“When I heard that other code was going to get Katy Perry, I knew we needed to act quickly,” said NRL CEO Andrew Abdo. “So, I asked the social media team to find someone who looked similar to Perry, and that’s how we got Zooey. Luckily, she can also sing, so we’ve done pretty well. Not even Buzz can spin a negative story out of this.”
While Deschanel is jokingly called Perry’s lookalike, even she was surprised by the appointment.
“I don’t know what the NRL is. I was told it was some rugby game? But they said I’ll be singing infront of 80,000 fans down under, so that’ll be fun,” said Deschanel. “I might do a few covers, a couple of She & Him songs, see where the mood takes me.”
It’s the final State of Origin and there’s plenty to be excited about. A Series Decider, at Lang Park with a fierce/feral local crowd, and more re-runs of that Westpac ad. Not for the first time in 2024 Gus Gould makes sense. But as with any major sporting tournament or celebration The Gurgler is here to overthink and over-analyse it all with stats that may or may not matter. So talking about all that, here is our 2024 State of Origin Game 3 Stats Summary.
While the NRL is still in reserve grade mode, many ask whether the State of Origin hype is worth it, and to a degree we can’t wait for the Origin series to end so the NRL might not be ignored as much. But all agree that our 2024 State of Origin Game 3 Stats Summary certainly is worth the hype. We have stats, visuals, historic H2H plus we used as many stats as we think are useful to predict not only the winner, but the score. Who else offers such a service. Enjoy.
2024 State of Origin Game 3 Stats Prediction
Here’s our big ticket item before you get distracted and get sucked into the clickbait on Fox Sports – our Game 3 Predictions – which uses a lot of the stats we’ll dive into later.
2024 State of Origin Game 3 Best Bet
SAME GAME MULTI
QLD to win
Total Points Over 42.5
Race to 20 Points – QLD
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to score anytime
Jeremiah Nanai to score anytime
Brian To’o to score anytime
$1 pays $35 (as per Sportsbet 10/7)
2024 State of Origin Game 3 Stats Summary
Here we dive into the history and stats of the first game of the Origin series and games at the Sydney Olympic Stadium.
State of Origin Game 3 Record
Queensland lead 27-13 overall for Game Three with two draws.
Since 2010 the H2H for Game Three is QLD 11 NSW 3. It’s QLD 17 NSW 7 overall for Game Three at Suncorp Stadium.
Queensland have won the last eight games at Suncorp Stadium when it hosts Game Three.
Game Three for Queensland is the only Game/State where the average points scored is over 20 in Origin history.
Game Three is the highest scoring game on average with 37 points, above Game One/Two at 31 points.
Does one team have the advantage heading into a decider?
Yes. Queensland.
The Maroons lead 15-5 for live Game Three Series Deciders, with two draws.
When the series decider is played at Suncorp Stadium it is nine wins to two and Queensland have won the last six occurrences.
Queensland are ahead nine wins to three for winning Game Three when they have won Game One regardless of where either Game One or Game Three have been played.
Whenever Queensland have won Game One at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, they have won the series on all four occasions.
Finally, Queensland have won seven series in a row when the first game is at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, regardless of Queensland’s Game One result or where Game Three is played.
State of Origin Record @ Lang Park
QLD definitely hold the upper hand overall, as one would expect.
Queensland have won six of the last seven games at Suncorp Stadium
Queensland have won eight in a row at Lang Park when it hosts Game Three.
Key State of Origin Player Comparisons
Here we take the Game Three squads and compare some of the key battles from the NRL 2024 stats side by side.
DAVID FIFITA VS KURT CAPEWELL
The biggest talking point in the squad announcement, and here are the 2024 NRL Season stats that give weight to Fifita’s claims to be in the Game Three side.
FULLBACKS
The ever reliable Dylan Edwards vs the showman that is Reece Walsh.
CENTRES
Two new centres are in for Game Three, so time for a quick recap on their 2024 NRL stats.
SECOND ROWERS
The Blues second rowers were among the best on field. But can they do it again, let’s look at the 2024 NRL Stats.
Another weekend of NRL action featuring a field goal or two, players earning their State of Origin call ups and other players that are Origin ready. For now, we’ll let the stats do the talking and separate the Wheat/Chaff to present the NRL Round 18 Team of the Week & Player Stats.
First we have our Team of the Week, which takes some of the key player stats from the weekend and using various scoring methods come up with the best players in their positions from the latest round of the NRL.
Then there’s additional player stats from this weekend and some bite sized points of interest.
We’ve used the stats for each position and picked the best starting 13 players from the most recent round, the stats and points assigned are explained at the end.
On top of the best starting 13, we also include the best four interchange players of the week. Seeing who has provided maximum impact from the bench.
2024 NRL Team of the Season…so far
Here is the above but for all rounds.
2024 NRL Round 18 Player Stats
Want to see which players topped the key stats for the latest round of the NRL this weekend?
2024 NRL Season Player Stats…so far.
Same as the above stats, but this is for the 2024 season.
How the Team of the Week works
Want to know how we come up with the numbers to rank the players, the below table should explain hopefully.
Want more Player Stats? Neeeeed more NRL data and stuff? Why not try our friends at Nothing But League for bite sized pieces of NRL Stats and more every day.
