Welcome to The Gurgler’s Kick to Come – our NRL Round 7 preview.
Easter is almost here and that means a solid 4 days of home time, and plenty O League. Good times.
Maybe not for Cowboys fans as they contemplate life without JT aka Johnathan Thurston for a few weeks.
Good times for Tigers fans who it seems only needed a new coach to play well again. Well that was obvious from pretty early in the JT aka Jason Taylor reign.
With the comp so open at this early stage, it seems any team is capable of the top 8. And the next upset isjust around the corner. Good times.
Onto our Kick to Come NRL Round 7 Preview.
Each week we ask questions on the round ahead and answer them ourselves, mainly because no one else will. We also provide our “best bets” on the weekend action and our tipping competition. And we indulge ourselves with something stupid, obscure or slightly time wasting, the backbone of this website.
TOP 5 QUESTIONS FOR THE NRL ROUND 7 PREVIEW
Q – 3 Games on Good Friday…Does that make it Great Friday and Does That Mean Jesus Really Loves his Rugby League?
A – Of course he does, and who wouldn’t with three games game to back, then again on Saturday. Prepare the Foxtel, Lounge and Beverage.
Q – Will the Cowboys go downhill without Johnathan after his injury?
A – Perhaps. As capable as his replacement Ben Hampton is, the Cowboys haven’t been going that well in the last few weeks, with home losses to previously busted arse teams with either sacked coach or one who had one loss left in Manly and Wests Tigers.
Q – Can the Warriors win away from home?
A – Some might be surprised to know that the Warriors have won a third of their away games since 2006. Although 7 of those 40 wins have been against the gold Coast which is a home away from home so doesn’t count. They have beaten Canberra just once in 7 attempts. That was without the Viking clap, and their ominous point scoring against the Tigers and Titans in recent weeks.
Q – Is the Broncos – Titans derby the most underwhelming in the NRL.
A – Maybe, maybe Friday night will prove us wrong again. It also points out a big up yours to Channel Nein who still don’t get Jarryd Hayne to talk about. All had better get in whilst it lasts before he chases his European Rugby dreams next year.
Q – Did anyone outside the most loyal of Dragons fans expect them to be top after 6 rounds.
A – No if you’re honest. It showcases the openness of the comp which makes it great. Again.
NRL EXTRA BIT – WHO IS EACH SIDE’S WORST COACH OF THE PAST 40 SEASONS
Time to trawl back through the seasons, and this time we are working out who the worst coach has been for each side has been over the past 40 years. Only condition is that they were formally appointed and not caretaker and coached 20+ games.
Some are current, some are surprising, some we’ve barely heard of.
All our research comes from the number 1 site for Rugby League statistics – The Rugby League Project. If you want any stats on Rugby League in history, we can’t recommend it enough.
KNIGHTS – Nathan Brown (2016-2017) 30 Games 6.7%
GOLD COAST – Malcolm Clift (1991) 22 Games 9.1% (Includes Giants, Seagulls, Chargers and Titans)
COWBOYS – Grant Bell (1995) 22 Games 9.1%
RABBITOHS – Paul Langmack (2003-2004) 35 Games 14.3%
EELS – Ricky Stuart (2013) 24 Games 20.8%
PANTHERS – Len Stacker (1979-1981) 66 Games 24.2%
ROOSTERS – Russell Fairfax (1989-1990) 36 Games 30.6%
TIGERS – Terry Lamb (2001-2002) 50 Games 32.0%
WARRIORS – Tony Kemp (2004-2005) 37 Games 35.1%
SEA EAGLES – Trent Barrett (206-2017) 30 Games 36.7%
DRAGONS – Steve Price (2012-2014) 60 Games 38.3%
RAIDERS – Don Furner (1982-1987) 151 Games 38.4%
SHARKS – Arthur Beetson (1992-1993) 44 Games 38.6%
STORM – Mark Murray (2001-2002) 43 Games 41.9%
BRONCOS – Ivan Henjak (2009-2010) 51 Games 52.9%
BULLDOGS – Kevin Moore (2009-2011) 66 Games 53.0%
There you have it. Newer clubs were always going to struggle, although that didn’t stop Souths and Wests Tigers from being awful at times.
