The NRL Finals are getting interesting now, two more teams gone, just four remain with two rounds to go. For those numbers and even more interesting numbers our 2023 NRL Finals Week 2 Results and Stats Summary is here to sum up the weekend.
There’s a game by game summary, stats comparisons, and more to catch up for every game.
So if you missed the game, or simply want to go beyond the scores, it’s our 2023 NRL Finals Week 2 Results and Stats Summary.
2023 NRL Finals Week 2 Results
MELBOURNE 18 ROOSTERS 13
WARRIORS 40 NEWCASTLE 10
2023 NRL Finals Week 2 Game Stats
MELBOURNE 18 ROOSTERS 13
Melbourne have won all seven finals games at home in finals on a Friday.
Melbourne have won 25/31 home games on a Friday at AAMI Park.
The Storm have won eight of their last nine clashes against the Roosters.
It was only the seventh time since 1998 that a team has scored a field goal in a Finals Match and lost.
The Roosters have now lost five finals games in a row on Friday away from home.
WARRIORS 40 NEWCASTLE 10
New Zealand have won 14 of the last 16 games v Newcastle at home in New Zealand.
That’s five wins in a row at Mt Smart Stadium for the Warriors and they have won all three games there on a Saturday in 2023.
Warriors are now 4/5 at Mt Smart Stadium in finals.
Only Parramatta in Round 12 conceded fewer than the Warriors two penalties vs Newcastle.
It was only the second time this season that the Warriors had scored two tries in the first 10 minutes.
2023 NRL Finals Week 2 Stats Summary
And here is a quick summary of all the team stats from the second week of the NRL finals.
NRL Rd 27 - Sharks v Raiders
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 03: Referee Grant Atkins sends Sebastian Kris of the Raiders off during the round 27 NRL match between Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Raiders at PointsBet Stadium on September 03, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
While the 2023 NRL season is heading to its conclusion, NRL boss Andrew Abdo has already announced a huge change for 2024.
On-field referees will be scrapped from the 2024 trials, with The Bunker having complete control of the game.
Borrowing from park cricket (where players from the batting team have to do main umpiring and square leg duties when there’s no official umpires), there will be two player-referees for each game (a squad member from the extended bench), one from each side.
Abdo explained the new arrangement while on the way home from another Vegas ‘research trip’: “We’re sick and tired of seeing high-profile referees ruin games with their incompetence. So we’re giving The Bunker the keys to check everything. And the two player-refs will only look after the tackle counts. And we put in two to counter any accusations of bias.”
For any penalty or Six Again call, the Bunker will communicate with the player-referees. And they’ll also continue to review tries in the background.
“We’re going to make sure our our best referees can focus on their Bunker duties. That precision may give them a clearer mind to make better decisions,” said Abdo. “Not going to lie, it’s going to be pretty clunky at first, and it may extend games a bit as we work out the kinks. But most players know the rules and we’ll be running refresher workshops over summer. But we’ll give it a shot as it can’t be any worse than our current system.”
A nostalgic discovery has livened up an otherwise boring shopping trip.
While staying in a sleepy country town for work commitments, Adam decided to kill time on a Saturday morning by visiting the local shopping centre, but it was underwhelming.
“Honestly, it was shit. It only had a little cafe, a couple of clothes stores, a boring variety shop, a supermarket, a newsagency, and a second-hand bookstore,” said Adam. “The cafe had decent coffee and the bookstore was ok, but that was it.”
Then Adam discovered an unexpected gem: a retro video game shop.
“It was called ‘Allan’s Video Game Archives’ and it was AMAZING! It was tucked away behind the newsagency, so I nearly missed it. ‘Allan’s’ had all the retro consoles and games from Atari to the Wii. I saw games that I haven’t seen in 30 years!”
Embracing the nostalgic thrill, Adam bought himself a second-hand Game Boy, a pack of batteries, and a handful of games.
“I loved my Game Boy as a kid, so I didn’t think twice once I saw it. And only $120! And the games and batteries were only an extra $200. A steal compared to the Switch!”
After heading back to the hotel, Adam got stuck into the games.
Can anyone beat Red Bull and Max Verstappen? With records broken and a Championship that is almost done, neutral F1 fans have to hope that at least someone else will win a race this season. There might be a chance this weekend. Preferably a different car though. Talking of different he is our 2023 Singapore F1 Grand Prix Preview with all the trimmings.
The Gurgler’s 2023 Singapore F1 Grand Prix Preview brings some thoughts on the race itself, a few bold predictions here and there, a few barely interesting stats.
Essentially a quick summary of what a casual F1 fan needs in the shortest possible time.
By Hazim Fikri A. – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126577204
From one angle the track looks like a swan or a snake. From another angle the Singapore track looks like that robot from Short Circuit. Which is funny and coincidental if you remember a classic Mark Webber DNF from back in the day where an underground train sending an electric shock upwards into Webber’s car saw him DNF causing a Short Circuit.
Enough of our rubbish and onto the actual track, and we do love the night time adventures of the Singapore Grand Prix, but do wonder if it would get significantly less love if it just was a regular daytime race.
The last corner complex to halfway around the lap is pretty cool, but does get a little meh after that. Except for the Singapore Sling, which is a cool name, and a fun corner.
There should be enough happening with the walls so close, and a Safety Car is going to stuff up someone’s race for sure.
