Welcome to The Gurgler’s Kick to Come – our NRL Round 9 preview. Round 9. Round 9. Round 9. Round 9.
Sorry channelling Beatles there.
With the test weekend next weekend (and the greatest day of league – the Pacific Test triple Header) and some great match ups this weekend, there’s never been a better time to binge watch all games.
Onto our weekly Kick to Come NRL Round 9 Preview.
Each week we ask the big question in rugby league and answer them ourselves, mainly because no one else will. We attempt to preview each game in less than 20 words. 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.
THE NRL ROUND 9 PREVIEW PREVIEW IN 20 WORDS OR LESS
Less is more in this day and age with rapidly shrinking time and attention spans, and so we have settled for less and tried to preview each game in less than 20 words.
THURSDAY – BRONCOS v PENRITH
Broncos lucky last weekend, Penrith lucky to keep their season alive if they lose.
FRIDAY 6pm – SOUTHS v MANLY
Manly keeps surprising, if only Souths were going in the same direction.
FRIDAY 8pm – COWBOYS v EELS
Thurston named but probably won’t play, home and Non Thurston record not great this season.
SATURDAY 3pm – TITANS v KNIGHTS
Titans $1.22 all of a sudden, Titans are tough with their injuries, but Knights not that bad.
SATURDAY 5:30pm – BULLDOGS v RAIDERS
Bulldogs are at the heart of the NRL player market, Canberra to take advantage of the uncertainty.
SATURDAY 7:30pm – TIGERS v SHARKS
Who knows if this will be the last game for a few Tigers. Sharks to circle the distraction.
SUNDAY 2pm – WARRIORS v ROOSTERS
Looks a real good game, but can the Warriors ever be trusted to win?
SUNDAY 4pm – DRAGONS v STORM
Storm doing what the Storm does. Dragons defying belief in 2017.
THE BIG QUESTION FOR THE NRL ROUND 9 PREVIEW
We were surprised about Gus Gould’s comments over Women not being interested in Rugby League?
Sorry was that on Channel Nein? Well I guess you get what you pay for there. Nothing. But don’t worry, all is good with rugby league on Channel Nein, they won another Logie for the Footy Show. Pffft to it all. But one only has to follow the Ladies Who League twitter account amongst others to know that Channel Nein were just being pig ignorant as usual. And who is surprised.
NRL EXTRA BIT – WHO IS THE MOST POPULAR ON TWITTER?
Twitter is a great if not abused. A free source of opinion and interesting people. But like anything social media it can be reasonably painful. It essentially elected a US President and became the broadcaster of choice. But thankfully Twitter is smart enough to limit people to 160 characters. If only it could happen in life.
Who does our most popular in Twitter work? Is it as complicated as attempts to work out who the Best Supported NRL Club was in 2015 and the Best Supported in 2016.
Na, it was pretty simple really. We went to each team’s official Twitter page and noted the number of followers.
| Team | Followers |
| Broncos | 115300 |
| Storm | 99400 |
| Warriors | 96100 |
| Souths | 93700 |
| Bulldogs | 78700 |
| Tigers | 65200 |
| Cowboys | 63400 |
| Roosters | 61700 |
| Sea Eagles | 57200 |
| Titans | 56800 |
| Sharks | 56800 |
| Eels | 54100 |
| Dragons | 50700 |
| Panthers | 49100 |
| Knights | 48900 |
| Raiders | 45800 |
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
BRONCOS to beat Penrith
SOUTHS to beat Manly
EELS to beat Cowboys
TITANS to beat Knights
CANBERRA to beat Bulldogs
SHARKS to beat Tigers
WARRIORS to beat Roosters
DRAGONS to beat Storm
NRL ROUND 9 PREVIEW – GUEST TIPSTER 1 – WHICH TEAM IS THE MOST POPULAR ON TWITTER
Total Followers in Brackets.
BRONCOS (115.3K) to beat Penrith (49.1K)
SOUTHS (93.7K) to beat Manly (57.2K)
COWBOYS (63.4K) to beat Eels (54.1K)
TITANS (56.8K) to beat Knights (48.9K)
BULLDOGS (78.7K) to beat Raiders (45.8K)
TIGERS (65.2K) to beat Sharks (56.8K)
WARRIORS (96.1K) to beat Roosters (61.7K)
STORM (99.4K) to beat Dragons (50.7K)
NRL ROUND 9 PREVIEW – REGULAR GUEST TIPSTER – THE DOG
PANTHERS to beat Broncos
MANLY to beat Souths
COWBOYS to beat Eels
TITANS to beat Knights
RAIDERS to beat Bulldogs
TIGERS to beat Sharks
ROOSTERS to beat Warriors
STORM to beat Dragons
RESULTS SO FAR
Not a great week last week. The Dog and Penalties both got 5/8 to our 4/8 – cheeky buggers. We’re een behind the Dog over the season. Mmmmm, shithouse.
Best Worst Coaches – 88% – 7/8
R3 Ladder Improvement from 2016 – 75% – 6/8
Deadliest Mascot – 75% – 6/8
Scrabble – 58% – 5/8
Penalties Conceded – 5/8
The Dog – 58% – 37 / 64
The Gurgler – 56% – 36 /64
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 9 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.
PENRITH +10.5 start v Broncos
SOUTHS to beat Manly
PARRAMATTA +8.5 start v Cowboys
GOLD COAST to win 1-12 v Newcastle
CANBERRA to beat the Bulldogs
HT/FT Double – Wests Tigers/Sharks
NEW ZEALAND to beat Roosters
DRAGONS +10.5 v Melbourne
$1 “pays” $475
