It’s time for weekly Rugby League rant of The Gurgler’s angry man Buzz equivalent known only as the NRL Donkey, who provides his NRL Round 21 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 NRL Round 21 Expert Tips and Weekly Rant
Thank god State of Origin is over. That’s not just because this Queensland based donkey is disappointed in the result, although I am not beyond a decent petulant sulk when I feel like, although I’ll stop from going full Eeyore, but the obsession of State of Origin is suffocating. Except in Melbourne.
But to be a little bit or a lot hypocritical, here are the final thoughts.
Nothing good comes in fours…..
The Four Points Queensland scored were not good enough.
There were no Four Pointers from Queensland.
XXXX Gold is one Australia’s worst beers.
XXXX Bitter is worse than XXXX Gold.
Four times a season we have no choice but to watch Channel Nein.
Felise Kaufusi ran for four metres in Game Three. He ran further to get into the scuffle. Cameron Murray’s 30 metre run to get involved is seven and a half times further than Kaufusi’s on field effort. In fact, Cameron Murray’s walk from the bench to the dressing room after being sent to the sin bin was longer
Not to pick on good old Felise, because there’s a lot of love for him as a Dolphin fan, but his Origin effort was the Formula 1 equivalent of Logan Sargeant driving two laps and retiring for no reason. Although, that might actually save his Williams F1 team some money given his crash record this season.
But it isn’t Felise’s fault at all, it’s the coach for picking him to run on in the first place. For all the We’re Queenslanders talk, Billy did make changes, but sadly not many were good. There’s a fine line between coaching genius and being a plain old Freddy. Any side that starts with three bench players is a good sign you’ve picked the wrong side. Any starting side that has K. Capewell named you’ve picked the wrong side. Not that Captain Plod was that bad. But he certainly wasn’t that good. As brave as the Queenslanders were in defence, they could have put all 17 players on at once and probably still not scored. Maybe it would get too squashed, or maybe a few extra players could give Reece Walsh more places to hide. Behind Felise Kaufusi should do, he ain’t going far. Billy can always go back to commentating on Origins.
Before this Origin rant is done and dusted may I say Channel Nein suck and as a homage to your Westpac ad, I’ll give you several dollars to shut up. Although, that Gus Gould part of that ad is very funny, and I dare say a highlight of the coverage, along with the moment the remote is grabbed to switch over to Planet America on the ABC. Which leads me to ask, is Billy Slater the Joe Biden of rugby league? I wonder who the Trump would be then. Probably the Bunker, neither of them can see the truth.
But before we leave the Trump-Biden arena, how refreshing to see Hulk Hogan in full cry at the festival of Trump. If the NRL are the forward thinkers they think they are, they should already be on a plane heading for wherever Hulk is tearing up singlets right now. If that performance doesn’t scream “Face of NRL in Las Vegas” I don’t know what would. Obviously not Jarryd Hayne, nor Captain Charger. But imagine him out the front of one of the Casinos ripping NRL jersey after NRL jersey off. The scraps to be auctioned for auction.
But enough Origin for now and for 2024. Good on NSW, better luck next year Queenslanders. Time to get back to an NRL with all the players and all the games. About bloody time.
The NRL Donkey’s NRL Round 21 Expert Tips
WAHS v TIGERS
Anyone tipping the Tigers for the rest of the season get what they deserve.
Warriors by 20
PARRAMATTA v MELBOURNE
Now that Mitchel Moses has played his two best games for the season, and neither of them for the Eels, we can just about write them off for the season too. Good to see that the NRL has the Eels straight after the Tigers just in case the Tigers win for the battle of the spoon. As for Melbourne, they are some kind of machine. Like the T2 bad guy robot. Only difference is the human in that organisation is the scariest thing – Craig Bellamy.
Melbourne by 18
BRISBANE v BULLDOGS
People will say that Adam Reynolds return was the big difference to getting the Broncos season back on track after a 0% win score over the Origin period. But I know best. The reason for victory was the security of knowing that the big unit Xavier “The Beast” Willison was on the bench ready to tear up the Knights. And he’ll do it again. The Bulldogs are enjoying a second game in a row in Queensland. Perhaps they are the grey nomads of the NRL moving north for winter. If they are this kick off will be perfect as it will allow them to have dinner at 5:30pm.
Brisbane by 8
NORTH QLD v CRONULLA
The Cowboys remain incredibly tough to tip, winning when you think they won’t, losing when you think they won’t. So this week I think they will win.
Cronulla by 12
ROOSTERS v MANLY
A repeat of the 2013 NRL Grand Final. And I care about it as much now as then.
Roosters by 18
DRAGONS v PENRITH
The Dragons and all Fox League employees will be keen on the Dragons chances for a rare season double over Penrith. Nathan Cleary is the reality. And this time he’s bringing all his Origin mates along.
Penrith by 40
DOLPHINS v GOLD COAST
The Dolphins may be on a Win 2 – Loss 5 run, but they have been thereabouts, losing in golden point to Penrith underlines their competitiveness if not the results. And there’s one thing you can be certain about, that Ray Stone hates not getting the results the team deserves. He had his best game in a while v Penrith and looks ready to serve up some more rock. Gold Coast also have never beaten the Dolphins, but are playing well if you haven’t seen the score from last weekend.
Dolphins by 6
CANBERRA v SOUTH SYDNEY
The Sunday 6:15pm timeslot usually ensure the worst game of the weekend, and so here is Canberra v South Sydney. There’s a few reasons to pick either side. There’s also more reasons to settle in and watch something else. The Formula 2 on a Sunday evening is a good watch. Or the final round of the Senior British Open which will hopefully be won by Miguel Angle Jiminez. Dancing With The Stars will not be better so better off sticking with the NRL.
Want more NRL information than just the draw, results or the current ladder? Then you are in the right place and the right time with the home of Stats and Stuff via our 2024 NRL Round 20 Results Stats Summary for the weekend that was.
Each week we compile and keep up to date a wide range of stats from the latest weekend of NRL action plus the best 2024 NRL Season Stats to help you to the top of the tipping competition, land a few responsible winners or even make your Supercoach team better. And now with a match by match summary full of all the stats you need and/or want.
It’s all stats, and never Slats.
NRL Round 20 Results
Fri – Canberra 20-18 Warriors
Sat – South Sydney 42-28 Wests Tigers
Sat – Newcastle 14-30 Brisbane
Sat – Melbourne 24-8 Roosters
Sun – Penrith 28-26 Dolphins
Sun – Manly Warringah 38-8 Gold Coast
Sun – North Queensland 20-18 Bulldogs
NRL Round 20 Stats Extra
SIN BINS
The question wasn’t if Wests Tigers had the most sins bins in 2024, but how many more than their next best challenger.
And we’ve thrown in some extra stats to see if there’s bias against lower ranked teams and there’s not much. The position is based on ladder position at time of round.
Plus there’s some surprising result on whether a Sin Bin affects your team’s ability to win.