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 18 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 18 Results
Thu – Parramatta 16-32 South Sydney
Fri – Cronulla 16-20 Gold Coast
Fri – Brisbane 6-14 Penrith
Sat – Bulldogs 13-12 Warriors
Sat – Wests Tigers 28-40 Melbourne
Sat – North Queensland 20-21 Manly Warringah
Sun – Roosters 42-12 St George Illawarra
Sun – Canberra 12-16 Newcastle
NRL Round 18 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 18 Stats Summary
Melbourne’s Joe Chan is the player with the most games played without being on a losing side in 2024 so far with ten games without loss. Rooster Ethan King and Dragons player Ryan Couchman are next best with three games.
The away sides equaled the season best effort with six wins from eight games. Coincidentally, the other time it happened was Round 8. Although Round 13 saw four away wins in a five game round.
NRL Round 18 Results and Stats Summary – H2H Match by Match Stats and Stuff
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.
South Sydney have won eight of the last nine v Parramatta.
South Sydney have all three Thursday clashes v Parramatta too.
Parramatta have also lost their last five home games v Rabbitohs.
It was South Sydney’s first Thursday win this season (W1 L3)
Cronulla have now lost five of their last six games.
The loss ended Cronulla’s nine wins in a row v Gold Coast.
Titans have won eight of their last ten away games v Sydney teams on a Friday. This was their first Friday game for the season.
Penrith have won 14 of their last 16 at Suncorp Stadium.
Penrith’s last six away games on a Friday are (most recent first) WLWLWL.
Penrith have the fourth lowest average score when they win in 2024.
Broncos have lost five in a row for the first time since the end of 2020/start of 2021.
Wests Tigers have won more games in the last eight rounds than the Broncos.
Broncos have lost eight of their last ten at Suncorp Stadium on a Friday v Sydney teams.
The Bulldogs have the same last six form as the Roosters – W4 B1 L1.
Bulldogs broke a run of six straight losses to the Warriors.
Bulldogs remain the only unbeaten home team in the competition. And have the second best defensive record.
Mitchell Barnett’s 226 run metres was the first time over 200 metres for our records going back to 2022 and ran him all the way into a Blues jersey.
Melbourne have won seven in a row v Tigers and four in a row on a Saturday.
Since 2020 Melbourne have won nine of their last ten on a Saturday away to Sydney clubs.
Jahrome Hughes leads the competition for both Try Assists and Line Break Assists since Round 13.
North Queensland have lost their last five home games v Manly. Four of those games have been on a Saturday.
North Queensland have also lost five of their last six at home on a Saturday.
It was only Manly’s second win away from home this season.
Manly have now won seven straight away games v Qld opposition on a Saturday.
Roosters have won 14 of the last 15 games v Dragons not in April.
But they have now won 11 straight v Dragons at the Sydney Football Stadium outside of Anzac Day clashes.
Roosters have also won six in a row v Dragons on a Sunday.
Dragons have won only one of their last ten away games on a Sunday.
Dragons have won only three of their last 14 at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Canberra have lost five of their last seven home games v Newcastle.
NRL Round 18 Stats Extra
ONE POINT WINNERS AND LOSERS
With the Bulldogs winning two games in a row by one point, we wanted to see how common it is and whether one team does it more than others. One point of interest is the Dolphins high on the one point losers list despite competing in only a season and a half. Our records for the below are going back to 2020.
NRL Round 18 Bye Summary
A quick look into how each team is doing after the bye rounds this season.
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 19 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 19 Expert Tips and Weekly Rant
Here we are, staring at yet another dud five-game card Origin period dross that somehow doesn’t feature in the NRL’s advertising pre season. We wait to see what that voiceover bloke from Fox League will say to talk this one up for their week preview ad. Maybe they should give him the weekend off.
I guess there’s the Wayne Bennett derby with both of his teams facing each other at the same ground. Or maybe they could replay that huge collision between Paul Harragon and Mark Carroll ahead of the Manly v Newcastle game. Or maybe they could highlight how great the Cronulla-Wests Tigers game will…..na. Or what about Gold Coast v Parramatta. Hmmmm, Na. Wait there’s always Origin depleted Broncos v Origin depleted Dragons…..Geez it is a bad weekend.
Talking of depleted, the Queensland Origin team named for Origin Three is depleted with zero David Fifitas and one Kurt “Captain Plod” Capewell. One does wonder how many of Billy Slater’s friends and family and acquaintances Fifita has offended to be not selected. Maybe it’s just one Billy. I guess that’s all the Slaters you need to piss off. But given the Queensland Origin Two team had the impact of a wet paper towel, promoting Capewell to the starting side seems like a bad idea. We can’t and won’t complain about the other changes though. We’re Queenslanders after all.
Talking of plod, the NRL Donkey got sucked into the elections around the world in the last weeks, mainly due to the use of left wing and right wing. It did get me thinking whether left wingers or right wingers in rugby league are more useful, or indeed suited to politics at all. Wingers do come across as being the most expendable on the field. Note: due to injuries Kurt Capewell played on the wing for Warriors v Bulldogs last weekend. But normally wingers come across as simple being, paid to do one job – catch ball, run and score, and doing mostly ok, some adding a bit flash and style. But you can’t rely on them to do anything too important. Actually that was three jobs, but we’ll move on. Hmmmm, the more I talk, the more wingers they sound like politicians. The bad ones that is, which is most.
It did get me thinking though, politics is too one side or the other. Sure there’s the old people who only read The Australian who key cars at local shopping centres and watch Sky News after dark, angry at everything who will always vote for the conservatives. And there’s the younger voters who are offended at everything who will flock to politicians based on social justice who will only key cars at shopping centres and universities that are made in Israel. But where’s the middle ground for the everyday rugby league loving Australian.
