Welcome to our weekly preview of NRL Round 26 – the Kick to Come – which has our thoughts about rugby league this weekend in the NRL. The final round of the regular season.
There’s plenty to like about the upcoming final round, especially if you are a Fox Sports snob and have Fox Sports. More on that soon.
Just a few things left to decide. Minor Premiership, Top 4, and the honour of being 8th and knocked out first week of the finals.
Here’s the five things we are looking forward to this weekend. For the final time.
MINOR PREMIERSHIP BATTLE ON SATURDAY NIGHT
It’sall to play for on Saturday night as Melbourne take on the Sharks, the winner gets the honour of the minor premiership. An honourary title these days really. A big shiny JJ Giltinan Shield and $100,000. Wow, a team that is best over the regular season gets less than Lachlan Maranta. The Storm owner said during the week it is embarrassing, and maybe he’s right.
Still, the Sharks and Storm players won’t care about the 100K on Saturday night.
Much has been made about the decision from Channel 9 not to pick up this game, the arguments being that these games were chosen last year, but only announced in June. So how were the NRL and Channel 9 to know. Excuses that are BS in our book. Does anyone really think that Channel 9 would not have selected Broncos-Roosters or Souths-Bulldogs. And given the almost magnetic attraction to Parramatta, the third game is only a minor surprise.
Last year the Storm finished 4th and Cronulla 6th. The Sharks were knocked out second week of the finals and Melbourne third week. Did anyone think that either team would go backwards in 2016? The fact that Melbourne got just one game on FTA in the last 6 weeks and the Sharks zero, given their positions last year and likelihood of being involved in this year’s finals show the complete bias of the decision makers towards certain teams and markets.
Sure, they have been unlucky that so many of their favourites have gone badly in 2016, but a fairer distribution of games in general or having someone interested or knowledgeable about the entire NRL competition might have saved them from the embarrassing situation. Similar to missing out on Jarryd Hayne’s return, that’s what they get for completely avoiding the Titans in the run to the finals. Although given their early season apocalyptic predictions they can be given some leeway here.
So Channel Nein get what they deserve for telling rugby league fans what they want to see, not trusting the fans just want the best games, or even just a fairer share of FTA. And they’ll miss out on plenty more if they keep scheduling to current routine. Love my Sunday Football…….
CANBERRA V WESTS TIGERS
Both of these will be looking to Saturday night fixtures before meeting on Sunday. If the Sharks are beaten by the Storm, then Canberra can finish an unlikely second if they also improve the points difference of six. The Wests Tigers finals dream can still be alive if the Titans lose in Townsville on Saturday night also. Both are likely, so this game has plenty to offer.
For Fox Sports fans as ever. Again.
Ugh, here he goes again they say. But yet again another important game, and another team who features zero times in the last six weeks. One imagines nuclear safety suits for the Channel Nein team when/if they head to Canberra during the finals.
If this last week of the season proves anything, that Foxtel is a must if you want to follow rugby league.
BATTLE FOR FOURTH
Given the way the games are scheduled, the battle for fourth could be intriguing this weekend. The Broncos, Bulldogs and Cowboys play in that order on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All of them are on 32 points with a 14-9 record for the year. For the two Queensland sides they probably feel they should have been higher but had some poor run of form during the year. Blame Origin if you will. A large glass of excuse if you will. The Bulldogs have gone under the radar. Without playing too good, bad or exciting, they remain in the running for fourth. But given their inferior points difference to the other two sides will more than likely need to be the only one of the three teams to win.
So, it looks a good battle to keep us interested in the early games.
PENRITH – THE “DARK HORSE”
The Panthers are building nicely for the finals and if they manage to secure a big win against Manly and the Broncos and Bulldogs lose by enough they could climb as high as fifth. They look like a team that is capable of winning the competition next year, but who could rule them out of a title tilt just yet. The 2016 season has been so open stranger things could happen.
Watching them beat Manly convincingly would be great and interesting.
FIFTH AND LAST – LET THE SACK RACE BEGIN
2016 is a rare season that no NRL head coach have been given the arse yet. The period just after a season finishes can sometimes be the danger period for coaches whose sides have underperformed. If this was English Football at least 6 coaches would have gone already.
At the beginning of the season Jason Taylor and Ricky Stuart looked specials, but they remain in place after Canberra’s stellar season and the Wests Tigers demoted assistant coach Robbie Farah to NSW Cup.
Two head coaches that should be worried play games that they should win, and if they don’t may as well update their profile on Seek. Or the NRL Equivalent. Those sides are the NZ Warriors whose choke last weekend that also ruled the out of finals contention says a lot about how the club is going. A win against Parramatta on Sunday may not even save head coach Andrew McFadden. The Eels response to their awful season off the field is exactly what someone needs to get into the NZ side.
A win looks even more likely on paper for St George Illawarra. So a loss would surely see Paul McGregor moved on. It may happen anyway given results and the dreadfull football they play.
We say both will get the arse anyway before September ends.
Special mention for Michael Maguire, whose players late season revival have saved him from the boot.
NRL ROUND 26 SUPER MULTI
ROOSTERS +16.5 start v Broncos
SOUTHS to beat Bulldogs
NEWCASTLE +12.5 start v Dragons
COWBOYS to beat Gold Coast
MELBOURNE -6.5 start v Sharks
CANBERRA to beat the Wests Tigers
PARRAMATTA to beat NZ Warriors
PENRITH -9.5 start v Manly
$1 for $109