So, yes the Wests Tigers do have the most Sin Bins this year, and by a decent margin, but you may say Tigers get more sin bins because they are a bottom half club.
And indeed, bottom half clubs do get more Sin Bins. But Wests Tigers are over-presented. Of the 52 Sin Bins this season for lower half clubs (ladder position at the time of match) 14 were for the Tigers (they spent one week in the top 8). That’s 27% of all Sin Bins for lower half teams for the Tigers.
But then you may argue that it’s because the Tigers give away more penalties. So we used a measurement of number of Sin Bins divided by Penalties / Ruck Infringements, and what would you know the Tigers over well over-represented.
The Tigers are almost double the % of third worst team the Cowboys. The Roosters mid table position is testament to the amount of penalties they give. They are well clear of the Tigers in second.
But does a Sin Bin lead to a win or a loss?
To finish this looks at Sin Bins, here are the team’s results from games when they have had a player sent to the Sin Bin.
SIX POINT LOSSES OR LESS
After another two point loss on the weekend, and a recent run that has seen them super competitive, we wondered if they were the team that were the unluckiest. As it turns out, no.
But it does highlight how good the Dolphins and Bulldogs are going with their lofty ladder spots against pre season judgements if they could have turned just a few more of those narrow losses into wins.
The second half is for those who like a wager on the 13+ margin. Unsurprisingly, Wests Tigers and Parramatta top the big losses.
ORIGIN PERIOD SUMMARY
We took the matches from the first round where Origin players were excluded to the round before State of Origin Game III to see how the teams fared.
Fair to say some did a lot better than others. Some like the Broncos have excuses with a number of players involved in the interstate rivalry, but other teams like Parramatta had one, and he was only fit for Origin II. Melbourne had a few out but saw no drop in winning.
Origin was kind on the Rabbitohs whose figures below certainly picked up.
NRL Round 20 Stats Season Summary
Some weekly and season stats and additional interesting visuals for the weekend that was and the season that is.
OVERALL LADDER AND FORM
WIN / LOSS RECORD BY HOME / OPPOSITION LADDER POSITION
Ladder position from previous round.
WIN / LOSS RECORD BY GEOGRAPHY / DAY / TIME
NRL Round 20 Results and Match Summaries
Want or need a quick summary of every game from last weekend? Well here they all are.
Origin is over and we can get back to a full card of eight NRL games with the best players to fill our weekends. Talking of full cards, our 2024 NRL Round 21 Tips Predictions & Stats Preview will have you well fed on rugby league stats and figures.
Each week we offer up a quick preview glance for each match, throw in a bunch of barely interesting stats, and mix in a pinch of opinion, some spicy tips and you have a rugby league soup with probably more flavour than one could ever need or want. It’s all you can eat NRL stats. Indulge in the allure of luxury and sophistication with our exquisite collection of rolex replica watches. Each meticulously crafted timepiece captures the elegance of the original, allowing you to enjoy high-end style without breaking the bank. Perfect for fashion enthusiasts and discerning individuals alike, our Rolex replica watches are designed to impress and elevate any outfit.
2024 NRL Round 21 Matches
Here are our tips for the week ahead. How did we get to here? By going through all the visuals and stats below.
Fri 6:00 pm – Warriors v Wests Tigers
Fri 8:00 pm – Parramatta v Melbourne
Sat 3:00 pm – Brisbane v Bulldogs
Sat 5:30 pm – North Queensland v Cronulla
Sat 7:35 pm – Roosters v Manly Warringah
Sun 2:00 pm – St George Illawarra v Penrith
Sun 4:05 pm – Dolphins v Gold Coast
Sun 6:15 pm – Canberra v South Sydney
2024 NRL Round 21 Tips
WARRIORS by 12
MELBOURNE by 10
BRONCOS by 8
CRONULLA by 6
ROOSTERS by 12
PENRITH by 10
DOLPHINS by 6
CANBERRA by 6
Looking for a cheat sheet for the weekend’s upcoming games?
Here’s as much information that we could cram into one size fits all visual.
Plus our famed barely interesting stats all in the one place for this week of fewer games.
Warriors have won six on a row v Wests Tigers, at six different grounds. It’s also five in a row on a Friday v Tigers.
Warriors have won the only clash between these at Mt Smart Stadium on a Friday – in 2002. The Warriors won the only other home game v Tigers at Central Coast Stadium during Covid.
Warriors have won four of their last five at home on a Friday.
Wests Tigers have lost eight in a row on a Friday, and conceded 210 points in the last four games on a Friday. It’s eight in a row on Friday away too.
Parramatta have lost their last three to Melbourne. But are unbeaten at home on a Friday to Melbourne. (Two games).Discover the allure of luxury with our exquisite collection of replica watches, featuring the finest fake rolex timepieces designed for discerning individuals. Each replica Rolex captures the elegance and precision of the original, allowing you to enjoy the prestige without the hefty price tag. Whether you seek a classic design or a modern twist, our selection ensures you find the perfect fake Rolex that complements your style and enhances your confidence. Indulge in the sophistication of a high-end watch today and elevate your everyday look effortlessly.
Parramatta have also lost their last three games at home on a Friday. One was in Darwin, but they were awful there.
Melbourne have won five of their last six away games.
Melbourne have lost their last four away games on a Friday to Sydney teams.
Bulldogs have lost five in a row v Brisbane.
Brisbane have won seven in a row v Bulldogs at home and 10 of the last 11 games.
Bulldogs have lost all three away games v Brisbane on a Saturday.
Bulldogs have lost nine of their last ten games away to Qld sides.
Brisbane have lost their last two games at home v Sydney sides.
Cronulla have won the last three games v North Queensland and won 11 of the last 12.
Cowboys have lost five in a row at home v Cronulla.
Cronulla have lost their last two v Qld sides this season.
Cronulla have won their last four away games v Qld sides, and conceded exactly 12 points on the last three games.
Going back to 2023, Roosters have won 10/12 home games v Sydney clubs.
Manly have lost all four away games this season v Sydney clubs.
Going back to 2013 Manly have won just five of 23 games away from home on a Saturday v Sydney sides.
Dragons are on a three game winning streak at Win Stadium.
Dragons have won four of their last five games at Win Stadium on a Sunday but only one of their last five games on a Sunday v Sydney clubs.
Penrith have an ordinary record at WIN Stadium winning just two of nine games, but the last game there between these sides was in 2016.
Penrith have won 10 of their last 12 away games on a Sunday and both of those losses were at Suncorp Stadium.
Gold Coast are one of two sides yet to beat the Dolphins in their short history. Cronulla are the other.
Dolphins have lost their last three Sunday games and have won just two of their last nine matches on a Sunday.
Dolphins have lost four of five matches v Qld opposition at Suncorp Stadium.
Dolphins have conceded between 24 and 30 points in nine of their last ten matches.
Gold Coast have won four of their five games at Suncorp Stadium on a Sunday.