This is a gap that a Rugby League political party needs to fill. Imagine come election time that every Australian can choose between Green, Blue, Red and Red-Head plus a certified former rugby league player or coach or match official. The Rugby League party would focus on grassroots, and there’s no one better to tackle the Cost of Living crisis than those from the great game of rugby league.
Sure in Victoria you would have to change the name of the party to just the Rugby Party, as they have no idea there’s two different codes, or the Melbourne Storm before September, and for the South and Western Australia you would have to do some strategic moving of some of rugby league’s biggest personalities to get some attention, but it would be worth it. One Dale Shearer could do more for Western Australia than five Ian Goodenoughs (Member for Moore), same for either Eric Grothe or Eric Grothe Jnr in the Adelaide Hills. Not in Tasmania though. Not even rugby league can save Tasmania.
So picture the next election cycle featuring rugby league candidates in every seat except Tasmania, knowing that there is finally a safe and prosperous future ahead. Rugby League to the rescue. If only it can save itself for Round 19.
The NRL Donkey’s NRL Round 19 Expert Tips
DOLPHINS v SOUTH SYDNEY
Supercoach Wayne Bennett saves himself some time this week by hosting both of his sides at Kayo Stadium aka Dolphin Oval. Although pretty sure Dolphin Oval wasn’t an oval. But the Rabbitoh is actually a human selling rabbits and not a bunny but don’t want to spoil that myth either. Hopefully someone from Redcliffe tells Wayne Bennet who he is coaching this week, although he may be old, he’s not Biden-old yet, but just in case he is reading it is the Dolphins for the record. Perhaps Wayne could be forced to stand in front of the Bee Gees statues for an hour plus be forced to jump off the jetty everyday before the big kick off just so he knows that he is responsible for the Redcliffe based side. Talking of staring, I can already feel the burn of a Ray Stone stare if he isn’t included in this week’s action. Not saying the Dolphins beat the Dragons with Ray Stone last time out, but….no stuff it, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Pick Ray, or else.
Dolphins by 4
CRONULLA v WESTS TIGERS
First of all I’d like to say that Sharks fans and Rugby League fans should be ashamed of themselves. You’ve turned one of the great rugby league people in Nicho Hynes from the NRLs equivalent of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh into the NRL’s equivalent of Eeyore. Great work. According to reports – the great man even found the time to stop some random person committing suicide during the week, as ever thinking about other even when he’s having a bad trot. What a guy.
Talking of Pooh/Poo the Sharks really stink at the moment losing five of their last six. Now I’m not suggesting that Nicho Hynes’ ankle injury at training isn’t real, but I reckon he won’t rush back. Nor should he. Maybe spend the time off looking at real estate in Townsville ahead of a move to the Cowboys. Although on second thoughts, it might be safer to be abused as a Sharks player than live in Townsville. If you listen to the news, which I don’t. I’ve never ever heard anyone ever say how great Townsville is. Like junk mail it is just tolerated and never enjoyed. Unless it is one of those Hungry Jack’s vouchers where you can save up to $200 and you dream about ways of buying everything on the leaflet just to save that money. Probably not good for your health, and maybe David Koch wouldn’t approve of the financial aspect either, but you gotta live. Although if you did eat that much Hungry Jacks you may not live either. Back to Sydney, as punishment for the mis-treatment of Hynes gonna tip the Tigers.
Tigers by 6
GOLD COAST V PARRAMATTA
Gold Coast all of a sudden are on a winning streak. Sure I picked their upset win over the Warriors two weeks ago, but did fall 58 points short of getting the correct margin, it was still better than everyone else in the NRL farm tipping comp who picked the Warriors. Even the chickens went for the Warriors. On a sad note, the farm’s dog hasn’t been the same since a group of NRL players came through. Aside from the 66-6 fluke the Gold Coast are still the Seventh Day Adventists of the NRL with a terrible Saturday record. Problem is, Parramatta have the worst away record in the comp, and are missing Mitchell Moses. This game screams who-cares Origin period rubbish.
Talking of Origin disappointments, the Gold Coast at least have David Fifita after he was somehow not picked for Queensland and defying most rugby league logic except for the We’re Queenslanders theory, misses out to Kurt Capewell aka Captain Plod who was promoted to the run on side. Although we use the term “run” advisedly. So the Titans should get the advantage of his presence and their side choc full of about four fullbacks to run rings around the Eels.
Gold Coast by 4
BRISBANE v ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA
This game is Origin affected, which isn’t a bad effort for two teams outside the top eight. It’s amazing to think the Dragons have currently won more games than the Broncos. I’d congratulate “Flanno” but I just really don’t like him or the way Fox League promoted him for years. So no Huzzah or this week’s tip either. At least this game has Ezra Mam who by the way was/is Origin ready and offers 98% less plod than some other Queensland players. The Origin players have also given our favourite Broncos Xavier “The Beast” Willison another run on chance. Although I predict it will be more of a run-over chance. Get it? Run-over, by a Man Mountain, and The Beast, aka Xavier Willison.
Broncos by 12
MANLY v NEWCASTLE
Thank god there are only five games this week as I’m really running out of steam to care about this one. Kalyn Ponga hung around long enough to get into the Queensland team, and Dane Gagai gets a deserved recall. Very happy for Gagai, he looks like a friend of mine, although my friend also looks like Alby Mangels from his World Safari days, so work that one out. As for the game, Manly seemed determined to play Tommy Turbo out of the position they pay him a million dollars to do, which isn’t bad. I’m currently looking for a similar million dollar deal where I don’t do the job I’m paid for. The more I think about this game, the less I care, so here’s the final tip so I can go back to the last series of Great British Railway journeys hoping that there’s a train to Truro.
