More effective than an interim coach, ducking for cover like a Melbourne Storm Assistant Coach, in training for the next mascot race, sitting on the extended bench and not expecting to play for the good of the team, and eyeing off who he can sack to save his job, it’s time for some Rugby League tips and opinion from The Gurgler’s NRL Donkey. The NRL Donkey provides his NRL Donkey’s 2026 NRL Round 6 Expert Tips as well as offers an alternative, slightly unhinged view full of sass of the world of rugby league and beyond for another week.
The NRL Donkey’s 2026 NRL Round 6 Weekly Opinion
Of all the rugby league games last weekend, the Parramatta-Wests Tigers was by far my favourite.
My least of course was the Dolphins pitiful effort against Manly. Whilst Manly unlocked a motivation magician in Kieran Foran, the Dolphins meanwhile were being flogged and run over and waited way too long to bring on Ray Stone. Not even Ray can save a game if you wait over an hour to inject his no nonsense, pain inflicting rugby league into a game. Once Tom Trbojevic looked even slightly dangerous, Ray Stone should have been brought on to act as a hand brake. If Ray Stone is good enough to stop the Iran War according to this story – then he can certainly stop a few Sea Eagles.
Back to the Eels-Tigers game, as good as it was, and as good as golden point games is in general, which it isn’t, it could be made to be even better with inspiration from this year’s biggest sporting event.
No I’m not talking about the Wife Carrying Championships, Lawnmower Racing, AFL outside of the Grand Final, Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, certainly not the US PGA Golf tournament which is the poorest cousin of all golf majors and anything involving rugby union, I’m talking about the Football World Cup, known in other area of the world and most One Nation strangleholds as Soccer World Cup. Not that many One Nation voters will probably watch either the Football or the Soccer World Cup, because it’s on SBS.
Who knows, given the state of world affairs, maybe the World Cup (Football and Soccer) won’t happen at all because the US might start bombing the other co-hosts. Anything is possible these days. Maybe the US might bomb FIFA itself, as they seem to be going for dictators and corruption-heavy opponents. That would be very ungrateful but super ironic if it happened, given the lengths FIFA’s tongue went to giving the US President the FIFA Peace Prize.
Back to the World Cup aka Football/Soccer, there’s a lot of reasons not to copy the game played all around the world. First there’s 0-0 draws, a semi-pointless exercise of sport, much like a cricket draw and any rugby union. Then there’s the VAR decision review system, which does an outstanding effort to be worse than the NRL’s Bunker for incompetence and nit-pickery. Then there’s the pathetic play acting to win penalties, with players on the ground after a feather touch on the leg, rolling around like an extra acting on a WWII movie except far less convincing until there’s a magic spray of what we presume is the Fountain of Youth, but won’t be shocked if it is just plain water, but either way it becomes the biggest miracle cure in medicinal history, which FIFA better keep to itself in case the US want to bomb them to steal that secret. Oh, and Throw Ins suck too.
But what is good from Football aka Soccer, aside from the proper fans chanting and hoisting hilariously antagonising banners at rival fan groups before games like in Italy’s Serie A, and Adebayo Akinfenwa, is a Penalty Shootout, often the best part of most World Cup knockout games.
So why shouldn’t the NRL steal the idea and capture some of the tension and drama that Football gets for free via their penalty shoot outs. It would certainly take the pressure off referees in whether to give or not give penalties that can determine games. They are often hopeless enough in 80 minutes, so don’t need more minutes under greater pressure.
So the plan would be like the Football World Cup aka World Cup of Soccer, there would be five kicks at first, taken on the 20 metre line in front, all by different players, then if tied at the end of those five kicks, sudden death.
The difference from here is that ball is moved by five metres with every knockout round to a maximum of the halfway line. Which would be getting pretty exciting, as if the penalty shootout is still going by the 50 metre line, you’ll be down to props, interchange players and potentially Ray Stone needing to kick.
But what drama, and by creating the penalty shootout you put the pressure back on the people who deserve it the most – the players. They are paid the most, so should put up with the most pressure.
Sure you can dismiss it, but the more you think about it, the better it’s gonna sound. And the talking points in meeting rooms, train, and park benches around town on the Mondays will be about great game, not referees or Reece Walsh.
Leaving Soccer / Football marriages with rugby league aside for now, here are the expert NRL Round 6 tips for this week, following some shameless plugging of other good stuff this website does.
