Another big weekend of NRL action featuring a new Souths coach and same end result, a fine comeback win for Canberra the Roosters ruffling some feathers. Or manes. As ever there were star performances, work horses giving it their all, and some who had an off night. But which players were the best of the best you ask? We’ll let the stats do the talking and separate the Wheat/Chaff to present the 2024 NRL Round 9 Team of the Week & Player Stats.
First we have our Team of the Week, which takes some of the key player stats from the weekend and using various scoring methods come up with the best players in their positions from the latest round of the NRL.
Then there’s additional player stats from this weekend and some bite sized points of interest.
We’ve used the stats for each position and picked the best starting 13 players from the most recent round, the stats and points assigned are explained at the end.
On top of the best starting 13, we include the best four interchange players of the week. Seeing who has provided maximum impact from the bench.
Plus we throw in the players we thought were great but the stats did not with Gurgler’s Choice.
2024 NRL Team of the Season…so far
Here is the above but for all rounds.
2024 NRL Round 9 Player Stats
Want to see which players topped the key stats for the latest round of the NRL this weekend?
Want to see which players topped the key stats for the latest round of the NRL this weekend?
2024 NRL Player Stats…so far.
2024 NRL Round 9 Player Comparisons
Here is a quick look at the H2H Player stats from the most recent round in key positions.
Since some of the rugby league talk is of the NSW Origin fullback choice between James Tedesco and Dylan Edwards, let’s have a look at the comparison for Round 9 and the season so far.
ROUND 9
SEASON SO FAR
INTERESTING STATS FROM THIS ROUND
David Fifita’s 15 line breaks is the second best player/round effort this season, well behind Brian To’o’s 21 from Round 8.
Dolphins were on the worse side of all key stats v North Queensland except errors and points scored.
Interchange players make the fewest errors per game, but they give away the second penalties and ruck infringements combined.
Gurgler favourite Xavier Willison is among the best this year for Run Metres vs Minutes played.
2024 NRL Round 9 Team of the Week – Losing Side Players
Just for something different we ran our Player of the Week data and stats against the result to see who performed when their own team maybe didn’t.
How the Team of the Week works
Want to know how we come up with the numbers to rank the players, the below table should explain hopefully.
Want more Player Stats? Neeeeed more NRL data and stuff? Why not try our friends at Nothing But Legue for bite sized pieces of NRL Stats and more every day.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 5: McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain arrives on the podium after winning the 2024 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix at Hard Rock Stadium on May 05, 2024, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Lando Norris wins his first Grand Prix and break the winning stranglehold of Max Verstappen, and does this mean we might have a Championship battle after all? Who knows, but time to celebrate a new winner. Talking of battles here is our 2024 Miami F1 Grand Prix Result Summary which covers both races and anything else of interest.
This 2024 Miami Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – Max Verstappen won the Saturday sprint race from pole position but seemed genuinely surprised with taking the pole at least. Lando Norris looked like he might take that pole and possibly a win but he ended up in the upper midfield. This proved a bigger problem when he was caught up in an Aston Martin squabble and was eliminated at the first turn. So Max Verstappen winning with ease from Leclerc and Perez isn’t news, but Daniel Ricciardo qualifying and finishing 4th was. Pity he couldn’t get it done in proper qualifying and was eliminated in Q1. The Mercedes look genuinely fourth best, much to the complaints of at least one of their drivers. McLaren and Ferraris look capable of taking second, with McLaren here in Miami with one and a half cars worth of upgrades. Although not an upgrade, was Ferraris pissweak effort to add blue to their car. Small things we know, but if Max Verstappen stays in front at the start small things are probably all we’ll have.
GRID (Starting Order) – VER LEC SAI PER NOR PIA RUS HAM HUL TSU
Lap 1 – Max Verstappen gets away perfectly, and Carlos Sainz zooms past Leclerc. Talking of zooming, Sergio Perez outbrakes himself into the first corner and with tyres smoking almost takes out his leading team mate. In the aftermath Oscar Piastri has moved up three places into third and Leclerc gets back past Sainz who is now 4th. Perez is left to fight with Lando Norris. Further back the Alpines race hard without crashing into each other, which is nice. Replays show Lewis Hamilton running George Russell wide in turn three and Russell losing places. Replays also show that Perez was millimetres off being the least popular driver in Holland and at Red Bull.
ORDER – VER LEC PIA SAI PER NOR HUL HAM TSU RUS
Lap 2 – Nico Hulkenberg sneaks by Lewis Hamilton for 7th. Oscar Piastri sets fastest lap. And is catching the Ferrari of Leclerc in front. Some kind of start for the Australian. Unlike the other Australian who is dead last.
Lap 4 – Oscar Piastri passes Charles Leclerc for second place into the hairpin on the back straight. Max Verstappen is two seconds in front. And the McLaren is faster. But Verstappen is probably just playin’.
