The NRL Season of 2016

kiwiinmelb

While all the hype has been around the Broncos and the Cowboys , the Storm have just gone quietly about their business and now sit top of the ladder , 
 
Their young forward pack is looking the real deal , possibly the best in the business and the good news for Kearney it has 5 kiwis in it

Sneakdefreak

Warriors always dust up either Melbourne or Brisbane at home each season so this was expected following on from Origin. Until they can back it up (and the next two games the Warriors need to win - Newcastle and Roosters) they're still out of the playoffs.
 
Coaching rumour mill is the Warriors are targeting Brad Arthur of Parramatta.

canefan

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Sneakdefreak" data-cid="585172" data-time="1465098766">
Warriors always dust up either Melbourne or Brisbane at home each season so this was expected following on from Origin. Until they can back it up (and the next two games the Warriors need to win - Newcastle and Roosters) they're still out of the playoffs. 
Coaching rumour mill is the Warriors are targeting Brad Arthur of Parramatta.</blockquote>Is he going to want to be paid under the table?

Smudge

Cappy to be replaced by Breakthecappy?

Sneakdefreak

<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkgNKF5UYAAURD3.jpg" alt="CkgNKF5UYAAURD3.jpg">
 
Broncos bounce back from Mt Smart smarting.

Sneakdefreak

Could it get any worse for Manly? They've now lost Steve Matai for the season.

Sneakdefreak

Warriors V Knights on now.
 
Warriors side the same as last week while Knights have made about 20 changes.

booboo

That bandwagpn is filling up ...

Sneakdefreak

Five things learnt from that shellacking by the Warriors:
 
1. The Knights are shit.
2. Manu is out injured again but the Warriors have his replacement in the more skillful David Fusitua, who scored four tries today. Manu off to Leeds in 2017.
3. The Knights right-side defence is so shit that calling it shit would be an insult and deemed racist to actual shit.
4. When confident, Albert Vete, Sam Lisone and Charlie Gubb make a dangerous triple threat coming off the bench. They hit hard on defence and offence. When they're confident.
5. Isaac Luke is now in charge of directing the attack and that means Shaun Johnson can just be Shaun Johnson. SJ isn't a field general like Jonathan Thurston, but Luke is.
 
Bonus thing learnt: Knights left-side defence is also shit. Not super-shit like the right but shit enough.

Donsteppa

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="booboo" data-cid="586275" data-time="1465627680">
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That bandwagpn is filling up ...
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Always does this time of year...

canefan

If we can a good bounce from Origin season we can be right back in the hunt

ACT Crusader

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Donsteppa" data-cid="586279" data-time="1465628964">Always does this time of year...</blockquote>
 
We'll make a run, probably finish 9th or 10th....

Mokey

Heard a stat on commentary that says the Warriors win 18/25 or something during Origin season. Like every year.
 
The Warriors played really well tonight, a lot more coherent now they have ditched a bit of dead wood. But gees the Knights were rubbish. Must be hard for Johns, commentating on shit that dire.

Sneakdefreak

Warriors are currently in 8th spot.... that's how close the comp is this year.
 
Storm however are the team to beat again it seems, just spanked the Roosters 46-0. Roosters have really plummeted in a short space of time.
 
Konrad Hurrell made his debut for the Titans in Darwin and it didn't go good. He struggled in the heat and got injured, but worst of all <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.newshub.co.nz/sport/video-highlights-hurrell-knocks-out-teammate-as-eels-down-titans-22-12-2016061123#axzz4BH1IuK00'>knocked his own teammate Chris McQueen out </a>in the fourth minute of play.

kiwiinmelb

Storm are the form team now , Sharks arent doing much wrong , but being the sharks everyone is expecting them to trip up somewhere, 
 
Im still expecting the cowboys and broncos to be right up there at the finish , 
 
Speaking of the storm they pinched a young fijian winger Suliasi Vunivalu from the Blues development squad , he was a St Kents scholarship player, 
 
He has played the last 6-8 games straight and has scored a ridiculous amount of tries already

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Dice

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="kiwiinmelb" data-cid="586810" data-time="1465672263">
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Storm are the form team now , Sharks arent doing much wrong , but being the sharks everyone is expecting them to trip up somewhere, 
 
Im still expecting the cowboys and broncos to be right up there at the finish , 
 
Speaking of the storm they pinched a young fijian winger Suliasi Vunivalu from the Blues development squad , he was a St Kents scholarship player, 
 
He has played the last 6-8 games straight and has scored a ridiculous amount of tries already 
 
 
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</blockquote>
He's been there for a couple of years now. Happy to see him getting some consistent game-time.
 
He's been a really nice fantasy pick-up for me. :)

mariner4life

Didn't he score with his first touch in first grade? After coming in at the last minute?

kiwiinmelb

Yeah , scored two tries on debut , and has done it a few times since , and a hat trick as well , all in a few games

aucklandwarlord

I'm struggling to remember a worse NRL side than the Knights are this season. The only one I can think of were the Rabbitohs just before they got turfed out of the competition and were getting routinely pumped by teams. They have a points differential of -330 so are losing games by an average of 30 points across the whole season. Probably the worst bit for them was it didn't look like they weren't trying, most of their guys just don't look like genuine first graders. I'd wonder where the hell their salary cap is going to, because it certainly shouldn't be being spent on a lot of their current squad.
 
After watching snippets of the Titans game last night, I'm super glad we got rid of Hurrell. I haven't been a fan since his breakout season and have always thought he looked like he took his career and skill for granted. Surprising that he looked out of shape, because you'd think any prudent athlete would have been working his ass off in second grade to make it back to the top level. I suspect that he had given up on his warriors first grade dream a few months ago and just put in minimal effort to his conditioning. Granted he was playing in the Darwin heat I suppose. 
 
There was lots to like about the Warriors last night, albeit against a shit team. I'm more and more impressed by Lolohea as he gets more confident and it looks like Luke has got his mojo back as well. Fusitua is a more than capable replacement for Vatuvei, but Vatuvei's finishing in his try yesterday shows that he's probably not ready to be put out to pasture just yet. My biggest issue is the fact the Kata doesn't really pass the ball outside him, so any winger is just going to be wasted outside. Quite a few times this season Kata has failed to pass to open men and instead held the ball himself to try to run over two or three defenders. Sometimes it's come off, other times there have been certain tries blown. 
 
It almost seems unjust that the Warriors are now inside the top 8. For most of the season they certainly haven't deserved to be.

Sneakdefreak

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">
 
 
I'm struggling to remember a worse NRL side than the Knights are this season.</blockquote>
 
Gold Coast Seagulls from the ARL days in the early 1990s were pretty awful. Almost an amateur side but this Knights squad is almost a semi-pro team. Newcastle went all out for a NRL title several years back when Wayne Bennett was coach and spent money on veteran players to get the job done. They didn't, their cap exploded, their owner was tossed out of the NRL and now they are stuck with some winger who likes to wear ponytails and miss tackle after tackle. I honestly believe that they won't win another game this season.
 
Kata's preference not to pass is almost a symbol of the team's recent years. No trust in teammates, all seeking their own glory. Tbf to Kata though, he has improved on a lot of aspects of his game, most notably defence, and has proven me wrong about his ability to play in the top grade. Hurrell might be able to redeem himself, it was his first hit out with Gold Coast and was in Darwin, but I suspect if he doesn't improve his fitness Neil Henry will turf him out.

The Silver Fern

The NRL Season of 2016