Just one more State of Origin to go, which will be great when it is over and Qld win the series, so the NRL can go back to normal and we can have some proper rugby league to follow. Talking of following and normal, our 2024 NRL Round 19 Tips Predictions & Stats Preview has something for most.
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 than one could ever need or want. It’s all you can eat NRL stats.
2024 NRL Round 19 Tips – This Week’s Matches
Here are our tips for the week ahead. How did we get to here? By going through all the visuals and stats below.
Thu 7:50 pm – Dolphins v South Sydney
Fri 7:50 pm – Cronulla v Wests Tigers
Sat 5:30 pm – Gold Coast v Parramatta
Sat 7:35 pm – Brisbane v St George Illawarra
Sun 4:05 pm – Manly Warringah v Newcastle
2024 NRL Round 19 Tips – This Week’s Tips
Rabbitohs by 8
Sharks by 2
Eels by 6
Broncos by 12
Sea Eagles by 10
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.
Dolphins and Souths have only met once before. It was in Brisbane and on a Thursday night, just like this season, except this game is at Kayo Stadium aka Dolphin Oval in Redcliffe aka Kippa Ring. Souths have won the only game between these sides.
Dolphins have won three of their four Thursday games v Sydney clubs. The only loss was against Souths. The Dolphins only game at Redcliffe on a Thursday v Sydney clubs ended in victory and maybe a beer at the Belvedere Hotel. And Wayne Bennett doing karoake.
Dolphins loss v Dragons last start was their first loss to a Sydney team this season (seven games).
Souths win % on a Thursday is 56%, against Queensland sides it is 58% and 60% for away games.
Souths haven’t lost in Winter this season. Or it’s five wins in a row. Either way they are in good form.
Cronulla have won 10 of their last 12 v Tigers, and lost the last game played between the sides earlier in the season. The Sharks have also won four straight v Tigers at Shark Park with a last loss coming in 2014.
Cronulla have won the last three games v Tigers on a Friday. The Tigers have won the only other game on a Friday between the sides.
Cronulla have lost five of the six games they’ve played since the weekend of when Origin 1 teams were named. They have lost their last three home games too.
But never fear, Cronulla have won their last six games at home (Shark Park) on a Friday and nine of their last ten.
Wests Tigers have lost seven in a row on a Friday. Plus seven in a row away on a Friday.
Wests Tigers have won just two of their last 20 games on a Friday to Sydney opposition.
Parramatta have won eight of their last nine v Gold Coast.
Parramatta have also won four straight at Cbus Stadium.
Overall Parramatta lead the Gold Coast 7-2 for games on Saturday. And 3-1 for games at CBus Stadium.
Gold Coast’s last effort at home saw them win 66-6 over the Warriors. Prior to that they had lost 10 straight at home on a Saturday.
They have still lost eight in a row on a Saturday v Sydney clubs. Since 2014 it is just six wins from 33 home games on a Saturday.
Parramatta have lost all seven away games this Season. Plus three in a row away on a Saturday.
Broncos have won two of the last three v Dragons but extend the games and it is two wins in the last games v Dragons.
Broncos have won five of the six games played v Dragons at home on a Saturday.
Broncos have lost their last three games v bottom half opponents.
Dragons have lost eight of their last nine games v Qld sides away.
Dragons have lost seven in a row at Suncorp Stadium v all opposition. They have scored between 14 points and 18 points in all of those games.
Manly have won four in a row and seven of their last eight at home on a Sunday.
Manly have won six of their last seven home games at Brookvale on any ol’ day.
Manly lead the H2H on a Sunday at home 7-2 v Newcastle.
Newcastle have won four in a row v Manly on a Sunday, but the last three have been in Newcastle.
Newcastle have played 16 games this season for the perfectly symmetrical record of W4 L4 at home and away.
2024 NRL Round 19 Stats Extra
TEAM RESULTS LAST TEN SEASONS WHEN ROUND HAS ONLY FOUR OR FIVE GAMES
The shortened-game rounds are something we have to put up with until State of Origin goes standalone.
But that doesn’t mean we take the tipping any less seriously. And along those lines we have some stats to see if some NRL teams take these shortened game rounds more seriously than others. Or are just better at it.
We’ve gone back ten seasons and included games outside of finals when there were either four or five games.
2024 NRL Round 19 Helpful Betting Stuff
Here’s a few betting things to enhance your tipping.
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 07: Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15 during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 07, 2024 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images)
In case you were unaware that it was the British Grand Prix this weekend with the uber-British Sky F1 coverage, featuring mainly British drivers, it was the British Grand Prix won by a British driver for British fans and British coverage. Talking of British, here is our 2024 British F1 Grand Prix Result Summary which covers everything British and beyond.