Canberra have won four of their last five vs Rabbitohs. But just three of their last eight at home v Rabbitohs.
Canberra have won four in a row v Souths on a Sunday.
Canberra have lost their last three on a Sunday v all teams – two of those games were at home.
Souths have lost their last three Sunday games.
2024 NRL Round 21 Helpful Betting Stuff
Here’s a few betting things to enhance your tipping.
Oscar Piastri of McLaren during the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary on July 21, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Oscar Piastri wins his first Grand Prix, but not after some late race drama as team tactics make the win uncomfortable for everyone involved. Talking of uncomfortable, here is our 2024 Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Result Summary.
This 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix Result, Lap by Lap, Review & Summary gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – It’s a McLaren one-two as the orange cars of Lando Norris followed by Oscar Piastri defeat the man with the orange fans – Max Verstappen who qualified third in wet then drying qualifying session. Behind them there’s mild surprise as the Aston Martins and RBs fill positions 7 to 10. The big surprises, and one becoming less so, is George Russell and Sergio Perez being knocked out in Q1. Russell looked to be at least in the conversation for pole position but he went out too early on the drying track and ended up 17th. Sergio Perez responded to the pressure of keeping his Red Bull seat by putting his car into the barriers and 16th place. His career at Red Bull and F1 in general must be hanging by a thread. One more bad race and he’s probably done.
On the race day Sunday it is hot and dry, and some drama with pole sitter Lando Norris who has his car being worked on frantically before the start, it’s good to go though. as are we…..
GRID (Starting Order) – NOR PIA VER SAI HAM LEC ALO STR RIC TSU
Lap 1 – Pole sitter Lando Norris gets away ok and quickly turns his attention onto his team mate Piastri to the right pushing him close to the wall, but the Aussie keeps his foot on the gas and keeps his McLaren right on the inside of turn one. Meanwhile Max Verstappen has snuck up on the outside of Norris, and it looks like three cars wide into turn one, it can’t happen without accident surely. It doesn’t, but Verstappen is pushed wide and Norris is compromised but the Red Bull ends up second and Lando Norris holds onto third. Meanwhile Piastri has disappeared up the road – is 1.5 seconds ahead at the end of the first lap. Winners and losers for Lap One are Albon and Magnussen as winners up four and five places respectively, while Sainz dropped back, and as ever Daniel Ricciardo lost places at the start.
ORDER – PIA VER NOR HAM LEC ALO SAI STR ALB MAG
Lap 2 – Piastri continues to lead like he was born to do it, meanwhile the radio comms between Norris and Verstappen equally claim that the turn one action was unfair. Stewards are investigating, Max going wide and gaining an advantage that is.
Lap 4 – Red Bull get on the radio to Max to advise him to let Lando Norris past, which he does going into turn three. Oscar Piastri is 2.5 seconds up the road. Could be an interesting battle between the besties again. They have form recently.
ORDER – PIA NOR VER HAM LEC SAI ALO STR ALB MAG
Lap 6 – Quick check on the under achievers from qualifying….George Russell has moved from 17th to 15th, and Sergio Perez has dropped from 16th to 17th. Might be one more position to be dropped, if you know what we mean……
Lap 7 – Fast starters Albon and Magnussen make their first pit stops already. They drop to the tail of the field. Alonso and Ricciardo do the same a lap later
Lap 10 – No problems for Oscar Piastri in front, he remains between 2.5 to 2.7 seconds in front of his team mate and looks comfortable. A few laps after typing this, the lead is over three seconds and growing. The Aussie is cruising. Wonder if the appallingly biased Sky F1 team will be able to recognise Piastri if he beats Norris.
Lap 14 – Lando Norris’ team radio has the message that his race “is with Verstappen”. Meanwhile the TV Coverage is fixed on the race between George Russell and Sergio Perez for 11th.
Lap 17 – First of the front runners pits – Lewis Hamilton from fourth place and he dumps the medium tyres for hards. And drops to seventh in the process, just ahead of his teammate.
Lap 18 – Lando Norris pits a lap later from second. He rejoins ahead of Lewis Hamilton but behind the Ferraris. Oscar Piastri pits on the next lap and rejoins in front of Norris with a three second cushion. Max Verstappen stays out in front for a while longer, a place he knows well but is increasingly less used to in 2024. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton sets a fastest lap to underline who has the best tyres on.
Lap 21 – Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz pit. Verstappen rejoins behind Lewis Hamilton. It could be worse, Sainz rejoins behind Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc is the only one left to pit of the front runners, but his team are happy with his race pace, so let’s see if that strategy plan is a winning one, or a Ferrari one. He pits on Lap 24 and ends up behind Verstappen again.
ORDER – PIA NOR HAM VER LEC TSU RUS SAI PER GAS
Lap 26 – Post pitstop excitement and Oscar Piastri is doing it well. The gap is up to 3.8 seconds over Lando Norris with breathing room gaps opening up throughout the top cars down to 7th v 8th. Which for now is Tsunoda v Russell.
Lap 29 – Sergio Perez stops for the first time, a decent effort to get to lap 29. He does do longer stints well on a Sunday. Meanwhile his touted replacements make pitstops too. Ricciardo (second stop) ends up last and Tsunoda (first stop) ends up 10th. The other potential Perez replacement Liam Lawson has yet to make a pitstop this season, as he doesn’t currently have a 2024 race seat.
Lap 32 – Max Verstappen is gaining steadily on Lewis Hamilton in third, so a clash between those two might keep us awake. Someone who is certainly not asleep is Oscar Piastri who is now 4.4 seconds in front of Norris, with Norris himself five seconds up on Lewis Hamilton.
Lap 35 – Max Verstappen is right on Lewis Hamilton’s tail going into turn one and the Mercedes locks up allowing Verstappen to get past but only temporarily, as the Red Bull runs wide the very next corner as Hamilton reclaims third. Further up the road Piastri’s lead has halved after a few bad laps. Hopefully nothing terminal, probably lapping cars. Norris might smell blood though and the gap remains around 1.3 and 1.5 seconds now.
ORDER – PIA NOR HAM VER LEC SAI ALO PER STR TSU
Lap 40 – The Hamilton-Verstappen battle continues to rage, as does Max Verstappen back to his team about the car. Hamilton bails on that and pits on Lap 41, and Ferrari bring in Leclerc too. Meanwhile Max stays out, and to no surprise isn’t very happy about it. Tells his team they have f****d his race. Ouch.
Lap 43 – Oscar Piastri’s lead to Lando Norris is around 1.6 to 1.7 seconds and the McLaren is over seven second in front of Max Verstappen. The second pit stops are due soon, so there awaits our last chance of some action.
Lap 46 – Lando Norris pits from second and rejoins in fourth. Is Piastri, as Max Verstappen puts it, having his race f****d? The team claim the earlier pitstop for Norris is to protect his lead from cars behind. If Piastri doesn’t pit soon then McLaren are talking sh!t.