THE GURGLER’S NRL TIPPING COMPETITION
Each week we will supply our tips for the week ahead, plus take on some guest tipsters. They are likely to determined by a ridiculous method. Will arse beat class? Probably. Pity we’re neither.
We have done it for the EPL, but next to none reads it. So we hope to get at least half of those people for the NRL tipping.
It is like the BBC EPL Tips of Lawro vs Someone Else, but stupider.
THE GURGLER’s NRL ROUND 7 PREVIEW TIPS
RABBITOHS to beat Bulldogs
ROOSTERS to beat Knights
BRONCOS to beat Titans
SEA EAGLES to beat Storm
RAIDERS to beat Warriors
COWBOYS to beat Dragons
PANTHERS to beat Sharks
EELS to beat Tigers
NRL ROUND 7 PREVIEW – GUEST TIPSTER 1 – WHICH TEAM HAS THE BEST WORST COACH FROM THE LAST 40 SEASONS
Worst Coach win percentage in brackets.
BULLDOGS (53.0%) to beat Rabbitohs (14.3%)
The best worst coach record of the last 40 years against “Supercoach” Paul Langmack.
ROOSTERS (30.6%) to beat Knights (6.7%)
Poor Nathan Brown at Newcastle has the worst worst Coach stats.
BRONCOS (52.9%) to beat Titans (9.1%)
Broncos Ivan Henjak still had a winning record over 50%. Gold Coast’s least successful coach Malcolm Clift did not.
STORM (41.9%) to beat Sea Eagles (36.7%)
Plenty of success at Melbourne over the years, so no surprise they are ahead of Trent Barrett in the worst coach stakes. Second current coach in the list.
RAIDERS (38.4%) to beat Warriors (35.1%)
Close one, and would have been hard on Raider’s Don Furner who had the Raiders from the start in 1982. Tony Kemp for Warriors is obscure.
DRAGONS (38.3%) to beat Cowboys (9.1%)
Cowboys Grant Bell was a first season only coach. Dragons Steve Price proved it was a hard act to follow after replacing Wayne Bennett.
SHARKS (38.6%) to beat Panthers (24.2)
We’ll have to ask a Penrith fan about Len Stacker. Can’t remember Arthur Beetson as Sharks coach either.
TIGERS (32.0%) to beat Eels (20.8%)
Terry Lamb beats Ricky Stuart aka Carlos Smearson’s bad year at Parra.
NRL ROUND 7 PREVIEW – GUEST TIPSTER 2 – THE DOG
BULLDOGS to beat Rabbitohs
ROOSTERS to beat Knights
BRONCOS to beat Titans
STORM to beat Manly
RAIDERS to beat Warriors
DRAGONS to beat Cowboys
PANTHERS to beat Sharks
EELS to beat Tigers
RESULTS SO FAR
Not a great week last week. We got beaten by the Dog, Deadliest Mascot and Postcode
R3 Ladder Improvement from 2016 – 75% – 6/8
Deadliest Mascot – 6/8 – 75%
Scrabble – 58% – 5/8
The Gurgler – 60% – 28/48
Selections by Postcode – 55% – 22/40
The Dog – 52% – 25 / 48
Selection by Mascot – 38% – 3/8
Most Interesting Fan – 38% – 3/8
Pack of Cards – 25% – 2/8
THE GURGLER’S NRL ROUND 7 PREVIEW SUPER MULTI
Want to win some cash? You may well need to avoid following our tips. Here for you street money consideration is our best bets conveniently packaged into a super multi.
RABBITOHS +6.5 start
ROOSTERS to win
BRONCOS to win
SEA EAGLES +8.5 start
RAIDERS -15.5 start
COWBOYS +10 start
PANTHERS to win
TIGERS +6.5 start
$1 “pays” $40