READ MORE: NRL DONKEY’S 2026 NRL SEASON PREVIEW
READ MORE: PROPER NRL ROUND 6 TIPS
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READ MORE: ONE MINUTE MATCH REPORTS FOR ALL ROUND 5 GAMES
The NRL Donkey’s 2026 NRL Round 6 Expert Tips & Match Analysis
GAME BY GAME
THURSDAY 7:50PM – BULLDOGS v PENRITH @ Accor Stadium
What better team to play to showcase Gus Gould’s best work than the Bulldogs, where he made it about himself and Lachlan Galvin and not the football. Still, Bulldogs could have three Lachlan Galvins, two Bronson Xerris and a 12 foot tall Viliame Kikau and potentially set off a fire alarm during the second half so everyone has to evacuate the ground, then sneak on a 14th player when the action starts again and they still wouldn’t beat this Penrith team.
Penrith by 16
FRIDAY 6PM – ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA v MANLY @ WIN Stadium
I wonder what kind of magic Kieran Foran will come up with this week after Manly played the game of the decade in Redcliffe last weekend. If they do it again, Foran should be handed the job for a few years. And what better team to play than the busted arse Dragons, who think the solution is rushing back into the side one of the biggest problems they have. And how long can media keep a friend in a job. No other coach gets this easy a ride.
Manly by 6
FRIDAY 8PM – BRISBANE v NORTH QUEENSLAND
After nearly wiping out the entire spine, the Broncos will be tested in their “local derby” against a Cowboys team who are winning enough games to save Todd Payten from being the next head coach sacked for a few weeks. Hopefully with Reece Walsh not playing, the TV cameras can show him every five minutes or so sitting somewhere in the ground, just so we know he’s there. As for the game, Broncos really seem to like playing Qld teams at the moment and will probably still win anyway, powered by Xavier Willison as ever.
Brisbane by 6
SATURDAY 3PM – SOUTH SYDNEY v CANBERRA @ Optus Stadium, Perth
Having lost five in a row in Perth, you’d have to wonder why Souths keep giving up a home game to come here. Then you remember they play in a giant, two-thirds empty, soulless stadium miles away from their supporter base for money for the other part of the season. Have to wonder why Canberra are doing so poorly this season, or on the flip side, how did they do so well last season with the same players and coach. Probably time for Latrell to do something silly.
South Sydney by 4
SATURDAY 5:30PM – CRONULLA v ROOSTERS @ Optus Stadium, Perth
You’d have to wonder how many Perth residents will hang around for a second game of rugby league. Maybe they know their rugby league and will only turn up for this game. Maybe like parochial Western Australians they will hate Canberra because they hate the Federal Government. Or maybe they will hate the Rabitohs because Albo supports them. All we know is WA politician and former weekend TV celebrity Basil Zempalis will hate all four teams, as will the local paper, which is doing well to be a worse newspaper than the Courier Mail. Both of these teams are yet to lose in Perth. I always thought that the NRL would relocate the Sharks to Perth, which makes sense given the occasional Shark v surfer incidents you hear about on the news from WA. And Nicho Hynes looks like the kind of person who’d enjoy surfing the south-west coast.
Sharks by 8
SATURDAY 7:30PM – MELBOURNE v WAHS
As interesting a game as this is on paper, for me it will be all about Craig Bellamy’s reaction to losing four in a row, and just how far away people will feel the earthquake-like tremors. Maybe they will feel them in New Zealand. Hopefully not, as that might cause a tsunami. Still, Warriors have lost a million in a row to the Storm so it probably won’t happen. What will happen is Craig Bellamy being grumpy.
Melbourne by 10
SUNDAY 2PM – PARRAMATTA v GOLD COAST
Both teams felt ripped off with refereeing decisions last weekend, with very few having sympathy for Parramatta. That aside, the Titans don’t like away games, and their away supporters will probably only require 2-3 Tarago vans to get there.
Parramatta by 18
SUNDAY 4PM – WESTS TIGERS v NEWCASTLE @ Campbelltown
Anyone who said that this game at Round 6 would be a top four clash would have questioned your rugby league faculties. Not that we don’t condone a good rugby league turn around for long suffering fans of both. I forecast some Adam Doueihi heroics for the win.
Wests Tigers by 4
READ MORE: THE GURGLER’S FULL NRL 2026 GEAR
We’ve been working hard for you to bring you the 2026 NRL Season Previews from every angle and angel possible. But never Jo Angel.
NRL DONKEY’S 2026 SEASON PREVIEW
BOLD NRL 2026 SEASON PREDICTIONS
CAPTAIN HINDSIGHT’S SENSIBLE NRL 2026 SEASON PREDICTIONS
WHY YOUR TEAM CAN’T WIN THE 2026 NRL PREMIERSHIP
NRL 2026 RATINGS PREDICTIONS
2026 NRL JERSEY RATINGS WITH AI GREK NORMAN
2026 NRL DRAW ANALYSIS
2026 NRL DRAW ANALYSIS – TEAM BY TEAM
THE A TO Z OF THE 2025 NRL SEASON