Lap 7 – Carlos Sainz is on the radio “I feel like I have pace here”. Which translated from F1 to English is “Tell Leclerc to get the f— out of the way, please”. Talking of moaning on radio, Lewis Hamilton is back in front of Nico Hulkenberg for 7th. Lewis complaining that he almost had a big crash with Hulkenberg as he tried to pass. He’s probably right. But next glance at the TV Hulkenberg is back in front. It’s lap 10 by the time Hamilton is back in front again. The train of cars behind the Haas means Hulkenberg may not drop just the one position.
Lap 9 – Oscar Piastri is holding his own in second, but Max Verstappen edges the gap a little bit at a time. The interval is 2.6 seconds. Both Ferraris hounding the McLaren and each other, with Sergio Perez a safe 1.6 seconds behind them.
ORDER – VER PIA LEC SAI PER NOR HUL HAM RUS TSU
Lap 12 – With not much else happening, George Russell releases himself from the Hulkenberg train with a fine overtaking. The Haas pits at the end of the lap and stays in front of Stroll and Albon who were the first to pit. That’s a long stint if one stopping. And they aren’t fast enough to make a two stop work.
Lap 14 – Lando Norris is right on Sergio Perez’s tail, giving us a battle of consequence to follow. McLaren looks plenty quick. Imagine what Piastri can do when he gets the full upgrade. This pair are four second behind the Ferraris.
Lap 15 – Verstappen, Piastri and Leclerc all set fastest lap as the pace heats up before the critical tyre stops. Critical, because there won’t be much overtaking on track.
Lap 19 – Carlos Sainz has dropped off the battle for second. A tactic for saving tyres/car? We’ll see, as his team mate makes the first pit stop of the Ferraris. He comes out in between the Mercedes drivers in 5th/7th. Sergio Perez had previously pit but is behind the Mercedes and Yuki Tsunoda.
Lap 21 – Charles Leclerc makes easy work of passing Lewis Hamilton for 5th. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen radios in about hitting a bollard. Replay show he certainly does. Cutting the awkward chicane and hitting it front on. He wonders, like we all do, about damage to his car. The bollard remains in the middle of the track, so there could possibly be some kind of Safety Car to pick it up. Indeed there is.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
Track marshalls clean up the errant traffic device quickly, as quick as the teams pit for new tyres. As does the Virtual Safety Car itself. It ends after about 30 seconds.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR ENDS
Lap 23 – Max Verstappen pits for new tyres regardless. This leaves Oscar Piastri in front of the Miami Grand Prix. He, Sainz, Norris, Mercedes and Tsunoda are yet to pit for top ten cars. Lando Norris sets a fastest lap to prove a point.
Lap 27 – McLarens are flying with Lando Norris the fastest man on track, and Oscar Piastri actually edging out a slightly bigger gap to Max Verstappen.
Lap 28 – Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz pit for new tyres. Piastri comes out behind not only Verstappen but Leclerc too. Just Lando Norris out in front yet to pit.
Crash! Logan Sargeant is involved. Kevin Magnussen is involved. Kevin Magnussen is at fault. Putting on a half arsed overtake without being near enough ahead. Or not ahead at all. Ironically Magnussen keeps going and Sargeant doesn’t as his car is in the wall.
SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
This gives Lando Norris a huge advantage for his pit stop. He’s out in front and cars behind will be slow. Norris pits and keeps the lead. But….the Safety Car has picked up Max Verstappen and slowed the field….So……Does Lando Norris slow? Or does the field get let by, therefore making the Safety Car a bit of a nonsense. Or if Lando Norris has to go around the track and then get in front, will he effectively be a lap in front? Well, either way, Lando Norris is on track to win a race.
ORDER – NOR VER LEC PIA SAI PER TSU HAM RUS OCO
SAFETY CAR ENDS
Lap 33 – The race restarts, Lando Norris leads. He was quick before the Safety Car, so here goes. He keeps his lead as the race restarts, as do all top drivers keep their spot. Yuki Tsunoda and Lewis Hamilton having a good battle for 7th – Hamilton eventually wins with a forceful move a few laps later. Lando Norris killing it, he pulls out a DRS-defying lead of over a second.
Lap 34 – Carlos Sainz attempts a move on Oscar Piastri into the back hairpin but Piastri shows his ice-coolness and rebuffs. Although Sainz spends the next few laps complaining about Piastri on the radio. Talking of rebuffing, Lando Norris is flying out in front – 1.5 second in front.
Lap 37 – Lando Norris 2.2 seconds in front and edging out by 0.2 per lap to Verstappen. Then he sets fastest lap. Things are looking real good.
Lap 40 – Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri swap places a few times. Sainz into the back hairpin and there looks like a touch. Piastri gets back past Sainz on the pit straights but goes wide at turn one and loses the place. Before the lap is done he loses two places to Perez and Hamilton. And gets a broken front wing for his troubles, plunging him lower than Ricciardo territory.
Lap 43 – 15 laps to go and Lando Norris leads by just over three seconds, and Max Verstappen is complaining about his car on the radio. Only bad luck or bad driving will harm him now.
ORDER – NOR VER LEC SAI PER HAM TSU RUS OCO ALO
Lap 46 – TV fixated on the battle for 9th between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, with Alonso eventually winning. Meanwhile, out in front Lando Norris is 5.5 second to the good. Which is good.
