At least you ended on a note of optimism I guess
I actually think this sounds pretty close to the mark.
It think Les Miserables’s predictions seem likely to me.
Tuzla prediction would be terrific-all he has to do now is learn to tackle.
Love the idea of our biggest loss will be by 12 points or less!
I mean it’s substantially the same pack that’s carried them to four bottom 4 seasons in a row. The likes of Nanai and Luki look like nice talents but it’s a big ask to expect players so young to make a big difference, and Luki may not even be there come round 1.
Taumalolo isn’t the clear best forward in the NRL anymore and even if he was, they still have the same problems: too many old guys, too many guys with poor defensive mobility, too many guys prone to very poor defensive and handling errors. As brilliant as he’s been, they were still a losing team over the last years of his prime, and now he’s showing clear signs of decline.
Everyone looks at their roster as being good on paper but held back by coaching, but they’ve been so bad for so long… maybe it isn’t actually that good on paper? Maybe a lot of their players aren’t terribly good?
I mean, some of them were good. They play for us now
In short, if you’re tipping them above us, then you’re tipping us to finish no higher than 15th.
From this I’ve learned that I’m very clear eyed on teams I’m neutral towards (Souths, Manly), totally addled re: teams I love (Knights) and hate (Cowboys). Will try to mentally pretend I don’t care about the latter two when I do predictions this time.Alright since people are starting to make predictions again for the year ahead, it's time to wake from my coma and revisit some of the predictions from last year. Bold predictions are the name of the game, either revel in my praise, or wallow in embarrassment.
Visiting my predictions first off, these were two bold but good calls. At this point of the year, it was pretty hard to believe Cliffo's form would drop off a cliff and quite far fetched to think Jake Saifiti would play Origin this year.
Not exactly right, but I reckon this is close enough. We had Leo Thompson signed at this point, but he was only a few months removed from being someone nobody in the rugby league world had heard of outside of Canberra fans. And he did such a good job that he's now well in the mix for a top 17 spot.
Have to give the man his praise. You called it. And considering a 15th place finish the previous year, this was in fact a bold call.
Absolutely spot on.
I know this was already all brought up in the thread after some classic Cowboyman deep dive investigating, but have to revisit and do the name and shame, Cowboyman was very confident in his young forwards and ended up being exactly right.
You can only laugh. Brailey literally goes down again with severe season derailing injury. This is proof we live in a simulation.
We could all see the potential in the NRLW squad so not a huge call, but still deserves to be highlighted. Not so successful with the Gags call though.
The Knights let you down once again, but a solid call on Souths and Manly. Both top 4 sides in 2021, with Souths sliding down the 8 and Manly sliding right out completely.
The one and only wrist slitting call on the entire forum where we can be like "HA! I told you so, the Knights are awesome". That game might have been the best time period for the club all year.
Couple more JSaf calls, also good calls on Dom. We see Dom as an integral part of the team now, but at this point of the year, he was still a reserve grade nobody.
Absolutely love the boldness, but this one has to be revisited. Cliffo had the world at his feet, but his season literally almost couldn't have gone any worse.
This was right at times during the year, maybe not for our benefit though, poor Klem's anger seemed to be the catalyst for him getting moved on from the club.
Well, god damn we got pretty darn close! Thankfully that fever dream can be put to rest forever now. I can literally picture it, he signs and we all get so much false hope that he just needed a fresh start, Joey will save him, he then proceeds to not be the dominant halfback we're looking for, just sits behind Ponga, unsure of his role and just lets everyone down while robbing the Knights of half a million annually on a multi year contract and we're left not knowing what to do next.
Well you nailed this. After the first few games we were practically calling him our saviour and then he fell off a cliff with the rest of them.
Well you stuck your head out as not having much confidence in the Knights in 2022 and you were absolutely right in the end. Thankfully though your prediction of how important Watson's departure would be to Ponga's decision was wrong. What a circus that was for a few months on here. Ponga finally let us rest and committed to the club for 5 years.
This was honestly a decent call in my mind even though it didn't eventuate. The rumours did start but Ciraldo ultimately became a Bulldog. If Wests were a little bit more impatient though, he may very well be here.
Ponga-pogo said:
Flanagan has a win record of 44% and 64% in second stint which equals 54% AOB has a win record of 50%.
So based on statistics he ain't that much better.
Uhhh, this is actually wrong, O'Brien was involved in four Grand Finals man, one of the most successful coaches involved in the game right now..
Have to highlight the early critique of O'Brien's skills as a coach. The signs were there, but still a bold call considering at this time we were coming off 2 finals appearances in a row.
You already pointed these out Celticman, but accept another praise. Great calls on Croker and Klemmer. And a clanger of a call with Clifford. The dichotomy of man.
Well Fox got the 2-6 start to the season spot on. Their other predictions were just sticking the boot in though.