Lap 48 – Piastri pits and is told “not to worry about Lando”. He may well worry about Lando as he takes the net lead of the race. That seems awfully unfair, but the team continue to claim that it is about covering opposition cars. And mention about team order. Lando is three seconds in front, and one does wonder if he will give the place back to Piastri. One wonders why McLaren would stuff their own driver who led so comfortably.
Lap 50 – Max Verstappen pits from the lead, leaving Norris ahead of Piastri with 20 laps to go. The Red Bull rejoins fifth. Norris continues to increase the gap to Piastri, and the team continue to promise Piastri of a swap in position.
ORDER – NOR PIA HAM LEC VER SAI RUS PER TSU ALO
Lap 54 – The gap between Norris and Piastri remain around 3.5 seconds. And a change doesn’t seem likely as Verstappen closes right on the tail of Leclerc.
Lap 57 – Max Verstappen overtakes Charles Leclerc for fourth. Lewis Hamilton is two seconds ahead. It won’t take long for the next battle to start.
Lap 61 – The gap between Norris and Piastri is now closer to five seconds and the radio conversations are the main point of interest at this moment. It seems Norris is adamant that his Championship lead takes priority over everything. He continues to argue with the team. And refuses to hand over the position.
Lap 62 – Max Verstappen is right on Lewis Hamilton’s tail and Verstappen goes close to passing around turn three but pulls out. This is for the final podium spot.
Lap 63 – Verstappen dives past Lewis Hamilton into turn one but there is contact as the Red Bull’s rear wheel clips the Mercedes and Max goes a little airborne. And by a little, we mean a lot. He obviously loses third to Hamilton while in the air, and then Leclerc a few corners later. The Red Bull is plenty strong though, as Max keeps going.
Lap 65 – The lead for Norris over Piastri is now over five seconds and the question still remains whether he will hand over the position. The gap on track, and Championship position argues with Norris, but he may regret the long term effects of his actions.
ORDER – NOR PIA HAM LEC VER SAI PER RUS TSU STR
Lap 67 – Team tell Lando Norris “Please do it now”.
Lap 68 – Lando Norris slows down on the straight and lets Oscar Piastri past. Norris made his point, but whether he has done some damage within the team remains to be seen.
FINAL LAP – Oscar Piastri hurries around his final lap, with his team mate right on his tail, to win his first Grand Prix. But it all feels a little hollow if we’re honest given the last part of the race. We know Oscar isn’t one for too much emotion, but even he sounds like he isn’t really enjoying the first win the way so many others have, including his own team mate recently. Lando Norris gives Piastri plenty of nothing in the post race warm down. The bit where the drivers are chatting might be interesting. Or not.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – PIA NOR HAM LEC VER SAI PER RUS TSU
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – OSCAR PIASTRI
Drove a near-perfect race. Stuffed by his team’s tactics again. But gets his first win.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
LANDO NORRIS – Took pole position. Probably would have won the race if not for his team’s involvement, but then again, only took the lead because of his team’s involvement. His petulance post race was a little ordinary.
CHARLES LECLERC – A decent race in a car that is probably fourth best at the moment.
LEWIS HAMILTON – Takes the final podium, and the Mercedes looks increasingly competitive.
THE GRAPE-EST – McLAREN
Stuff McLaren. With another bit of strategy have turned a great and joyous 1-2 into misery and potential team dis-harmony for the rest of the season.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
SERGIO PEREZ – Nothing better when you’re under pressure for your F1 seat than to put your car into the barriers and set a time up to then not good enough to escape Q1. Another appalling Saturday. Sunday is the usual story of recovery to mask the ills, but the car, which isn’t as world beating as 2023, should be beating more cars than it currently does in the hands of Perez.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Looked on track to be in the mix for pole, ended up doing his final Q1 lap in the mixed conditions too early and was cut in the first qualifying section. Ended up getting minor points, but they should have been major points.
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Struggling to get used to having to drive a car that isn’t a million times better than anyone, so it is entertaining to hear his team radio. Still, he gets plenty out of it. A late clash with Hamilton drops him to fifth.
ALPINE – Didn’t have another crack in qualifying Q1 as the track dried, so ended up at the back of the grid. Pierre Gasly’s decent recovery drive ended up in the race’s first DNF. Again.
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
ON TRACK ACTION – 3 / 10
An exciting first few corners with the two McLarens and Max Verstappen, but soon turned to battles for 11th, and pit stop coverage. The ending added a little more tension than the first part of the race.
ANY SURPRISES? – 3 / 5
Oscar Piastri sprung a decent surprise at the start by jumping his team mate and leading comfortably. Mid race too, the McLaren tactics of appearing to stuff the race leader Oscar Piastri.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 4 / 5
Not sure if it is track dependent, but this looks like the turning point of McLaren being outright faster than Red Bull. Of course they are certainly faster than one Red Bull.
ENDING 9 / 10
A slightly dull race came alive after the second pit stops when McLaren chose to pit Lando Norris first to cover Max Verstappen on behalf of Norris. So it became a guessing game of if/when McLaren would swap back positions or not. The Verstappen-Hamilton clash, and Verstappen’s radio in general in quite entertaining.
OVERALL RATING 19 / 30
A reasonably dull race came alive thanks to McLaren.
State of Origin Game 3 – NSW v Queensland – NSW 14 Queensland 4. The one-minute match report – giving you the bare minimum State of Origin round up in the bare minimum of time.
The NSW Blues have secured the 2024 State of Origin series with a hard fought win over Queensland in Game Three at Suncorp Stadium.
In a tryless first half, the Maroons took a 2-0 lead to the break, courtesy of a Valentine Holmes penalty, and it was a lucky lead given the dominance of territory and ball NSW had in the first half. Great defence from Queensland and key errors from the Blues cost them.
The first half also saw a scuffle break out that spilled over the sideline. It started with a little push and shove between Daly Cherry Evans and Jarome Luai (a battle that raged throughout the game) but then escalated when Jeremiah Nanai came in as the third person in, followed by the fourth to twentieth players in. Nanai was sin binned for his involvement, and so was Cameron Murray who got involved despite being subbed five minutes prior. 19th man Haumole Olakau’atu was ejected from the sideline for his involvement as 19th man, not even in the actual team.
The two sides traded penalty goals in the second half, with Zac Lomax nailing one from the sideline and Valentine Holmes getting an easy one in front. The teams were tiring, but things were starting tire given the physical nature of the game.
Eventually Queensland broke as Bradman Best scored after a Jarome Luai break down the left side, Luai’s run coming after an offload that went wrong from NSW. This gave NSW the lead for the first time.
The Blues went further ahead a few minutes later when Mitchell Moses danced through some tired/ordinary tackle attempts close to the line.
Queensland and Channel Nein commentators tried in vain to make the last few minutes exciting, but expecting a team to score two tries in ten minutes when the preceding 70 minutes had seen no tries was wishful thinking at the highest level.
