2018 NRL Predictions

cowboyman said:
No good being a disciplinarian when the players don't listen. By far the worst coach in the NRL. He clearly lost a large chunk of the NZ squad to Tonga pre world cup. Then it seems highly likely a lot of the Kiwis didn't play for him at the world cup either.

He won't last till round 10 and then the warriors will come good in my opinion.
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To be fair Kidwell was Kiwi Coach for last year or so. NZRL can't afford to sack him. Kearney had great results as Kiwi Coach. True that Jury is out on him though.
 
I think RTS will step up this year now he’s captain.

NZ always have it tough imagine playing half your games overseas. Mentally hard to overcome.
 
packo said:
I think RTS will step up this year now he’s captain.

NZ always have it tough imagine playing half your games overseas. Mentally hard to overcome.
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Problem has never been RTS, fitness and mental toughness has. As far as travel they knew that when they joined the comp, deal with it.
 
Most of us had Tigers and Warriors to finish towards bottom yet they won against considered superior sides, we might have to rethink where we will all finish at seasons end, could be a year of upsets, but it is early days.
 
I’ve had Souths at the bottom this season. I think Brisbane might be in trouble with an injury or two.

Tigers will struggle.
 
The tigers looked awesome defensively. Oh wait it's because everyone slid instead of lone rushing up. Only got caught out a couple times which is awesome for a new side.
 
Hi from the Warriors. We have been gobsmacked at how our guys have turned things round. Like you guys it is a good feeling as a fan going into games with some belief. Smashing the Roosters like that was epic. No rash predictions, just an expectation of effort and teamwork. That win achieved without Shaun Johnstone, Simon Mannering, James Gavet and Sam Lisone.

Truly hope we both make the 8. All the best guys.
 
The way some of the most likely spooners are performing let's just concentrate on avoiding it, Would be shattering to purchase all these players and collect number 4. Lots of teams have improved so we have a battle on our hands, early tips for spoon, Titans, Tigers and Warriors going very well
 
The spoon could be a tough fight this year. Based off last year, we came last with I think 5 wins. With how we've been in games so far this year & a 2/4 record, I'm confident we'll exceed 5 wins with ease. The problem is I feel like most sides will go past that, even Parramatta & Canberra who are on 0 feel like they'll get more than 5 wins. That's scary because we should go better than last year, but if everyone else does too, then we might be dangerously closer than we'd like if we're not careful.
 
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Joshhh said:
The spoon could be a tough fight this year. Based off last year, we came last with I think 5 wins. With how we've been in games so far this year & a 2/4 record, I'm confident we'll exceed 5 wins with ease. The problem is I feel like most sides will go past that, even Parramatta & Canberra who are on 0 feel like they'll get more than 5 wins. That's scary because we should go better than last year, but if everyone else does too, then we might be dangerously closer than we'd like if we're not careful.
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We got the spoon in 2015 with 8 wins.
We are still a work in progress, 8-10 wins has been my benchmark this yr, so hopefully someone only gets 6-7 wins
 
88Knight4life said:
We got the spoon in 2015 with 8 wins.
We are still a work in progress, 8-10 wins has been my benchmark this yr, so hopefully someone only gets 6-7 wins
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It's a good point regarding the amount of wins

If you look at the League since it became the NRL in 1998 6-8 wins doesn't always guarantee you immunity from the dreaded spoon

With the comp being so open this year who knows how many wins you will need to avoid the spoon

NRL Wooden Spooners (Since 1998)

1998 - Western Suburbs (4 wins)
1999 - Western Suburbs (3 wins)
2000 - North QLD Cowboys (7 wins)
2001 - Penrith Pamthers (7 wins)
2003 - South Sydney Rabbitohs (3 wins)
2004 - South Sydney Rabbitohs (5 wins)
2005 - Newcastle Knights (8 wins)
2006 - South Sydney Rabbitohs (3 wins)
2007 - Penrith Panthers (8 wins)
2008 - Canterbury Bulldogs (5 wins)
2009 - Sydney Roosters (5 wins)
2011 - Gold Coast Titans (6 wins)
2012 - Parramatta Eels (6 wins)
2013 - Parramatta Eels (5 wins)
2014 - Cronulla Sharks (5 wins)
2015 - Newcastle Knights (8 wins)
2016 - Newcastle Knights (1 win)
2017 - Newcastle Knights (5 wins)


*I left out 2002 and 2010 because the Bulldogs and Storm got the spoon due to the salaray cap cheating
 
Buying Pearce for a team like us without a proper halfback is like buying wins. We've won 2 from 4 games with him in the team and 6 in 24 months without him.

And with chopped and changed halves. And with players who were thrown in before their time like Feeney and Lamb.
And that's not taking into account the games we really should have won like the Dogs/Dragons games.

So to expect more wins with Pearce being one of our best performers so far and Ponga improving each game isn't too much to ask IMO.
 
It's fair to say 5-6 wins is spoon level and we've won two. I can't see Wests thinking its acceptable to improve that little from last year
 
If we leak a lot of points against the broncos there is cause for concern. The way their attack is going they look like they met each other on the bus to the ground.
 
Frank McWilliams said:
Most of us had Tigers and Warriors to finish towards bottom yet they won against considered superior sides, we might have to rethink where we will all finish at seasons end, could be a year of upsets, but it is early days.
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I think the reason for that was that everyone thought it was finally the warriors time when they bought in guys like Luke and RTS. And then when they got Foran in and had the NZ spine and expectations were sky high but Forans cancerous persona plagued the team but it seems since he's turned it around at the dogs because he's closer to his family. And it has helped the Warriors team morale.
I don't like that Foran was able to get away with walking away from his eels contract and play league against them citing 'mental health' but that's another discussion anyway.

So it was kind of like the reverse effect. People don't want to get burnt by high expectations. And it's not as if they are doing anything out of the ordinary either. Going back to basics and getting the fundamentals right is the main thing
 
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