This 2024 British 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 doesn’t get more British than a British 1-2-3 in qualifying, as a resurgent Mercedes locks out the front row like the olden days with George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was possibly sabotaged. Third was Lando Norris to round out the Brit-cheer. Whisper it, Max Verstappen was only fourth. Don’t whisper it, Sergio Perez stunk in the wet start to qualifying spinning off and ending his session in 19th. In between Ferrari look a little ordinary or fourth best, take your pick. One of the heroes of qualifying was Nico Hulkenberg who will start 6th on the grid and is the highest placed Ferrari-engined driver and will probably hang on for tenth in the race. If he finishes. There’s always a chance of rain as shown throughout the weekend and it hovers out in the distance on race day. The race usually doesn’t need it, but it always welcome. As for tyres Zhou and Ocon are on Softs, and Perez is on Hards. The rest are on Mediums. Perez starts from pitlane, while Pierre Gasly dives into the pits before the race starts.
GRID (Starting Order) – RUS HAM NOR VER PIA HUL SAI STR ALB ALO
Lap 1 – The Mercedes’ make good starts and keep position but behind Max Verstappen does a better job than his mate Lando Norris and takes third into the Village complex. Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon make the worst starts dropping multiple places, while Charles Leclerc is up to 8th after a disappointing qualifying. The rest of the field behave themselves with no other issues. Pierre Gasly is already out of the race as he never returns from the pits.
ORDER – RUS HAM VER NOR PIA SAI STR LEC HUL ALO
Lap 4 – No change since the start but George Russell is looking increasingly comfortable out in front, as his team mate Lewis Hamilton is also doing keeping Max Verstappen behind and out of DRS range. First lap replays show Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso making decent contact because of Nico Hulkenberg running wide and re-joining in front of the Aston Martin.
Lap 6 – Radio advises that rain could be coming as early as Lap 16. That’s great for the race but sucks for the number two drivers out there when it comes to tyre changes. Well, except Red Bull as their drivers aren’t so evenly matched, or evenly good.
Lap 9 – The track temperature is going down, which is playing into the hands of Mercedes who are still looking comfortable – Max Verstappen is 2.4 seconds down the road and struggling. A cynic would ask when the sabotage will happen to Lewis Hamilton but stand by with rain due soon.
Lap 13 – The first pit stop happens and it is the Kick Sauber of Guanyu Zhou, which will likely be one of the only times they feature on TV so soak it up.
Lap 14 – An overtaking move! It’s Charles Leclerc on Lance Stroll for 7th, but you can’t be too choosy. Although if we are greedy we can look forward to Max Verstappen v Lando Norris for third. Norris is really giving it to Max at the moment.
Lap 15 – It’s starting to drizzle now, almost right on time. Not like the fantastic song Ride on Time by Black Box. And towards the end of the lap Lando Norris dives down the inside of Max at the Stowe corner and they manage to race without running into each other. A great move by Lando Norris and a continued sign that Max Verstappen is truly struggling.
ORDER – RUS HAM NOR VER PIA SAI LEC STR HUL ALO
Lap 17 – It’s raining a bit more now, with rain jackets going on in the grandstand, but no change of attire for the drivers yet, with no one silly enough to put on wet tyres yet. Although if someone was to do something stupid with strategy, it’d be Ferrari. Towards the end of the lap it’s another McLaren on Red Bull move – this time it is Oscar Piastri on Max Verstappen for fourth.
Lap 18 – Lewis Hamilton has closed right in on George Russell for the lead as lap times in general have dropped by three seconds as are the damp conditions. Again towards the end of the lap there’s another big change of position, this time it is Lewis Hamilton on George Russell for the lead. Hamilton flying in the conditions and speeds off from his team mate.
Lap 19 – It’s starting to rain heavier now and both Mercedes go off at the first corner and run wide, which allows Lando Norris to close and pass George Russell for second place.
Lap 20 – Lando Norris tracks Lewis Hamilton for lap 19 and nails him into the first sweeper on Lap 20 for the lead. That’s three different leaders in three laps, all of them British. Further back Oscar Piastri overtakes George Russell for third place. The McLarens are flying now. To prove this Piastri gets past Lewis Hamilton for second place before Lap 21 ends too. It’s a McLaren 1-2. Further back some of the field have jumped to wet tyres and Lewis Hamilton’s team are suggesting it. Those on wet tyres are struggling as it isn’t quite wet enough. What did we say about Ferrari? They stay out on the inters even though the track is dry – for Leclerc anyway as he is hopelessly slow. Leclerc is still ahead of Perez, so make of that what you will.
ORDER – NOR PIA HAM RUS VER SAI HUL ALO STR TSU
Lap 23 – Good news if the previous rain wasn’t wet enough. There’s apparently more rain coming in four minutes. Proper rain. 30 minute block. Good stuff.
Lap 25 – Lando Norris laps Sergio Perez who is still on Inters. And Charles Leclerc is lapped too by the top three. And Leclerc runs wide.
Lap 26 – Oscar Piastri is right on Lando Norris’ tail for the lead, and Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz dive in for wet tyres. The Mercedes stay out with the McLarens for now. It is getting almost too wet to stay out on dry tyres.
Lap 27 – Lando Norris and the Mercedes pit for wet tyres, but Oscar Piastri stays out and takes the lead. Not sure how happy he’ll be with that. But now it is drying out and he has an 11 second lead on his team mate. Down to even seconds halfway around the lap. And Norris almost catches him before the lap was over. Piastri pits at the end of the lap, but his chances of winning are done. Harsh on Piastri as he rejoins in 6th place behind Sainz, he was arguably faster than Lando Norris before the tyre stops. Norris leads again.
ORDER – PIA NOR HAM VER RUS SAI HUL STR ALO TSU
Lap 30 – Time to take a breath. Lando Norris leads from Lewis Hamilton who is marginally faster but three seconds behind. Max Verstappen is slowly drifting from Hamilton and is over six seconds behind, with pole sitter George Russell closing in.