FINAL THOUGHTS
NSW Blues thoroughly deserved their win, having outplayed Queensland for most of the series. You could argue that Qld only played well for 10 minutes of the first half of Game One and the final 20 minutes of the second half. They can’t claim to have played well for any of the 80 minutes of the Game Two. You could also argue that Queensland had a good 10 minute period of Game Three and that’s it. So that means Qld played good for a total of 40 minutes of 240 minutes.
If Billy Slater was looking for impact he didn’t find it. And Kurt Capewell was and is never the answer to any question at Origin level. There’s a thin line between coaching genius and a Brad Fittler, and Billy will have to suck it up after his slightly absurd and churlish “We’re Queenslanders” comments after Game Two. Maybe he was still riding high of having Selwyn Cobbo on the bench in Game One and the call was spot on when Reece Walsh got knocked out. Queensland needed impact off the bench in Game Three, the Maroons were missing someone like David Fifita. Or someone. Or something. If you swap three of your bench players into the starting side then you’ve probably picked the wrong team. We don’t want to go full NSW and start the blame game, but in reality Queensland were ordinary in attack for two straight games.
For all of Reece Walsh’s superpowers, you can’t beat the NRLs most reliable player in Dylan Edwards. Sure he doesn’t light up the crowd, he merely gives you his all, hundreds of metres, and mostly error-free performances at the back. Any talk or whispers of him replacing James Tedesco will have evaporated by now. With a plethora of fullbacks to choose from, Reece Walsh will need to light up the NRL early in 2025 to justify his return.
Given the atmosphere and pre-game hype, isn’t it about time the NRL dumped neutral venues and gave back the State of Origin to the stats that matter. Or maybe reduce the neutral game to every third season. One season two games for NSW, next two for Qld, third season one neutral game. Take it to Melbourne, Perth or even Las Vegas, just do it less.
As good as the series has been, it is time for standalone State of Origin, played over a three week cycle, with a carnival of international, women’s and under-age games played alongside. Is Origin worth ruining the NRL for two months every year. Only Channel Nein think so. And they can go and…….
Talking of Channel Nein, and to wrap this all up, Mat Thompson needed to yell less. Much less. Talking of less, less Cameron Smith too. Looking forward to the day Peter Psaltis gets a go.
State of Origin Game 3 Stats That Mattered
Courtesy of nrl.com
NSW’s win broke a run of eight straight wins for Qld at Lang Park when hosting Game Three.
It is only the fifth time in Origin history where NSW have won the series after Queensland have won the first game (22 occurrences)
It is only the second time of nine occurrences where NSW have won the series after Queensland won the first game in NSW.
It was NSW’s sixth win in 23 live rubbers for Game Three. And third of 13 when the final game is played in Qld.
The game was the equal second lowest scoring game for live series decider.
It was Qld’s equal lowest score in an Origin decider and lowest score in a decider at Lang Park.
Patrick Carrigan topped the Run Metres and Tackle Count for Queensland.
Tom Dearden had more running metres than Payne Haas and every Qld forward other than Carrigan.
Felise Kaufusi’s return was two runs for four metres. And seven tackles. So he made more tackles than run metres.
Spencer Leniu topped the Run Metre per Minute played, ahead of Dylan Edwards and Isiah Yeo. You have to go down to tenth for Queensland’s best effort.
Haumole Olakau’atu made Origin history by being the first player to make a tackle without actually playing.
It’s time for weekly Rugby League rant of The Gurgler’s angry man Buzz equivalent known only as the NRL Donkey, who provides his NRL Round 20 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 NRL Round 20 Expert Tips and Weekly Rant
Not wanting to stuff around this week, the Round 20 expert tips are out before the result of State of Origin Three known. But given this is an expert tips section allow me to quickly predict what will happen in advance.
It will be cold, so beer stays colder, so Qld fans will drink more, so atmosphere will be fever-pitch, any bus going within 100 metres of Caxton Street will be rocked. Except the Great Circle Line, none of you better touch those buses…..
The pre-game part will be drawn out and sh!t, with way too many musical montages and ads for crap on Stan.
The pre game entertainment will suck.
You’ll be over the Westpac ad before kick off. Although the Gus Gould bit telling them to shut up will still be funny every time.
Reece Walsh will do something punchable or nothing at all and be shown up by bench player Kalyn Ponga.
Qld will win 30-16 and Andrew Johns will sulk like a baby for the next 11 months.
And Michael Maguire will not risk a second facial expression.
Now that’s over and done with, this is one rugby league website for NRL is going to focus on the actual NRL, unlike the NRL who are currently in Channel Nein belly-rubbing mode which will conclude at the end of this weekend when all the players are back or when The Block returns. Whichever come first.
Talking of The Block, there is not enough rugby league involved in The Block. What about a Battle of the Codes like on Sale of the Century back in the day. Might I say there’s not enough Pete Smith speaking either. Although with rugby league players on site you’d have to have some pretty stringent safety rules. And ban all worksite dogs. You also couldn’t have The Block featuring rugby league players in any of the $67M suburbs they have the show in these days. Too dangerous for the local inhabitants. Wondering if somewhere like Forbes or Yeppoon could be a better, more rugby league friendly location. Where’s Yeppoon you ask? Well, next to your knife and fork. Boom, tish, here all week.
But leaving The Block, and the contestants talking about grout for the rest of this week, and onto this weekend, and the only thing colder than the weather is a few of the teams chances of making the finals. Interesting that the three most recent losers to Penrith in the Grand Final are now busted arse and looking no hope of making the September showdowns. So I guess the silver lining to Penrith winning every year is if they play the team you hate in the Grand Final this year and win, that team you hate will be sh!t the following year. Anyone up for a Roosters – Panthers final then?
One does wonder with all the wind around in Brisbane that NSW may inject Matt Burton solely for his kicking. Like the NFL. Which the NRL has tried to become for years. Is Michael Maguire that kind of visionary? After watching that Tiger Town fly on the wall documentary I’d say no. Those sports documentaries are hit and miss for the teams involved. It’s worked out well for Wrexham but not Sunderland. Equally the Drive to Survive F1 doco has worked out well for nearly everyone, with the Netflix series the sole reason Daniel Ricciardo is still on the grid and anyone knows Christian Horner as something other than Mr Ginger Spice. We prefer someone with a name like Helmut Marko for the record. While still on sports TV shows, I’d like a series to follow around Greg Norman. I tried to do a very low budget version a few years with just a single camera and a smile but the courts intervened. But when Greg teases like he does it’s hard to help yourself.
Back to someone else who can drive a ball, Matt Burton’s bombs may need clearance from the Brisbane Airport before Origin Three, or at a minimum, the kicks will be annoying enough for the local residents to complain about the air traffic. But it won’t happen. Queensland will have a Dane Gagai inspired evening, turning back the clock to win the Wally Lewis Medal again from the wing, and only playing one game. Or they might just give it to Billy Slater again. Anything’s possible. Except for enjoying Channel Nein’s coverage of the game. Oh, back to Origin again, sorry, it’s a habit this time of year. Onto the weekly tips.
