maire Martin, Kodi Nikorima, Thomas Leuluai as their halves/hooker options. Maybe Danny Levi or Isaac Luke in the hooker role too.
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2017 NRL Grand Final:
Melbourne Storm: 1 Billy Slater, 2 Suliasi Vunivalu, 3 Will Chambers, 4 Curtis Scott, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Cameron Munster, 7 Cooper Cronk, 8 Jesse Bromwich, 9 Cameron Smith (captain), 10 Jordan McLean, 11 Felise Kaufusi, 12 Tohu Harris, 13 Dale Finucane. Interchange: 14 Kenneath Bromwich, 15 Tim Glasby, 16 Nelson Asofa-Solomona, 17 Slade Griffin. Reserves: 18 Ryley Jacks, 19 Robbie Rochow, 20 Joe Stimson, 21 Young Tonumaipea.
North Queensland Cowboys: 1 Lachlan Coote, 2 Kyle Feldt, 3 Justin O'Neill, 4 Kane Linnett, 5 Antonio Winterstein, 6 Te Maire Martin, 7 Michael Morgan, 8 John Asiata, 9 Jake Granville, 10 Scott Bolton, 11 Gavin Cooper (captain), 12 Ethan Lowe, 13 Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 14 Ben Hampton, 15 Coen Hess, 16 Corey Jensen, 17 Shaun Fensom. Reserves: 18 Ray Thompson, 19 Javid Bowen, 20 Braden Uele, 21 Matthew Scott.
Referees: Matt Cecchin, Gerard Sutton.
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So I went to the Footy Show on Thursday night, a mate had a couple of free tickets and it was being filmed about 100m from my place. I haven't actually seen the show in 2 years as I don't have Ch9 as it messes with the Foxtel feed.
Was a decent night, kind of entertaining and good to see the teams come out and a few players have a chat.
I really don't know who to cheer for in this match. First instinct is the Storm because of Tohu (Bay boy, same Marae etc) and all the other Kiwi players in the side. But then it's always good to go for the underdogs and Taumalolo is carving up - even if Gallen won the Dally M for lock (seriously WTF). But I thought, should go with the most Kiwi players so Storm, but then I watched a replay of the 2012 final and they're just so annoying, Smith and Slater get dirty but don't get called on it because the Oz league media worship them as gods.
Anyway, funniest thing about the footy show was the amount of boos Gallen received - Smith got quite a few as well. Taumalolo got the biggest cheers.
So no doubt I'll change who I'm supporting multiple times before kick off - but I'm going to be watching this year ... haven't watched all of them recently.
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I'm backing the Cowboys just because they really shouldn't be there with all the key injuries they have had but I see the Storm winning 22-12 when all is said. Cooper Cronk wins the Churchill Medal and retires immediately afterwards.
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I'm backing the Cowboys (I always elect for the underdog when my team isn't playing) but can't see the Storm losing. The funny part is for all their success, no one in Melbourne will care.
Given the ticket situation, it's apparent no one in Sydney does either.
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@antipodean It's been a bit of a boring season because from game one it was clear that Melbourne was just better than the other teams.
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@antipodean said in NRL 2017:
I'm backing the Cowboys (I always elect for the underdog when my team isn't playing) but can't see the Storm losing. The funny part is for all their success, no one in Melbourne will care.
Given the ticket situation, it's apparent no one in Sydney does either.
Thats actually not true , they get bigger crowds and have more members than most of the sydney clubs ,
and get good Tv audiences in melbourne , alot of afl fans have adopted them as their second team much like a lot of union fans in Nz have done with the warriors,
but people like to believe thats the way it is
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Cowboys poor kicking game is putting them on the back foot.
As I type that they get a break with a Storm knock on.
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Cowboys fans will be spewing at that.
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Vunivalu touched the ball but Addo-Carr still scores (edit: watched the bunker footage - no he didn't but the ref blocked Te Maire Martin)
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Melbourne already out to a 12-0 lead. This is over red rover.
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First league I've watched in ages, since I gave up on the Warriors early-mid season.
What a boring game, but would I be correct in suspecting that it's GF is a fair reflection of league in general at the moment?Hit up x5, kick. Rinse & repeat. Don't make any mistakes, just wait for the opposition to make one.
Where is the flair, the offloads, the ball moving through more than 2 sets of hands?
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Game set and match before the break.
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That was another poor defensive read from the Cowboys 3.
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Has there been a rule change on the play of the ball? Players regularly just rolling it between their legs without touching the ball with their foot.
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Storm too dominant this season - crushing the Cowboys in the home straight.
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Cant remember a season for a while where one team looked so dominant ,
I think with Smith , cronk and Slater well into their 30s now, there was a feeling at the club its now or never , they threw everything at it this year
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