Lap 34 – George Russell dives into the pit, which we are thinking is tyres but it is to retire the car. Unsurprisingly he is devasted and comes as quite the surprise as he was pressuring Max Verstappen for third before that.
Lap 36 – Lewis Hamilton is within two seconds of Lando Norris and catching. Rain has stopped. Sun is out. The race is going to be a battle of the Brits. Just the way Sky F1 like it.
ORDER – NOR HAM VER SAI PIA HUL STR ALO TSU ALB
Lap 38 – Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo pit for dry tyres and their trend setting is quickly copied by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and loads more. Oscar Piastri pits too, before Norris which almost makes up for the first stop, although not quite as the pit stop was a touch long.
Lap 39 – Lando Norris pits from the lead and the McLaren rejoins behind Lewis Hamilton. Did the later or slower pit stop cost him. Well obviously yes. The slower pit stop was Lando’s fault a little as he went too far into his pit box.
ORDER – HAM NOR VER PIA SAI HUL STR ALO TSU ALB
Lap 41 – With just over ten laps to go the race has some interesting strategy to play out. The top two are on soft tyres. Max Verstappen is on hard tyres and sets a fastest lap. Only to be quickly outdone by Oscar Piastri who is on medium tyres. Sainz is om hard tyres. And Perez? He’s on Who Cares tyres. Lando Norris is both 2.5 ahead and behind the nearest cars. Piastri is ten second behind Max Verstappen’s third place and ten seconds in front of Carlos Sainz.
Lap 45 – Lewis Hamilton is holding on for now, he is slightly quicker than Lando Norris, but both are slower than Max Verstappen. The key decider will be if Lando Norris slows down his best mate for his fellow British or doesn’t fight too much. Maybe we can have another Austria-like clash.
Lap 48 – Max Verstappen is right on Lando Norris’ tail now, definitely within DRS zone which Verstappen uses to close in and power around the outside of Norris who was powerless to a degree. Verstappen is 3.3 second behind with just over three laps to go. Could we see an old fashioned Hamilton-Verstappen on track scuffle?
Lap 50 – Na, Max Verstappen has only closed within 2.8 seconds by the start of lap 51, so not even he with the robotic super powers of F1’s finest could do it. Or will he? No.
FINAL LAP – To the immense cheers of the crowd, Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix as he keeps Max Verstappen at bay on the lesser of the tyres for the conditions. He grabs a Union Jack off a marshall for his triumphant slow down lap. The win brings Hamilton to tears, which is different from a few years ago when he won everything and it bored F1 fans to tears. Max does a decent job but falls just short. Lando Norris keeps the crowd happy but not himself with third. Oscar Piastri was catching him, but a case of what could have been again in fourth place. Another good haul of points for the popular for Hulkenberg.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – HAM VER NOR PIA SAI HUL STR ALO ALB 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 – LEWIS HAMILTON
A welcome return to the top step of the podium and won his home Grand Prix for the ninth time, which sets a new record for any driver at the one track. A solid weekend all round, qualified second, in the top three for most of the race, held his nerve at the end for the win.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
NICO HULKENBERG – Qualified sixth and raced in the top ten throughout despite a slightly ordinary first half of a lap. Getting a glimpse of the Hulk most people and Sauber love.
LANDO NORRIS – Led a lot of laps and looked comfortable doing. His overtaking for the leads were brilliant. Got done by the second pitstops for dry tyres and lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton.
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Did very well in the end to be pressuring Lewis Hamilton for the win. The Red Bul looked a little out of sorts at times, and indeed only qualified 4th. But a good result for an off day.
OSCAR PIASTRI – Dudded with the wet tyre call, but he showed plenty in the race, and his time will come for a win this season.
ALEX ALBON – Points for WIlliams is always a good achievement.
THE GRAPE-EST – SERGIO PEREZ
When rumours begin to circulate that you could be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo you know you aren’t going very well. Spinning out in wet qualifying in Q1 whilst 19th was amateur hour, especially when you watch the efforts of the Formula 2 drivers in the wet race on the same day. Of course made progress during the race from the pit lane, but he should. He has one of the best cars on the grid. His race was slightly underwhelming until his team changed him to Inters and stuck with them, ensuring his car was more undriveable than usual.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
PIERRE GASLY – Pulled into the pits on the Warm Up lap and never returned. A Lap 0 DNF. A few months ago we’d say that is a mercy killing and probably did. But the Alpine has got better recently. Although, probably still wouldn’t have scored points.
CHARLES LECLERC – Made up for missing Q3 with a good start and was up to 7th before the rain came. Then he put on the Inter wet tyres earlier than most and was lapped by the leaders earlier than most. Monaco must seem a long time ago.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Was a good weekend before the Sunday as he took pole in front of his home fans. He led convincingly in the early stages but lost positions as the rains came, and pit stop disadvantaged him. Then his car broke. Receives the Dishonourable Mention for the end result than the performance.
DANIEL RICCIARDO – Talk that Sergio Perez could be replaced by himself this weekend. Problem is the Aussie isn’t driving any better. Outqualified by his team mate, lost standard places at start, finished lower midfield. Only consolation is he beat Perez.
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 – 9.5 / 10
Rain, multiple passes for the lead, front runners all in close competition, no Red Bull out in the distance. You’d be hard to please if it didn’t tick the racing box.