Lap 51 – An All-Australian battle for 16th lights up the screens for a while. Piastri flying before that with a fastest lap.
Lap 52 – Not long to go and Lando Norris is six seconds in front and cruising. He, and we, can all taste that first win.
Lap 54 – Alex Albon locks up and loses four places in one mistake. We almost forgot he was in the race. He’s now last.
Lap 55 – Oscar Piastri takes Daniel Ricciardo’s 15th place. Double good news for McLaren, Norris is one lap closer to maiden victory.
FINAL LAP – Lando Norris wins his first Grand Prix. He dominated the post Safety Car period and deserved his win. Max Verstappen’s bad day still means second place and extended lead in the Championship. But after this race, who is his long-term Championship is?
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – NOR VER LEC SAI PER HAM TSU RUS ALO OCO
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – LANDO NORRIS
A first win finally, and a result to match the potential in pace seen throughout the weekend. He may have got a little lucky with the timing of the Safety Car but he was the fastest man on the track just before and after it.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
OSCAR PIASTRI – Made a great start and took advantage of Perez’s efforts at the first turn to end up third from sixth on the grid. Takes second from Charles Leclerc and looked comfortable enough in second and the lead when he got the chance. Pit stops didn’t quite work out for him, but an impressive drive all the same. His work on keeping Carlos Sainz was superb and highly frustrating for the Ferrari driver. Sainz’s work on Piastri’s front wing with that pass is highly frustrating for Piastri.
YUKI TSUNODA – Solid weekend after his team mate took the attention with his fourth place in the sprint race. Made Q3 while Ricciardo was cut in Q1. Ran in the points throughout and matched pace of the Mercedes. A tsolid job done again.
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Although he didn’t win, he still took a Sprint Race win and pole. And second place in the proper race is all good. Hit a bollard in the race for a rare mistake.
LEWIS HAMILTON – Ended up closer to the front in the race than he probably though possible.
ESTEBAN OCON – Racing for points in the Alpine is a decent effort.
THE GRAPE-EST – LOGAN SARGEANT
It must suck to be not that great at the best of times, but to do it at your home Grand Prix sucks even more. His exit into the wall wasn’t his fault at least, but still an unwanted end result.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
DANIEL RICCIARDO – Deserves to be in previous category for his outstanding 4th work in the Sprint Race, but you’re only as good as your last race, and he was indeed last in the race for a while after being cut in Q1. Meanwhile his team mate is fighting for points.
SERGIO PEREZ – Almost wipes out his team mate at the first corner. Was a little lacklustre in the race.
KEVIN MAGNUSSEN – Picked up more penalties than Messi this weekend.
ASTON MARTIN – Not a great weekend for their drivers. Alonso better than Stroll of course. And as ever, Alonso still gets 9th place.
DANICA PATRICK – Offers zero as a F1 pundit. And that should be the amount of air time she gets.
FAKE MARINA – The Miami track is very meh. But particularly bad is the fake marina inside one of the turns.
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
ON TRACK ACTION – 6 / 10
A good amount of action throughout the field, with the Safety Car mixing things up a little.
ANY SURPRISES? – 5 / 5
A non Red Bull dominating out in front. Yeah, that’s a surprise in F1 these days.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 5 / 5
Still early days, but the improved form of the McLaren with its new upgrades means there could be more competition at the sharp end. Is this the turning point?
ENDING 7 / 10
Whilst not overly exciting for on track action at the end. Booting home a new race winner and one that isn’t driving a Red Bull is always exciting.
OVERALL RATING 23 / 30
Easily the best Miami Grand Prix of the ones so far. A new winner helps.
2024 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.
Want more NRL information than just the draw, results or the current ladder? Then you are in the right place and the right time with the home of Stats and Stuff via our 2024 NRL Round 9 Stats Summary for the weekend that was.
Each week we compile and keep up to date a wide range of stats from the latest weekend of NRL action plus the best 2024 NRL Season Stats to help you to the top of the tipping competition, land a few responsible winners or even make your Supercoach team better. And now with a match by match summary full of all the stats you need and/or want.
NRL Tipping Club presents….The NRL Thursday Liquid Lunch.
Quick NRL Round 9 Stats Season Summary
Some weekly and season stats and additional interesting visuals for the weekend that was and the season that is.
OVERALL LADDER AND FORM
WIN / LOSS RECORD BY HOME / OPPOSITION LADDER POSITION
Ladder position from previous round.
WIN / LOSS RECORD BY GEO / DAY / TIME
NRL Round 9 Stats Summary
NRL Round 9 Stats Summary – H2H Match by Match Stats and Stuff
All eight games with all the stats you could ever want or need with added barely interesting stats to go with. Giving you a decent wrap up of all that went on in the NRL on the weekend.
Souths have won two of their last 12 home games, won just two of their last 12 v Penrith and won just two of their last ten Thursday games.
Penrith’s win tipped them over 50% win rate for away games this season (W3 L2)
Penrith have won all three of their Thursday games played this season.
South Sydney’s 1130 Run Metres is the lowest single team/round total so far this season. Souths also recorded a bottom five team/round total for Line Breaks and Tackle Breaks in Round 9.