The NRL Donkey’s NRL Round 20 Expert Tips
CANBERRA v WAHS
You know it’s Origin time when……
There’s a stupid f—ing Westpac ad.
The term Origin bolter is in every second rugby league story.
You hear form Billy Moore again. But not Danny Moore. And of course never Dudley Moore. Although I’d certainly like to hear more from former Bullet NBL star Andre Moore. But less from golfing compeditor Ossie Moore.
And…..the Warriors are on Channel Nein.
Given the surge in Warriors popularity and their general appeal and well-wishing to neutrals that Channel Nein would have more Warriors games. But Channel Nein won’t be told to do what people want. Like standalone Origin, more Warriors games, and bringing back Supermarket Sweep, that crazy game show where people filled their shopping trolleys with as much stuff as they could in a minute. Given the Cost of Living crisis it is unbelievable that no one has brought that back.
Back to the game and Canberra aren’t travelling well, which will lead a small minority to complain about Ricky Stuart, who will dismiss their concerns with a laser like stare and hopefully a few sweet karate moves.
But if there’s any team that can hack a cold, miserable place to play it’s the Warriors.
Warriors by 8
SOUTHS SYDNEY v WESTS TIGERS
Losses for both teams last weekend makes this game almost pointless. Which with eight rounds to go is a pretty good effort. At least the Rabbitohs looked OK, while the Wests Tigers audacity to win multiple games in a row was punished by a team that were previously busted arse.
At least it’s in Gosford, which makes it a little more worthwhile, so as ever look for those giant sauce bottles. We’re hoping the exploding sauce out of the top for try celebrations idea we suggested four weeks ago has been implemented. If not it’s an opportunity missed.
Talking of missed, this is a mini match watch if ever I’ve seen one. At best.
Rabbitohs by 4
NEWCASTLE v BRONCOS
You know things are going bad when even Channel Nein don’t want the Broncos. Fox League plastering over their channel that they have the Broncos exclusively for five straight weeks. Well I guess it is nice to have some Qld Cup on. That’s a bit harsh. Certainly towards the Man Mountain that is Xavier “The Beast” Willison who was the Broncos best again, and as per usual.
Fact, whilst Xavier Willison was on the field Brisbane won the game 22-8. What other conclusion can you draw. No wonder he looked injured when on the field, he’s been carrying the side.
The Broncos are certainly missing Adam Reynolds. Probably by the same people who blamed him for the Grand Final loss. Broncos look more likely to lose the title of Brisbane’s best club rather than making any Grand Final right now. An award they would have struggled to lose in the pre-Dolphins era.
Newcastle were equally hopeless last weekend, and looking at the final scores you’d have to say even more hopeless. But I guess less was expected.
Flip a coin.
Brisbane by 2.
MELBOURNE v ROOSTERS
Game of the round, and of course not on Channel Nein., who couldn’t find enough charity to have the Warriors and the best game on paper for Round 20. Sure they do the TV times at the start of the season, but in very few scenarios is Manly v Gold Coast better than this game. Nein’s loss is Fox League snob’s gain.
If you read The Gurgler’s much more boring and stat filled Round 20 Preview you will see that this match is overstocked on great stats making picking a winner harder than finding somewhere to hide if the Storm conceded three tries in a row this weekend. One wonders if Craig Bellamy and the HR department at the Storm are close.
This could be a Grand Final preview, which would be a shame as neither side is that likeable. Although I do know Melbourne fans can be quite thin skinned, so if you think that the Storm making the Grand Final is a great thing for rugby league, I invite you to email our Gurgler inbox and describe why in 35 words or less. The tie breaker is we’re thinking about a winger who played under Wayne Bennett.
Melbourne by 2
PENRITH v DOLPHINS
Talking of Grand Final previews, who’s up for a Dolphins-Panthers Grand Final. Wayne Bennett would. The statues of the Bee Gees certainly would be. Ray Stone wouldn’t, as everything makes him angry. But most of the rugby league community would probably get behind it.
Dolphins have been accused of having any easy draw where they hardly left Queensland, and while I won’t tell Ray Stone you said that, some of it is true. But the Dolphins also have the best record v Sydney teams this season and did beat the Sharks in Cronulla a few weeks ago. And Penrith have lost at home recently to the North Queensland Cowboys. An omen? It’s certainly not ironic. Like most of that awful Alanis Morrisette song.
Neither would a Dolphins win be ironic.
Dolphins by 6
MANLY v GOLD COAST
There’s plenty of reasons to like this game, and Des Hasler is one of the reasons.
Other reasons include David Fifita giving Queensland Origin selectors one more finger if they lose on Wednesday.
Tommy Turbo is getting back towards his best.
Remember former player Colin Best? I guess he could be easily described as Best and Less.
And the song Eagle Rock is pretty cool. As long as people keep their pants on.
So for all those reasons and more we are tipping an upset.
Gold Coast by 6
NORTH QLD v BULLDOGS
Ah, the Cowboys. NRL’s most impossible team to tip.
They are at home, against a side who have won just one of their last million away games.
So defying logic, as is needed with North Qld, an away win it is.
Want more NRL information than just the draw, results or the current ladder? Then you are in the right place and the right time with the home of Stats and Stuff via our 2024 NRL Round 19 Results Stats Summary for the weekend that was.
Each week we compile and keep up to date a wide range of stats from the latest weekend of NRL action plus the best 2024 NRL Season Stats to help you to the top of the tipping competition, land a few responsible winners or even make your Supercoach team better. And now with a match by match summary full of all the stats you need and/or want.
It’s all stats, and never Slats.
NRL Round 19 Results
Thu – Dolphins 36-28 South Sydney
Fri – Cronulla 58-6 Wests Tigers
Sat – Gold Coast 24-16 Parramatta
Sat – Brisbane 26-30 St George Illawarra
Sun – Manly Warringah 44-6 Newcastle
NRL Round 19 Stats Season Summary
Some weekly and season stats and additional interesting visuals for the weekend that was and the season that is.
OVERALL LADDER AND FORM
WIN / LOSS RECORD BY HOME / OPPOSITION LADDER POSITION
Ladder position from previous round.
WIN / LOSS RECORD BY GEOGRAPHY / DAY / TIME
NRL Round 19 Results and Match Summaries
All the games with all the stats you could ever want or need with added barely interesting stats to go with. Giving you a comprehensive wrap up of all that went on in the NRL on the weekend.
NRL Round 19 Stats Extra – Sin Bins
Are the Wests Tigers players more likely to go to the Sin Bin? Well, yes.
A cold snap is going around Australia, and talking of cold snaps, the Broncos will probably be hoping to break their cold snap of six straight losses. There’s not long to go until the finals, and the Broncos are one of a few teams hanging on by a thread. Talking of sewing, our 2024 NRL Round 20 Tips Predictions & Stats Preview has stitched up this week’s NRL nicely.
