Set for bumper weekend of NRL drama
By Barry Toohey | August 06, 2008 12:00am
LEAGUE fans are bracing themselves for a weekend of matches which could define their team's season, with the outcome of all games holding special significance.
While the drama surrounding Sonny Bill Williams has taken the spotlight off the NRL play-off race, league officials believe the focus is set to return with this weekend's draw conjuring up mouth-watering match-ups and possibilities.
Highlighting round 22 is Friday night's showdown between last season's grand finalists Manly and Melbourne at Brookvale Oval.
The Eagles lead the competition on 32 points but in the closest top-four race since 2003, the Storm, Sydney Roosters and the Sharks are just two points adrift.
The Roosters take on a desperate Parramatta on Sunday in a game the struggling 13th-placed Eels have to win to remain in the finals hunt.
South Sydney (14th) are on the same sinking ship as the Eels, but would live to fight another day if they were to upset the Sharks on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium.
Even the only two sides in the competition who mathematically can't reach the playoffs - the Bulldogs and the Cowboys - will be desperate this weekend because they play each other in a game which could decide the wooden spoon.
The Dogs are two wins clear on 14 points but a loss to the Cowboys (10) would throw the dreaded spoon race between the two sides wide open over the final four rounds.
NRL boss David Gallop said the quality of matches made it a weekend every fan should be relishing.
"What makes it such a special weekend is that every game has something riding on the result," he said. "It could be a defining weekend for a lot of teams in contention and I'm sure the fans will recognise that and really get behind their team.
"Hopefully, the doom and gloom merchants who have had a fair bit to say over the past week or so will put the axes they have been grinding away and enjoy the footy."
Newcastle Knights chief executive Steve Burraston says fans should be breaking their necks to get to games this weekend given the importance of every match and how tight the premiership race is.
The Knights, fresh from Monday night's thumping of Parramatta, which saw them leap-frog four other teams to grab eighth spot on points difference, travel to the Gold Coast to take on the depleted Titans in another Monday night fixture.
They know they can't afford to slip up on the holiday strip.
"We are going into this game as favourite and the way the competition is, with so many teams still in the semi-final race, it makes it a must-win match. We can't afford to go up their complacent," Burraston said.
In other crucial games: St George Illawarra (6) meet Wests Tigers (9) at WIN Stadium on Friday night, with the Warriors (12) at home to Brisbane (5) on Saturday night and the Raiders (10) taking on Penrith (7) in Canberra on Sunday.
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