ANY SURPRISES? – 4 / 5
Maybe a season ago this race would be a 5/5, but the 2024 season is opening up nicely. That’s not to say there weren’t any surprises. Mercedes taking the front row in qualifying shows they are almost back. And the lack of pace of the Red Bull (of Verstappen) was a mystery too.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 4.5 / 5
There’s genuine competition at the front at every race now it seems. With any-old result qualifying forwarding that new randomness into decent races.
ENDING 7 / 10
The excitement of the rain dried out along with the track, but all the front runners being on different tyres and travelling at different speeds made for an exciting finish. It didn’t get too close in the end but was exciting enough. And a great ending if you are a Lewis fan. We aren’t so a 7 will do.
OVERALL RATING 25 / 30
Another great British Grand Prix and some real promise for a super competitive second half of 2024.
2024 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.
Time for a little hype as the F1 world comes the home of the big name British drivers, and fresh from one of those British drivers becoming embroiled in a Max Verstappen controversy. Talking of hype, our 2024 British F1 Grand Prix Preview will give you a bit of everything without exceeding track limits ahead of the upcoming big weekend of F1 that won’t be flat or sharp.
The Gurgler’s 2024 British 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 Antoine266 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97517203
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2024 Austrian 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? 9/10 – It’s plenty fast all right. So many fast sweeping corners, long straights, esses.
ACTION? 8/10 – The opening sequence of corners usually leads to some over-ambition, and being a driver’s track there’s lots of scope for drivers to make mistakes. Plus there’s always a chance of rain and teams sabotaging their own drivers with terrible strategy.
BIG HISTORY? – 10/10 – The first Grand Prix was held at Silverstone, and it has been the home of the British Grand Prix since 1990, and every second year before that.
INCLEMENT WEATHER? – 7/10The Weather Channel says strong 60% chance of rain throughout the weekend. And it is England.
RACE RATING 85% – So much to look forward, and the third leg of a triple header. Ticking every box.
2024 British 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.
6th place on the grid is the lowest grid slot since 2000 for a race win.
It’s 16th for the lowest grid slot for a podium.
Sergio Perez has scored points once in his last five British Grands Prix.
Lewis Hamilton last finished off the podium in the British GP in 2013.
DRIVER GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT – CURRENT DRIVERS
TEAM GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT
HISTORIC DRIVER RESULTS – AUSTRIAN 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.
Another Max Verstappen-Lando Norris clash. This time early in the race.
An Oscar Piastri win from front row start.
Mercedes 2-3 finish.
Both Aston Martins to be cut in Q3, dummy spit from Fernando.
Carlos Sainz to sign for Alpine over weekend.
Two RB drivers clash on the opening lap.
Guanyu Zhou to be completely unsighted by TV cameras.
Nico Hulkenberg to top one of the wet practice sessions.
Here are The Gurgler’s 2024 Austrian 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 Austrian 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
Refer to the below to check out the teams progress in qualifying from 2023 and chart the progress of McLaren in particular. We split the Red Bulls because one driver often isn’t a fair indication of the car’s pace.
We have also included the midfield battle which is becoming quite the battle as well.
CURRENT TOP FOUR TEAMS GAP TO POLE FROM 2023
MIDFIELD TEAMS GAP TO POLE FROM 2023
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 AUSTRIAN GP to 2024 AUSTRIAN 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.
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 18 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 18 Expert Tips and Weekly Rant
It’s been a big week as usual, with Origin news dominated by some guy called Moses parting a red sea. The sea was actually maroon not red, but that’s ok, Queensland were meant to be a rugby league side as well. Billy Slater’s response to picking a side that got pantsed by remarking “We’re Queenslanders” is an interesting defence that I shall be using when pulled over for drink driving, stopped for not paying for my fifty cent train ride and for some casual shoplifting. Not sure if it will work. What I’m sure won’t work is picking Captain Plod for Game Three.
But after the Origin hype, all the news was about two old men arguing at each other on TV.
At first I thought it was back to the good ol’ days of Channel Nein (note: there are no good or ol’ days at Channel Nein) when Ray Warren and Gus Gould argued like two little old ladies debating if daylight savings would ruin the bus timetables. I say it won’t but Gladys says differently. Although to be honest, listening to the old Rabs and Gus sniping hour would be and is 15 times better than listening to any of Cameron Smith’s commentary. Which is itself twice as bad as Andrew Johns’ comm box work. But we wouldn’t say that out loud in case he feuds with us too. If he reads this. Which he won’t.
Before finishing up on our Channel Nein bashing, we recall when Cameron Smith refused to talk to Channel Nein at all, after their 60 minutes piece on Alex McKinnon. I mean, ignoring Channel Nein because of 60 minutes isn’t hard and a good idea on most if not all occasions as it is as much to “news” as MAFS is to “social experiment”. Either way Cameron Smith comes across as a bit of hypocrite, and a bore, which threatens to put his likeability factor in Queensland somewhere approaching Daly Cherry-Evans Gold Coast Titans signing levels. Although being an ex-Melbourne player, we are concerned that the NRL’s most defensive and thin-skinned fans will flood inbox with Hate Mail. If you are inclined the email address is gurgler.chat@gmail.com and the person who has the best subject line will win a hand drawn picture of Cameron Smith being a hypocrite on the back of a motorbike.
Back to old men shouting at each other, we actually picture that scene of Grandpa Simpson yelling and shaking his fist at birds, or something.