Each week we offer up a quick preview glance for each match, throw in a bunch of barely interesting stats, and mix in a pinch of opinion, some spicy tips and you have a rugby league soup with probably more flavour than one could ever need or want. It’s all you can eat NRL stats.
2024 NRL Round 20 Matches
Here are our tips for the week ahead. How did we get to here? By going through all the visuals and stats below.
Fri 8:00 pm – Canberra v Warriors
Sat 3:00 pm – South Sydney v Wests Tigers
Sat 5:30 pm – Newcastle v Brisbane
Sat 7:35 pm – Melbourne v Roosters
Sun 2:00 pm – Penrith v Dolphins
Sun 4:05 pm – Manly Warringah v Gold Coast
Sun 6:15 pm – North Queensland v Bulldogs
2024 NRL Round 20 Tips
WARRIORS by 6
SOUTHS by 10
NEWCASTLE by 6
MELBOURNE by 2
PENRITH by 16
GOLD COAST by 4
NORTH QUEENSLAND by 8
Looking for a cheat sheet for the weekend’s upcoming games?
Here’s as much information that we could cram into one size fits all visual.
Plus our famed barely interesting stats all in the one place for this week of fewer games.
Canberra have lost four in a row coming into this game.
Canberra have also lost three in a row at Canberra Stadium.
Warriors have won three straight v Canberra. All three of those wins were on a Friday.
Warriors have won just two of the last 11 away games. But have won four of their last five away games on a Friday.
Souths and Wests Tigers both have a 50% win record at Central Coast Stadium. Rabbitohs from 16 games and Tigers from 8.
Souths have won seven of their last eight v Wests Tigers.
It’s six wins in a row for Souths over the Tigers as the home side. And 12 of the last 14 as the home side.
Souths have also won six home games in a row on a Saturday v Wests Tigers. The last time the Tigers won away to Souths on a Saturday their current head coach was playing.
Souths are still on a three game winning streak on a Saturday.
Wests Tigers have lost seven in a row away and 16 of their last 17 away games.
Broncos have won four in a row v Newcastle, but three of those four wins have been at Suncorp Stadium.
Newcastle have won three of the four games in Newcastle on a Saturday v Broncos.
Broncos have won seven of their last eight away games on a Saturday, that only loss was the last game however. And they have lost their last three Saturday games.
Newcastle have won their last three Saturday games and seven of their last nine.
Newcastle have also won their last six home games on a Saturday v Qld sides. And 12 of their last 14 v Qld sides at home on any day.
Melbourne have won 12 of their last 13 home games. They have also won four of their last five home games on a Saturday.
But…..they have lost seven of their last nine games as the home side on a Saturday v Sydney clubs. Note: that is shared between AAMI Park and Suncorp Stadium.
But….they have only won three of their last eight at AAMI Park v Sydney clubs. Not to mention their dreadful recent record at home to Canberra.
But….the Storm have never lost to the Roosters in Melbourne on a Saturday ever in seven games. And concede only 10 points per game in that run while scoring at 27 points on average.
Roosters have won seven of their last eight on a Saturday and five of their last six away on a Saturday.
Roosters have won eight straight on a Saturday v non NSW teams away from home.
Roosters have won five of 16 games v Melbourne anywhere on a Saturday.
Dolphins have the best record this season v Sydney teams – 88% or W7 L1. Their record in Sydney is W1 L1.
Penrith’s 75% win rate v Top Half teams this season is the competition’s best. Dolphins’ record is not too shabby either at 67%. Note: Top Half is ladder position at time of match not current ladder position.
The Dolphins 28.9 points scored on average v top half sides is also the competition’s best. Penrith’s average is 21.3.
Penrith lost their last home game on a Sunday, but it was nine wins in a row before that.
St George Illawarra have the same home game winning % as Penrith (71%)
Oh, and Penrith have won the only clash between these sides.
Gold Coast have won six of the last eight v Manly at Brookvale.
But…Manly have won the only two games between these sides at Brookvale on a Sunday. The last game was in 2013.
Manly have lost six of their last seven home games v Qld sides.
Manly have won all four home games on a Sunday this season.
Gold Coast have lost six of their last seven away games on a Sunday to Sydney sides.
Bulldogs lead Cowboys in H2H on a Sunday by 5-3.
North Qld have lost four of their last five home games.
But the Cowboys have won their last three home games on a Sunday and kicked a field goal in all three of those games.
Bulldogs have won just one of their last 12 away games.
Bulldogs have won just one of their last ten away games v Qld sides.
Bulldogs have also lost six in a row away on a Sunday.
2024 NRL Round 20 Stats Extra – Origin v Pre Origin Comparison
Here’s a comparison in win %, points scored and conceded from before the Origin teams were named (and thus players taken out and the NRL is in stand by mode). It sure does highlights the Broncos woes.
2024 NRL Round 20 Helpful Betting Stuff
Here’s a few betting things to enhance your tipping.
The F1 drivers and team are getting restless with the summer break not far away. or maybe that is the championship getting close or in some driver’s cases the axe is looming. Talking of restless, our 2024 Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Preview will give you a bit of everything without exceeding track limits ahead of the upcoming big weekend of F1.
The Gurgler’s 2024 Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Preview brings some thoughts on the race itself, a few bold predictions here and there, a more than a few barely interesting stats.
Essentially a quick summary of what a casual F1 fan needs in the shortest possible time for your convenience.
By Will Pittenger – Own work using: [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4473986It’s a track that doesn’t really inspire, but at least isn’t a copy-paste Tilke track. There should be a decent first corner and first lap action, but a classic race usually requires water. Although the very hot temperatures predicted may shake up some strategy and performance. The way 2024 is heading for competition, we don’t need rain, or a great track to make it interesting.
2024 Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Preview – Race Rating
The Gurgler does like to use some obscure drivers in our Race previews and report, so who better to use than Teo Fabi to determine a race rating system.
So before each race we give a rating out of ten for four key category that are loosely based on each letter of Teo Fabi’s surname. Don’t know who Teo Fabi is, you should.
FAST? 2/10 – No. Hungary is often called Monaco without the barriers, which is strange as they have plenty of barriers, just further away. But the track is among the slowest for average speed. That’s not to say there’s isn’t fast bits, but it isn’t a flowing track so feels slower.
ACTION? 4/10 – If it rains, there’s usually plenty of action, sometimes all at once like when Bottas cleaned up the top five of the grid in badly judged move. It is also a track that sees first time winners more than average with five first time winners. That could be Oscar Piastri on current form.
BIG HISTORY? – 5/10 – The Hungarian Grand Prix is a bit of a sleep for history, as it has been around since 1986, when ex Mr F1 broke F1 behind the Iron Curtain. There’s been a few big moments like Damon Hill and Jenson Button’s first wins. A out-of-this-world drive from Michael Schumacher in 1998, and even the first race in 1986 is worth a watch. Senna v Piquet where the latter overtakes the former with a hearty drift into turn one.