South Sydney have lost all eight first halves this season.
That’s four wins in a row now for Canberra, away from home on a Friday against Sydney teams.
Manly have now failed to win three times when leading at half time (L2 D1)
This game was the first Friday night game at Brookvale between these sides, for our records going back to 1998.
Raiders are one of just two teams to win a game this season with just one line break. The other was Melbourne in Round 1.
Roosters have won their last four games v Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.
In the 22 games the Roosters have played against Qld opposition since 2020, they have won 18.
Broncos have won just two of their last nine v Sydney teams at Suncorp Stadium.
Bulldogs are one of three teams left with a 100% home win record this season.
Bulldogs have won four of their last five v Tigers. The last three games have been at home.
Bulldogs have won the only three games at the Olympic Stadium between these sides on a Saturday.
Wests Tigers have lost ten games in a row at the Olympic Stadium.
Titans have won just one of their last 13 Saturday home games.
Gold Coast have also lost ten in a row on a Saturday.
Melbourne have won eight of their last nine games on a Saturday
The Dolphins are now 4/4 for away games against Queensland sides that aren’t the Broncos.
Dolphins have won more games away than home this season.
Only one Dolphins player featured in the top seven for Post Contact Metres – Jesse Bromwich.
North Queensland have lost their last three Saturday games by 28-26, 26-20 and 27-20.
The Dolphins have now won more games than the South Queensland Crushers did in their entire three season history, to compare the two last Brisbane expansion clubs and the extra level the Dolphins have brought on and off the field.
The Knights-Warriors game is the lowest for points scored this season, behind the 8-0 Storm-Panthers game in Round 1.
Warriors are the only team in the bottom half with a positive for and against.
Newcastle have won four in a row at home v Warriors.
Newcastle have won ten straight home games on a Sunday. Their last loss on a Sunday was in 2022. Newcastle have only lost two of their 15 Sunday games anywhere since 2023.
Warriors have lost six of their last seven away games, with their only win over busted-arse Souths.
Cronulla have won eight straight v St George Illawarra. And six straight at home. And three straight on a Sunday.
Cronulla are W7 L2 for their last nine games v Dragons on a Sunday.
St George Illawarra have lost nine of the their last ten Sunday games.
Cronulla’s W7 L1 is the best second half record in 2024.
PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 16: Emilie Joseph @in_fashionwetrust wears black large butterfly sunglasses, a navy blue denim shoulder-pads / cropped denim jacket, a black faded denim baggy overall / dungarees/ jumpsuit by John Galliano, brown metallic leather with white details sneakers from Valentino, during a street style fashion photo session, on October 16, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)
Belle Pocquet-Rohde has always thought of herself as a bit of trend setter among her social circle, trying to be first with latest music, what’s the best show on the streaming services, and fashion. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when the adult overalls starting making an appearance in recent weeks. To mixed reviews.
When we say “mixed reviews” we mean that a pile of her acolytes on Facebook who give up a thumbs up to a piece of toast pic and her almost-daily status update of needing a coffee pick-me-up at 10am are all onboard. Her longer term friends less so.
The old school in-person friends recently caught up for a Saturday night get together to celebrate a friend’s new renovation, which now includes a mini-bar area for Gin sampling, a new vehicle shed for their two jet skis and an upgraded fire pit. There wasn’t a theme to the dress code, but many though Belle Pocquet-Rohde has imagined one up when she arrived in her adult overalls, with an equally Sesame Street feel to the long sleeved undershirt. The dress question was the beginning of the “constructive criticism”.
The standard “new look eh?” was thrown about early, leading to Belle getting annoyed that no one was embracing it like the Facebook cohort.
A few hours and Gin and Tonics later it all came to a head. As ever it was Garry involved. Why Garry you ask? Well he’s the generic beer-swilling boyfriend of Grady Street, a long-term school friend of Belle’s who always seems to be the Larry David of any party.
After considering his critique of Belle’s outfit for a good hour or so, he finally got his chance midway through the party.
“So, do you think you’re on Play School or what?” Barry asked.
Belle turned quickly on Barry, advising how awful he is, and how uncouth it was to drink beer all the time and that her friend Grady could do much better.
Barry, whilst on a roll, also offered her Belle to retire the High School Senior Jersey she had around her waist. “It’s eight years”.
“As for the overalls, Grow Up” was the last thing heard from Barry as he was dragged into an Uber by a giggling Grady who was trying to stop fully blown laughter until the Uber was far from sight.
For the record, Grady was un-friended by Belle before they reached home, and they enjoyed the Triple M soundtrack all the way.
As for Belle, she was un-deterred and joined the post renovation party into the CBD night spots. Where upon her first five minutes at the first pub a group of men on a Buck’s Night started singing the Play School theme at Belle much like the scene in the bar from Top Gun.
Belle has by now lost her loving feeling for adult overalls, and spent her Uber ride home dreaming about other ways to push the fashion boundaries.
2024 NRL Round 9 Cowboys v Dolphins – COWBOYS 26 DOLPHINS 28. The one-minute match report – giving you the bare minimum NRL round up in the bare minimum of time.
