Welcome to The Gurgler’s Kick to Come – our NRL Round 8 preview.
What better way to work off the Easter excess with 8 more games of rugby league.
Enjoy it while you can as Origin is just around the corner, ready to ruin the comp for a few months.
This week it will all be about Anzac Day, and another chance for teams to flog off another jersey, I mean pay their respects to Anzac day.
Onto our weekly Kick to Come NRL Round 8 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 – Is the Roosters v Dragons the big Anzac Day clash?
A – For Channel Nein maybe, but we say the better Anzac Day clash, and a true one given it involves a NZ side, is the Storm Warriors match.
Q – How can a prop turned halfback for the Cowboys be so bloody good?
A – Most were surprised when the team was announced, and a lot even more so after his burst of play in the second half. A little too late given they were 20+ points behind when they started to actually play.
Q – Will someone find the Tigers Big 4 a home soon please so we can stop talking about them?
A – Hopefully someone soon sorts out the “Big 4”. Every week it’s the same boring shit of where someone wants to go, and when (even next week). It is the epitome of why the NRL Player Transfer Market sucks – and we wrote and Fox Sports published an article explaining it more.
Q – How many Burgess brothers do Souths need?
A – One on current form. And if they ditch the underachieving or injured Greg Inglis they’ll be plenty of budget for the most needed fresh blood.
Q – Are the Panthers 2017’s most disappointing story so far?
A – Yep. We’ll stick by them for another few weeks.
NRL EXTRA BIT – WHO IS THE LEAST DISCIPLINED SIDE?
Given it is an Anzac Day weekend, what better tie in for our NRL extra bit than to see which NRL side is the most disciplined, given that is the backbone of our armed services.
So how have we worked it out?
Firstly, we have a tally of all penalties conceded so far in 2017. Then we add in the total number of weeks that team has been suspended for this season. Finally we have a score for every minute a team’s player has spent in the Sin Bin. E.g. 1 stint in Sin Bin is 10 minutes, and so 1 visit would be 10 points. As being sent to the Sin Bin is the ultimate in lack of discipline.
All our research comes from a great independent Rugby League website – League Unlimited. They even have a NRL Judiciary report after each round.
| Team | Score | Pens Conceded | Judiciary (Weeks) | Sin Bin |
| Storm | 67 | 56 | 1 | 1 |
| Bulldogs | 65 | 44 | 1 | 2 |
| Sea Eagles | 63 | 49 | 4 | 1 |
| Sharks | 59 | 59 | ||
| Panthers | 56 | 56 | ||
| Rabbitohs | 55 | 38 | 7 | 1 |
| Knights | 50 | 40 | 1 | |
| Eels | 49 | 48 | 1 | |
| Warriors | 49 | 49 | ||
| Roosters | 46 | 46 | ||
| Cowboys | 42 | 40 | 2 | |
| Raiders | 41 | 39 | 2 | |
| Broncos | 41 | 41 | ||
| Titans | 40 | 40 | ||
| Tigers | 39 | 39 | ||
| Dragons | 35 | 35 |
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 8 PREVIEW TIPS
RAIDERS to beat Sea Eagles
BRONCOS to beat Rabbitohs
PANTHERS to beat Eels
COWBOYS to beat Knights
SHARKS to beat Titans
BULLDOGS to beat Tigers
ROOSTERS to beat Dragons
STORM to beat Warriors
NRL ROUND 8 PREVIEW – GUEST TIPSTER 1 – WHICH TEAM IS THE BEST BEHAVED IN 2017
Total Score – Pens Conceded – Judiciary Weeks – Sin Bins in Brackets.
RAIDERS (41-39-2-0) to beat Sea Eagles (63-49-4-1)
BRONCOS (43-43-0-0) to beat Rabbitohs (55-38-7-1)
EELS (49-48-1-0) to beat Panthers (56-56-0-0)
COWBOYS (42-40-2-0) to beat Knights (50-40-0-1)
TITANS (40-40-0-0) to beat Sharks (59-59-0-0)
TIGERS (39-39-0-0) to beat Bulldogs (65-44-1-2)
DRAGONS (35-35-0-0) to beat Roosters (46-46-0-0)
WARRIORS (49-49-0-0) to beat Storm (67-56-1-1)
NRL ROUND 8 PREVIEW – REGULAR GUEST TIPSTER – THE DOG
SEA EAGLES to beat Raiders
RABBITOHS to beat Broncos
EELS to beat Panthers
COWBOYS to beat Knights
SHARKS to beat Titans
TIGERS to beat Bulldogs
ROOSTERS to beat Dragons
WARRIORS to beat Storm
RESULTS SO FAR
Not a great week last week. The Dog and Worst Coach both got 7/8 to our 4/8 – cheeky buggers.
Best Worst Coaches – 88% – 7/8
R3 Ladder Improvement from 2016 – 75% – 6/8
Deadliest Mascot – 75% – 6/8
Scrabble – 58% – 5/8
The Dog – 57% – 32 / 56
The Gurgler – 57% – 32 /56
Selections by Postcode – 55% – 22/40
Selection by Mascot – 38% – 3/8
Most Interesting Fan – 38% – 3/8
Pack of Cards – 25% – 2/8
THE GURGLER’S NRL ROUND 8 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.
RAIDERS to win
BRONCOS -3.5 start
PANTHERS to win
COWBOYS -15.5 start
TITANS +12.5 start
HT/FT Double – TIGERS/BULLDOGS
DRAGONS +6.5
STORM to win
$1 “pays” $212