INCLEMENT WEATHER? – 6/10The Weather Channel says between 13-19% chance of rain over the weekend but there’s a warning for very hot conditions, almost 100 degree Fahrenheit. Whatever that is in Celsius. That hot weather is bound to suit one car over another, so we don’t need the rain.
RACE RATING 43% – Not expecting much from the track itself, but the season is shaping nicely. And those hot temperatures are the wildcard.
2024 Hungarian F1 Grand Prix Preview – Stats
Want to know if your favourite driver for this weekend is a master of the track or the track is a master of them? Here then are some barely interesting facts and stats.
These visuals go back to 2000 to cover the current drivers, thanks to Fernando Alonso. The all time history goes back to 1950.
Pole into race win is the most popular combination since 2000 (10 times), when the car finishes, but 17th on the grid to DNF has happened more (12). The next highest was 11th on the grid to 8th place in the race (8).
Lewis Hamilton has eight wins and will equal his own record set just last week for the most wins by a driver at a certain track if he wins this weekend.
14th place on the grid is the lowest grid slot for a race win since 2020, and 18th place is the lowest grid position for a raceday podium.
George Russell’s pole in 2022 is the only time he has made it to Q3 in five attempts. Lane Stroll’s Q3 strike rate ins worse with 1 appearance from 7 attempts.
DRIVER GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT – CURRENT DRIVERS
TEAM GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT
HISTORIC DRIVER RESULTS – HUNGARIAN GP
99 = a DNF. Grid position 20 is overstated as that was also used for cars starting in pitlane.
HISTORIC TEAM RESULTS
OVERALL GRID POSITION INTO RACE RESULT
99 = a DNF. Grid position 20 is overstated as that was also used for cars starting in pitlane. Results from 2000.
A 1-2 in qualifying for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton and a 1-2 in first corner accident.
Oscar Piastri to pick up the crumbs and win.
Lando Norris to sulk about it.
Guanyu Zhou to be completely unsighted by TV cameras.
Here are The Gurgler’s 2024 British Grand Prix Ratings – our way of rating the performances on the track without running into anyone.
Our G-Power Rankings goes a little bit deeper than just points scored on the Sunday and has a slightly cooler name than most. We take on board Free Practice, Qualifying, performance in relation to teammate, fastest lap, and a few more stats that are attempting to highlight a driver outperforming the car and/or thrashing their teammate.
Plus, we have a range of stats and barely interesting facts from the 2024 F1 Season so far.
Here are the current overall standings for our Driver of the Year winner – the Martini Medal. Named in honour of one of F1’s most unsung heroes – Pierluigi Martini of Minardi fame.
We have the overall scores as they stand, plus a visual which shows the flow of each driver’s position throughout the season, plus a few points of interest below.
Here is the breakdown of the Driver of the Year points from the most recent race and the season so far. Remembering our ratings go across a whole weekend, so the race winner who may not have had a great qualifying or sprint race may not come out on top.
LATEST RACE RATINGS
DRIVER OF THE SEASON UPDATE
2024 British Grand Prix Ratings – Teams
This is essentially using the same drivers stats but in reverse for the worst score, but taking out anything that is a H2H between the drivers.
And our annual award focuses on the other end of the grid, highlighting the worst team of the season.
Of course, the worst team of the season award needs to be named after the worst F1 team of all time. And if you want to fund out more about Andrea Moda, follow this link.
LATEST RACE & SEASON RATINGS
BEST OF 2024 STATS AND DRIVER OF THE YEAR
DRIVER 2024 H2H RECORD
Beating your team mate in F1 is very important, which is why we keep an eye on the H2H stats through the season.
New for this week is the overall H2H. Which means the H2H from every session – FP and Qualifying, plus who set a faster Fastest Lap and two points for beating the team mate in the race. Note: both have to feature in same Q session for H2H point.
2024 F1 QUALIFYING STATS
Here our qualifying analysis covers just about everything we could find on qualifying.
QUALIFYING SUMMARY
QUALIFYING GRID SLOT TO % FROM POLE
QUALIFYING COMPARISON FROM 2023 SEASON to 2024 SEASON
QUALIFYING COMPARISON FROM 2023 BRITISH GP to 2024 BRITISH GP
QUALIFYING COMPARISON IN 2024 BY TRACK TYPE
FIRST LAP POSITION + GRID TO RACE RESULT GAINS
Races can’t be won or lost at the first corner, well actually they can be lost at the first corner, and a good one can make all the difference. Unless you drive a Red Bull, then it doesn’t really matter.
So here are the stats on the lightning fast starters and the slow pokes.
FREE PRACTICE
Some say Free Practice is a giant waste of time, and they are probably right. Regardless here is the average position for each drivers in Free Practice this season. Each round an average of all the sessions.
FASTEST LAP
Fastest lap is only worth one point (inside the top ten) and is probably not that interesting, but still, have a visual for this season so far.
Current Race Power Rankings in Detail
2024 F1 Season Power Rankings – Points Explanation
Here’s how the points work this season. Essentially the perfect race (Win from Pole, Fastest Lap, thrash team mate, best in race etc) should amount to the perfect 100 points.
FIRST LAP GAINS +0.5pts per position gained -0.5pts per position lost.
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS – 25pts to 1pt as per World Championship – Sprint Race Points added.
BEAT TEAM MATE (RACE) – 10pts (if both finish or other driver got self inflicted DNF)
FASTEST LAP – 5pts – 1pt for top five drivers.
GRID POSITION TO RACE POSITION – formula +/- relative finish to grid
BEST OF THE REST (RACE) – 5pts to 1pt – top five non Mercedes-Red Bull drivers
QUALIFYING – 20pts to 1pt – Grid Position 1 to 20.
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) – 5pts
BEST OF THE REST (QUALIFYING) – 5pts to 1pt – top five non Mercedes-Red Bull drivers
GREAT/GRAPE – 5pts Great 2pts Honourable Mention -2Pts Dishonourable Mention -5Pts Grape
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) Time Gap – Formula for % beaten team mate by
BEAT TEAM MATE (QUALIFYING) Position – 0.5 Pts for every position team mate is beaten by. 0 points for second car.
FREE PRACTICE HERO – 10Pts to 1Pt – Average Position across all three practice sessions.
WIN FROM POLE – Bonus 5 Points
WIN FROM POLE WITH FASTEST LAP – Bonus 10 Points
DNF Not Driver or Team Fault Minus 2 Points
DNF CAUSED BY DRIVER/TEAM INCOMPETENCE Minus 5 Points
SPRINT RACE POINTS – Points 8 to 1 as handed out in the sprint race.
SPRINT RACE CHANGE – 0.5 Points per change in end position to starting position.
SPRINT RACE QUAL – Points 8 to 1 as handed out in the order of qualifying 1st to 8th.
![By Will Pittenger - Own work using: [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4473986](https://www.thegurgler.com/wp-content/uploads/2023-F1-Calendar-R13-Hungary.png)