The Dolphins return to the top four of the NRL with a nail biting win over North Queensland in Townsville, where Valentine Holmes missed a late chance to draw the game with a conversion.
The match didn’t start well for the Dolphins with North Queensland scoring twice in the first six minutes through Kyle Feldt and Reuben Cotter, the latter of those tries particularly soft as the Cowboys forward dragged the Dolphins over the line with him.
Eventually the Dolphins got some ball and were quite clinical in attack with their rare first half chances in the Cowboys 20 metre zone. Tries on either side of the field to Jamayne Isaako and Tesi Niu saw the Dolphins in front after 25 minutes, Isaako’s sideline conversions key to the result later.
Teams traded tries to half time, but the one to the Cowboy’s Sam McIntyre just before the break felt notable as the Dolphins arguably deserved the half time lead.
Dolphins skipped ahead when Jamayne Isaako got his third try of the night in the 47th minute, but the game became a bit scrappy after that. It didn’t stop Jake Averillo pouncing on a grubber somehow and extending the lead with 13 minutes to go, to set up a nervous finish as the Dolphins tried to hang onto their six point lead.
The Cowboys did eventually score through Jeremiah Nanai with three minutes to go, and Valentine Holmes had a reasonably difficult kick to even up the scores and missed to give the Dolphins their fifth win of the season from eight games.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Although it is hard to see a talent like Sean O’Sullivan plying his trade in reserve grade, you can’t argue about the form of the current halves pairing of Kodi Nikorima and Isaiya Katoa. Nikorima ended the night with three try assists and two line break assists with Katoa usually throwing the pass to Nikorima to set up the play. Katoa’s kicking game is progressing well too, although we’d like to see the bomb not used so much on the final play. And the first half was better in attack close to the Cowboy’s line than the first.
An off night for errors for Trai Fuller, but he is still a livewire in attack and topped the Dolphins players for Run Metres and Tackle Breaks. One wonders if a way can be found to keep him in the team once the Hammer returns from injury. At a minimum, Fuller will be good backup for the Origin period.
Shout out to the bench, who as ever gave plenty. Josh Kerr would arguably be up there for the most impact off the bench in the NRL this season, and Ray Stone gave everything, as always. Mark Nicholls too is a warrior that every team needs, and a shame he didn’t throw a big dummy and go for glory himself when he made a line break in the second half. Kurt Donoghue who is the versatile player the team needs too, and he filled in admirably for Tesi Niu after yet another injury.
Overall it was a great win, especially in the context of injuries. Every team has injury concerns, but few would be missing four of the best five players like the Dolphins. With Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Herbie Farnworth, Tom Flegler and Tom Gilbert currently out, and potentially Tesi Niu joining them it has tested the squad depth, and so far it is going OK. Depending on availability and injuries, maybe it’s a chance for Valynce Te Whare to show his worth against Manly next week.
It’s also a good win under the circumstances of the current head coach Wayne Bennett being linked to the Souths job after their sacking of Jason Demetriou during the week. It bodes well that the Dolphins can ignore the noise as the curse of Post Bennett Blues looms for 2025.
Courtesy of nrl.com
BEST OF STATS
The Dolphins are now 4/4 for away games against Queensland sides that aren’t the Broncos.
Dolphins have won more games away than home this season.
Only one Dolphins player featured in the top seven for Post Contact Metres – Jesse Bromwich.
North Queensland have lost their last two Saturday games by 28-26, 26-20 and 27-20.
The Dolphins have now won more games than the South Queensland Crushers did in their entire three season history, to compare the two last Brisbane expansion clubs and the extra level the Dolphins have brought on and off the field.
They say there can only be winners and losers in sport, but of course they’re wrong, there’s always the draw, and who doesn’t love a draw where everyone wins. Those winners include canny punters who look for value, and here to help is our Best of World Football Draws Tips for the week – and this time you need to get your Samba and Rumba on with this South American Special.
Our resident draw expert Frankington Stanley runs his keen eye over the many football divisions around the world to find the best draws for you. He’s sort of like the John West of Football draws. He’s recently been on a three month scouting journey around Central Europe and Northern Africa to hone his skills on picking a draw.
Frankington Stanley is not fussy, no country or continent is out of bounds, and the more obscure the better. And some of them are quite obscure. They don’t even feature on the Who Scored website.
So get yourself ready for another weekly serving of the finest Football Draw tips from all over the world, where The Gurgler and Frankington Stanley take the stale out of stalemate.
It’s all you can eat draws
DRAW OF THE WEEK
Here is the best of the best draw tips for the week.
Brazil Serie B – Chapecoense v America MG
ODDS – DRAW $3.00
FORM / STATS – Early days in the Brazilian league, but not too early to take advantage of some draw value.
The last two games between these sides at Chapecoense have been draws. Plus, four of the last six at either ground were draws.
Not enough? Well America MG’s only game this season was a draw.
OTHER DRAW SPECIALS
Argentina – CA Huracan (Res) v Boca Juniors Reserves
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – Two of the last three games between these sides have ended in a draw, including the last game at Huracan.
Throw in the last two games for Huracan this season were draws.
Plus Boca Juniors have drawn two of their last three games.