Yes, that’s the picture, thanks. Clouds it was, not birds. What a moron. But yes that’s what I pictured. The more you look at it, Joe Biden looks more like Grandpa Simpson every day. Rambles like him too. Wonder if Joe Biden has ever worn an onion on his belt. I’m saying yes.
Although now I think about it. That Presidential debate looked a lot more like those two muppets sitting in the corporate box in the Muppet Show bagging everything. Sometimes I picture Rabs and Gus in that Corporate Box in the Muppet Show. Don’t know why.
But speaking of muppets, what a choice the USA have. It’s the rugby league equivalent of whether to use Todd Carney pissing in his own mouth at a nightclub, Mitchell Pearce dry rooting a puppy or Joel Monaghan’s tactical use of peanut butter to advertise the NRL for junior recruitment. None of the outcomes are good or good for you. At least the collection of rugby league boofheads only hurt themselves, their family, their club and their sponsors in no particular order. The two actual human arguing muppets could affect the entire world.
If only that debate was Gladys and Maud arguing about bus timetables, or the two puppet-muppet guys or indeed a full 18 minute uncut Grandpa Simpson story that goes nowhere the world would be a safer and happier place.
At least until the world goes crazy and we’re told over and over and over again, we at least have NRL Round 18 to enjoy. Or endure.
The NRL Donkey’s NRL Round 18 Expert Tips
PARRAMATTA v SOUTH SYDNEY
The two teams that Wayne Bennett could have coached in 2025. Although has anyone ruled out that Wayne Bennett isn’t currently coaching Parramatta too? Oh, they are still losing? Must have Trent Barrett in charge then. Souths have stormed back into finals contention on the back of Wayne Bennett signing, that’s how good he is, your team gets a new coach bounce before he has even taken up the clipboard. Just the mere mention of his name. But there’s also been some key position changes, Cameron Murray and Latrell Mitchell realising he is paid to play rugby league. Parramatta have their Origin hero in Mitchell Moses, and he will part the red and green seas this weekend, to get the good game out of his system before Origin Three.
Parramatta by 8
CRONULLA v GOLD COAST
Please let Nicho Hynes have a good game. Unlike the moaning Ray Romano and all of his TV family, everyone actually likes Nicho Hynes and we hope for a virtuoso performance. We’re still looking for the punter who took the -59.5 points start for their win over the Warriors. They know something. All we know this is all about Nicho Hynes.
Cronulla by 24
BRONCOS v PENRITH
Brisbane and Penrith have lost 13 games between them this season, and I am very disappointed in both, they lost 12 games between them in the regular season in 2023. Well actually not that disappointed really, it’s great to see the losing shared around, it’s great for rugby league they are both not winning. But talking of winners, how good is Xavier Willison aka The Beast. I’m going to keep plugging that until it sticks. He could become the rugby league equivalent of English Football cult hero Adebayo Akinfenwa. One could say one of the few shining lights for a side dropping through the ladder. Back to the game, it’s almost forgotten it’s a Grand Final replay. One that won’t be repeated this season.
Penrith by 10
BULLDOGS v WARRIORS
The Warriors won again the game after conceding 60 points or more, that’s three times in a row now, so anything is possible this weekend. They play the Bulldogs who are very territorial and are yet to lose a home game this season. No surprise, they are dogs after all. Could possibly be the game of the week and on Free To Air, but it is the Warriors, and Channel Nein are too stupid to put the Warriors on and not take MAFS off.
Warriors by 1
WESTS TIGERS v MELBOURNE
Somehow Melbourne are going under the radar and comfortably leading the competition. Which is odd, because the main thing that Storms are usually on is a radar. Well the Melbourne Storm will be used to be under the radar anyway as they play in a city where only 0.2% of the people can identify them as an Australian Sporting team, let alone one from Melbourne. It is still another two and a half month before Melburnians have to start caring. The Storm leading the comp is despite the double bogey of having Cameron Munster out and Tyran Wishart replacing him. Oh, and the Wests Tigers are also playing. Can you inform the referees in case they forget which side to penalise.
Melbourne by 10
NORTH QUEENSLAND v MANLY
As a proud Queensland donkey I’d like to ask why the Cowboys waited until after State of Origin to play in State of Origin mode. I’m not blaming all of the Cowboys players, just the ones who played Origin and the ones who want to play origin in the future. And Kurt Capewell. The Cowboys are becoming the hardest team outside of the incompetent boobs in the NRL Bunker to predict the outcome. Based on the fact they should win, they won’t.
Manly by 6
ROOSTERS v DARGONS
Surprised an all Sydney club match isn’t the Channel Nein 4pm kick off. They love it. This game is at least 80% less interesting when it is isn’t on Anzac Day so will probably find something better to do and check the result. Of course the Fox League Flanno fan club are lining up to give their former colleague many, many back pats for winning a few games. It is a good return on them spending years in the commentary box as his de facto agent. Still, I don’t like him, and think he ‘s massively overrated, and my mouth full of sour grapes and resentment I’m tipping against them.
Roosters by 20
CANBERRA v NEWCASTLE
Round 18 ends with the Canberra v Newcastle shopping window clash, or a possibles vs probables game where Canberra will be looking to not only beat the opposition but get them to join too. Wonder if you’re allowed to call people possible or probable in this day and age. Seems like it would offend someone. Especially if you are a maybe, a hardly likely, or a no-f***ing way. Back to the game, and perhaps a Sunday afternoon clash in Canberra will convince a few of the Knights would-be Raiders not to go. At least the dressing room will be heated with a spray from Ricky Stuart almost assured.