And god damn Slots, we got pretty close. Way closer than I thought was possible.
Embarrassing one for MG, but Broncos was a great call for most of the year, then they choked.
So close for Parra, within 80 minutes of a premiership, but yet still seem so far off. A GF buys Arthur more time but the pressure will be on after losing a few good stalwarts.
A couple wacky calls, but appreciate the boldness.
Loved this call at the time. I still believe it happened in some alternate universe. I reckon some scientists messed around with something too much at the Large Hadron Collider facility early last year and shifted us into a new evil timeline where Clifford sucks.
Not a prediction but god you and Cowboyman were too good together, so much sexual tension.
Great summary!!!Alright since people are starting to make predictions again for the year ahead, it's time to wake from my coma and revisit some of the predictions from last year. Bold predictions are the name of the game, either revel in my praise, or wallow in embarrassment.
Visiting my predictions first off, these were two bold but good calls. At this point of the year, it was pretty hard to believe Cliffo's form would drop off a cliff and quite far fetched to think Jake Saifiti would play Origin this year.
Not exactly right, but I reckon this is close enough. We had Leo Thompson signed at this point, but he was only a few months removed from being someone nobody in the rugby league world had heard of outside of Canberra fans. And he did such a good job that he's now well in the mix for a top 17 spot.
Have to give the man his praise. You called it. And considering a 15th place finish the previous year, this was in fact a bold call.
Absolutely spot on.
I know this was already all brought up in the thread after some classic Cowboyman deep dive investigating, but have to revisit and do the name and shame, Cowboyman was very confident in his young forwards and ended up being exactly right.
You can only laugh. Brailey literally goes down again with severe season derailing injury. This is proof we live in a simulation.
We could all see the potential in the NRLW squad so not a huge call, but still deserves to be highlighted. Not so successful with the Gags call though.
The Knights let you down once again, but a solid call on Souths and Manly. Both top 4 sides in 2021, with Souths sliding down the 8 and Manly sliding right out completely.
The one and only wrist slitting call on the entire forum where we can be like "HA! I told you so, the Knights are awesome". That game might have been the best time period for the club all year.
Couple more JSaf calls, also good calls on Dom. We see Dom as an integral part of the team now, but at this point of the year, he was still a reserve grade nobody.
Absolutely love the boldness, but this one has to be revisited. Cliffo had the world at his feet, but his season literally almost couldn't have gone any worse.
This was right at times during the year, maybe not for our benefit though, poor Klem's anger seemed to be the catalyst for him getting moved on from the club.
Well, god damn we got pretty darn close! Thankfully that fever dream can be put to rest forever now. I can literally picture it, he signs and we all get so much false hope that he just needed a fresh start, Joey will save him, he then proceeds to not be the dominant halfback we're looking for, just sits behind Ponga, unsure of his role and just lets everyone down while robbing the Knights of half a million annually on a multi year contract and we're left not knowing what to do next.
Well you nailed this. After the first few games we were practically calling him our saviour and then he fell off a cliff with the rest of them.
Well you stuck your head out as not having much confidence in the Knights in 2022 and you were absolutely right in the end. Thankfully though your prediction of how important Watson's departure would be to Ponga's decision was wrong. What a circus that was for a few months on here. Ponga finally let us rest and committed to the club for 5 years.
This was honestly a decent call in my mind even though it didn't eventuate. The rumours did start but Ciraldo ultimately became a Bulldog. If Wests were a little bit more impatient though, he may very well be here.
Ponga-pogo said:
Flanagan has a win record of 44% and 64% in second stint which equals 54% AOB has a win record of 50%.
So based on statistics he ain't that much better.
Uhhh, this is actually wrong, O'Brien was involved in four Grand Finals man, one of the most successful coaches involved in the game right now..
Have to highlight the early critique of O'Brien's skills as a coach. The signs were there, but still a bold call considering at this time we were coming off 2 finals appearances in a row.
You already pointed these out Celticman, but accept another praise. Great calls on Croker and Klemmer. And a clanger of a call with Clifford. The dichotomy of man.
Well Fox got the 2-6 start to the season spot on. Their other predictions were just sticking the boot in though.
And god damn Slots, we got pretty close. Way closer than I thought was possible.
Embarrassing one for MG, but Broncos was a great call for most of the year, then they choked.
So close for Parra, within 80 minutes of a premiership, but yet still seem so far off. A GF buys Arthur more time but the pressure will be on after losing a few good stalwarts.
A couple wacky calls, but appreciate the boldness.
Loved this call at the time. I still believe it happened in some alternate universe. I reckon some scientists messed around with something too much at the Large Hadron Collider facility early last year and shifted us into a new evil timeline where Clifford sucks.
Not a prediction but god you and Cowboyman were too good together, so much sexual tension.