It may be B team or reserve grade football, but it is top shelf draw action.
Brazil Brasileirão – Fluminense v Atletico MG
ODDS – DRAW $3.25
FORM / STATS – The last game between these sides at Fluminense ended in a draw.
Fluminense have drawn one of their two home games so far this season. Atletico MG have drawn one of their two away games.
So even. So draw.
UK FOOTBALL DRAW SPECIAL OF THE WEEK
With so many divisions, there should be so many draws to choose from. Frankington Stanley goes next best with a draw from The Championship.
Premier League – Luton v Everton
ODDS – DRAW $3.20
FORM / STATS – Two of the last three games between these sides at Luton have ended in a draw. Plus Everton are winless away from home in their last nine attempts, so a draw will be a good result for them.
And a great result for you.
EURO DRAW SPECIAL OF THE WEEK
Some have accused us of picking easy leagues for our draws. First of all, how dare you, secondly we introduce our Euro Leagues draw of the week, where we scan the four biggest leagues in Europe for the finest draws. It could be Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, or Ligue 1, but what it will always be is a quality eye for a draw.
ITALY SERIE A- CAGLIARI v LECCE
ODDS – DRAW $3.10
FORM / STATS – The last three games between these sides has ended in a draw. 1-1, 0-0, 2-2. Anyway you like it. And want it.
Three of Cagliari’s last five home games have been draws too.
These teams sit 13th and 14th, with Cagliari needing a few more points to be safe from relegation. Maybe just the one will do. It will be enough for you.
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 01: Gail Barringer, Wendell Pierce, Carrie Preston, Carra Patterson, Michelle King, Liz Glotzer and Jonathan Tolins attends the CBS Studios multi-title FYC event held at Paramount Pictures Studios on May 01, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kayla Oaddams/WireImage)
An established action-drama has exploded on social media.
Fire Force has been going for three seasons, with respectable if not spectacular ratings.
But one scene in the season four opener has changed all that.
In the first episode, one the male fire-fighters (Oliver) shares a same-sex kiss with his co-worker Damien. While only a few seconds long, it was enough to send certain sections of TikTok into meltdown, with thousands of TikTokkers giving their opinions and analysis of the scene, ‘shipping’ Oliver and Damien, and predicting how it will affect the characters in season four and beyond.
Peter Mullins, who wrote the episode, said the TikTok explosion was a happy accident.
“Oliver had just come out of a long-term relationship with a female journalist, so in my mind he was hurting, confused, and willing to experiment. We already have two same-sex couples on the show, so I wasn’t doing it to get attention or to ‘go woke’. I just wanted to shake things up,” he said, “I’m overjoyed that this has not only got people talking about the show but has opened it up to a new fanbase.”
Though one long-term fan is angry about the new attention the show is getting.
“I used to love Fire Force. The chemistry between the characters was good, the humour was organic, and the action scenes were absorbing,” wrote Adam on the show’s official Facebook page. “But the show is RUINED now everyone’s obsessed with THAT scene! It’s getting TOO popular and people are just jumping on the bandwagon! I guarantee you that 90% of the idiots making their stupid videos on TikTok never watched the show before now. And all because the writers wanted to chase some social media likes. What about the REAL fans who have to deal with all the bandwagoners now?”
Just three game weeks to go, and to be honest we’re disappointed in Liverpool’s failed title challenge meaning it is down to two teams for the title, and Man City will probably win everything and do their thing. Likewise the relegation battle looks disappointing, with one team outside the bottom three looking potentially like fodder. Talking of disappointments, our Premier League Week 36 Predictions and useful stats are here with enough to make an informed selection.
Each week we provide a meandering look into the upcoming round of Premier League football, with not only our predictions for the upcoming Premier League fixtures but offer up a wide range of H2H and in-season stats and barely interesting facts. This week is shorter than usual, that’s because there’s a day to do it. And no one reads this anyway.
2023-24 Premier League Week 36 Fixtures
2023-24 Premier League Week 36 Predictions
Here are our fearless predictions for the fixtures ahead, and tune in below for all the stats and barely interesting stats that go along with them. Or given our form, skip the tips and go to the stats.
Luton 0 Everton 2
Arsenal 3 Bournemouth 1
Brentford 2 Fulham 2
Burnley 0 Newcastle 6
Sheffield United 2 Nottingham Forest 2
Man City 3 Wolves 0
Chelsea 1 West Ham 2
Brighton 0 Aston Villa 3
Liverpool 5 Spurs 3
Crystal Palace 1 Man Utd 1
Season Progress: 46% – 152/332 – Correct Scores – 19
Season Tip Rating: Woeful
2023-24 Premier League Week 36 H2H Stats
Need a reason to pick one team over another, or just have a stat ready to impress friends and family, either way you are welcome to our favourite H2H stats of the current gameweek.
LUT v EVE – Both games between Luton and Everton on a Friday have been won by Everton. And Luton haven’t scored.
LUT v EVE – Everton are unbeaten away to bottom six sides (bottom six at time of match) W2 D1. Luton are winless at home v bottom six sides – D2 L3
ARS v BOU – Arsenal have won all seven home games v Bournemouth. And by the total of 20-4. Arsenal have won all four Saturday games too.
ARS v BOU – Bournemouth’s record v big six clubs this season is W1 D1 L7.
BRE v FUL – Brentford have won the last three home games v Fulham on a Saturday.
BUR v NEW – Newcastle have won the last five league games in this fixture.
BUR v NEW – Newcastle aren’t as good at Burnley on a Saturday. They are winless in their last five games and have lost the last three. Newcastle’s last win at Burnley on a Saturday was in 1969.
SHU v NFO – Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in their last four visits to Sheffield Utd on a Saturday – W2 D2.
SHU v NFO – Sheffield Utd and Nottingham Forest are the two worst teams for wins v bottom six opponents – one win each.
MCI v WOL – Man City are the only team left in the Premier League who haven’t lost against a side in the middle eight. W9 D2 – table position at time of match. Wolves did beat Man City 2-1 earlier this season.
MCI v WOL – Man City have lost just once to Wolves since 2001 in the last 11 contests at home – W8 D2 L1.
CHE v WHU – West Ham have a decent record v Chelsea recently. In the last 10 games that is W6 D2 L2.
BHA v AVL – Aston Villa have won the last five games v Brighton.
BHA v AVL – Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last eight trips to Burnley W4 D4.
LIV v TOT – Liverpool are unbeaten in their last six games on a Sunday v Spurs.
LIV v TOT – Liverpool are unbeaten in 13 home games v Spurs (W9 D4)
LIV v TOT – At home on a Sunday v Spurs Liverpool have only lost one of 13 matches – W10 D2 L1.
CRY v MUN – The last two games between Crystal Palace and Man Utd at Crystal Palace have ended in a draw.
CRY v MUN – Crystal Palace have yet to beat Man Utd at home in the Premier League. Thier last win was 18 games ago and in 1991 in the old First Division.
2023-24 English Premier League Current Season Stats
A quick look at the current state of play in the Premier League. An alternative table, form summary, points per game at home or away, v opposition and expected goals. So many.
SAKARYA, TURKIYE - MARCH 04: The 3.5 year old labrador breed search and rescue dog 'Moka' photographed in training program, in Turkiye's Sakarya on March 04, 2024. 'Moka', which joined the Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality Fire Brigade Department two years ago and took part in Kahramanmaras-based earthquakes, is ready for duty with its daily 3-hour training program. (Photo by Ibrahim Yozoglu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A seemingly heartwarming Facebook post has descended into a social media fight.
A member of the Funny and Cute Animals Facebook page posted a two-minute video of a man walking his labrador to the corner store. The man ties up the dog to a post while he pops inside to buy something. Meanwhile, the dog is happily watching people walk on by (his tail constantly wagging) and laps up any attention and pats he gets from some people, who are delighted to see him.
The video was popular at first, with 100 Like reacts, 120 Hearts/Loves, and 125 Care reacts. But there was one Angry react – and that’s when the trouble started.
Known as ‘Barbara’, the commentor wrote a scathing review of the video:
“The owner of this dog should be jailed! ANYONE could have snatched that poor baby from the street and run away with it! But the careless owner doesn’t give a damn, tying the dog up like he means nothing! Some people don’t deserve to own beautiful dogs like this one! It’s disgusting!”
The comment received an overwhelming amount of Laugh and Angry reacts, with another commentor – known as ‘Peter’ – writing:
“You clearly DIDN’T BOTHER watching the WHOLE video! The owner is in the store for about a minute and – if you watch closely enough – you can see him keeping an eye on his dog when he’s at the checkout. Clearly the owner’s done this before as he has clear sight of his dog through the window. And he unties his dog as soon as he leaves the store and they continue their walk. The dog was FINE and was loving the attention.”
Another user – named ‘Adam’ – replied to Peter’s comment: “Mate, you’re spot on. I have a lab and they’re so outgoing. Meeting all these new people would be a joy for him. Better than leaving the dog cooped up in the house being bored and lonely. At least the dog’s getting exercise and is socialising. There’s nothing wrong with this video. It’s beautiful.”
Barbara attempted to fire back at Peter and Adam’s comments but was getting drowned out by other commentors who agreed with them.
30 minutes later, Barbara deleted her comment and left the group.
As we head into NRL Round 9, here’s a new addition to our NRL previews – an analysis of each team’s strengths and weaknesses from the previous round with our NRL Round 9 Teams Strengths & Weaknesses.
NRL Round 9 Teams Strengths & Weaknesses
S = Strength W = Weakness
South Sydney:
S: Showed some fight in the second half.
W: Taane Milne has a couple of weeks off for his unnecessary and bone-headed tackle on full-time. But it should be more.
W: This loss has put the spotlight back on Jason Demetriou’s future. Surely it’s only a matter of time before he’s sacked?
W: 42 missed tackles against Melbourne.
Penrith:
S: Defended themselves into the ground against North Queensland – a big effort in hot and humid Townsville.
S: Nathan Cleary proved how classy he was after a few weeks away: 428 kicking metres and five goals from five.
S: Brian To’o celebrated his 100th game with the opening try and 227 run metres.
W: Made 13 errors and had 47 missed tackles and 25 ineffective tackles.
Manly Warringah:
S: Manly are looking like they’ll play finals again after a couple of tough and controversial seasons.
S: 20 points for Reuben Garrick. And he showed composure to score two tries after being roughed up by Sivo.
S: While their defence has been poor at stages this season, they only conceded one second half try and held out Parramatta in the last 10 minutes to put the game away.
W: Possible bans for Haumole Olakau’atu and Daly Cherry-Evans could weaken Manly in the short term.
Canberra:
S: Matt Timoko was one of the few Raiders to show some fight: 209 run metres and 89 post contact metres.
W: Easily their worst performance in a long time. Buckle up Raiders fans: reality has hit and it could be a long season.
W: 64 missed tackles and 18 ineffective tackles.
W: Danny Levi’s inexcusable drop – with the tryline in sight – was the turning point. A potential 12-6 scoreline became 18-0 to Cronulla and it was game over.
Brisbane:
S: Adam Reynolds had a fine return: five goals and 328 kicking metres.
S: Brisbane are starting to warm up after a slow start to the season.
S: Another great game from Reece Walsh (two tries and 185 run metres).
W: Just like against Canberra, Brisbane would have been disappointed conceding late tries against the Tigers.
Sydney Roosters:
S: Sam Walker was a deserved winner of his second Ashton Collier Spirit of Anzac Medal: he scored a try (penalty try), kicked 10 goals from 10 attempts, had 354 kicking metres, and two try assists.
S: Easily their best performance of 2024.
S: The Roosters’ biggest win and highest score in ANZAC Day games.
W: Had more errors than the Dragons (8-6).
Canterbury-Bankstown:
S: Canterbury-Bankstown’s patience is starting to be rewarded with big results like the Newcastle win: they may not make the finals, but they’re definitely building to something.
S: Unlike the Roosters game, this time Canterbury went on with it against Newcastle.
S: Matt Burton had another excellent game, with 383 kicking metres and six goals from six attempts.
W: While they won easily against Newcastle, they still had 35 missed tackles and 21 ineffective tackles.
Wests Tigers:
S: At least their discipline was good, only conceding four penalties.
W: Samuela Fainu had a brain explosion: you can’t tackle players while they’re taking a 20 tap.
W: With four straight losses, the rot is starting to set in after a bright start to the season.
W: While Brisbane won easily, Api Koroisau was robbed of a try due to the ‘separation’ ruling.
Gold Coast:
S: Deserved that win after fighting efforts against Canberra and Manly.
S: Once again, Alofiana Khan-Pereira scored a crucial try – this time to open the second half.
S: An excellent 92% completion rate against the Warriors.
W: Conceded two tries in five minutes to give the Warriors a sniff after half-time.
Melbourne:
S: Now this was the clinical Storm we’re used to – easily their best performance of 2024.
S: Xavier Coates only played 34 minutes and still scored a hat-trick. But he’ll miss the Titans game.
S: 234 kicking metres for Jahrome Hughes and 187 for Cameron Munster.
W: Craig Bellamy won’t be happy the Storm let in three tries in nine minutes to give Souths a sniff.
North Queensland:
S: Picked themselves up in the second half to make a game of it.
W: But a poor first half allowed Penrith to build what should have been an insurmountable lead.
W: Crucial errors let them down in the second half.
W: Tom Chester could be out for a month with his hamstring injury.
The Dolphins:
S: 240 run metres for Trai Fuller and 53 tackles for Jeremy Marshall-King.
S: Gave themselves a chance with two late tries.
W: Are 1-3 at their second home at Lang Park.
W: 46 missed tackles and 15 errors against Newcastle. A disappointing loss after the huge Darwin win.
Newcastle:
S: While losing Kayln Ponga is devastating, David Armstrong looks to be a decent replacement at fullback.
S: Dane Gagai scored 10 of Newcastle’s 18 points.
S: 53 tackles for Jayden Brailey.
W: Would be disappointed to give The Dolphins a late sniff at sending the game into Golden Point.
NZ Warriors:
S: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad had a brilliant 100th game: the opening try, 289 run metres, and 94 post-contact metres.
S: Shaun Johnson did his best to keep the Warriors in the game: 644 kicking metres and four goals from four attempts.
W: A disappointing loss considering it was their first home ANZAC Day game in a decade: they’re 2-2-1 in New Zealand this season.
W: 43 missed tackles against the Titans.
Cronulla-Sutherland:
S: The Sharks are in first place for a reason – aside from the shock Tigers loss, they’ve been brilliant.
S: Nicho Hynes scored 16 points against Canberra as the Sharks did as they pleased.
S: Canberra’s hoodoo over Cronulla is done now: the Sharks have won the last three convincingly.
W: Nine errors against Canberra, but this is nitpicking in an almost perfect performance.
St George Illawarra:
S: An 88% completion rate was decent despite the heavy loss.
W: The Dragons continue to be consistently inconsistent.
W: Losing Moses Suli on the first tackle was a bad omen.
W: 50 missed tackles and 27 ineffective tackles against the Roosters.