2023 Singapore 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? 7/10 – It’s pretty fast for a street circuit, but maybe the length of the lap goes against and it doesn’t feel fast when the race drags on. At least they removed the section going under the grandstand.
ACTION? 6/10 – The Singapore Grand Prix averages 4.7 DNFs per race, with accidents just behind mechanical, so we can rely on a bit of action. But then again the races can drag out, so it doesn’t seem as much.
BIG HISTORY? – 4/10 13 races is not the biggest history, and there haven’t been many big moments, although the Nelson Piquet Jnr/Renault premeditated crash to give Alonso a win and ultimately cost Felipe Massa a World Championship was a big one. According to the current court case it did.
INCLEMENT WEATHER? – 7/10 A 40-60% chance of rain on race day with one storm in the morning and late night. Interesting how late? Taken from The Weather Channel. 20% on the other days.
RACE RATING 60% – It’s a great event, and a good track.
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.
Max Verstappen has yet to win the Singapore Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen has also not taken pole position here either. Two front row starts is the current top score.
The car that qualifies 6th, has never DNFd in the Singapore Grand Prix.
Pole Position has won 8/13, with two 2nd places the best results. There’s also two DNFs and one 13th place. Other grid slots to win a Singapore GP were 2nd (1), 3rd (2), 4th (1) and 15th (1).
The only two current drivers to finish in the points for every race they entered are Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.
DRIVER GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT – CURRENT DRIVERS
TEAM GRID POSITION vs RACE RESULT
HISTORIC DRIVER RESULTS
99 = a DNF. Grid position 20 is overstated as that was also used for cars starting in pitlane.
RACE RESULTS FROM GRID POSITION
DID NOT FINISH – DNF
We’ve gone about DNFs through this article, so here is the list of DNFs.
Max Verstappen wins.
Charles Leclerc take pole position and doesn’t win for a third time in a row.
Sixth place scores a podium and not a DNF.
Points for Alex Albon and both McLarens.
First corner prang with qualified cars 12th and 14th.
Welcome to our Fantasy Premier League 2023-24 FPL GW5 Captain Preview + Stats Summary for another week of exciting fantasy football.
The first International Break has come and gone, and a lot of FPL managers are thinking wildcard. Before that trigger is pulled, our preview tries to serve up as much helpful information as possible. Not as good as #FPLCommunity, but an alternative.
Every game week we take a truckload of stats and compile them into our Captain’s table – our unique way of telling you who should wear your FPL team’s armband. In addition to that is keeping an eye on bonus points, general stats, and trends on the where, when, and how the best Premier League players do their thing for FPL.
2023-24 FPL GW5 Captain Preview – Captain’s Table
Here are this week’s FPL Captain Picks results. A full explanation and full list of the stats and calculations are provided at the end.
FPL GW5 Captain Preview Thoughts
Read on for a quick summary of who we suggest to be considered for FPL captain this week. All in the theme of the Hello, Goodbye Beatles song.
HELLO – Erling Haaland
On top of his usual FPL gold dust, Erling Haaland has a great record against West Ham already with three goals in the two meetings so far.
So do Manchester City, who are unbeaten in 16 games v West Ham and have scored 44 goals in the process.
Leading FPL point scorer, best form scorer, great scoring record v this GW opponent, team has awesome record against opponent. All boxes ticked. The only shame is that nearly everyone will have him as captain.
CALL ME MAYBE – Raheem Sterling / Son Heung-min
We tipped Raheem Sterling as a maybe for last GW for their home game v Nottingham Forest, and then Chelsea went on to lose at home and not score. And we thought Chelsea had turned the corner.
Still, Raheem Sterling shows up well in our Captains Table this GW with good season stats and a good record v Bournemouth. If you can trust Chelsea.
Son Heung-min is another choice outside of Haaland, and with the swashbuckling way Spurs are playing, he might just be a great left field choice.
Great scoring record v Sheffield United, and Spurs themselves are unbeaten in the Premier League era at home to Sheffield United. And a hat trick last start.
GOODBYE – Arsenal Players
OK, call us crazy instead of maybe, but there’s one thing going against Arsenal players for captain of your FPL side this GW – Arsenal’s record at Everton.
The Gunners head to Goodison Park where they have failed to win any of their last five games, despite Everton being pretty poor over most of those years. Arsenal have blanked three of those five games and scored the one goal in the other two games.
Of course form often beats stats, but if you have Haaland with such great stats for this GW, why risk it?
After the first inconvenient International Break is done and dusted it’s time to get back into the premier League, and our 2023-24 Premier League Week 5 Predictions + Stats Summary is back where the football and stats never stop, and we rarely sleep.
Each week we provide a meandering look into the upcoming round of Premier League football, with not only our predictions for the upcoming Premier League fixtures, but offer up a wide range of H2H and in-season stats and barely interesting facts.
There’s so much to go through we can barely contain it to just one long page.
2023-24 Premier League Week 5 Fixtures
2023-24 Premier League Week 5 Predictions
Here are our fearless predictions for the fixtures ahead, and tune in below for all the stats and barely interesting stats that go along with them.
Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
Aston Villa 3 Crystal Palace 0
Spurs 4 Sheffield United 1
West Ham 0 Man City 3
Fulham 0 Luton 0
Man Utd 1 Brighton 3
Newcastle 3 Brentford 1
Bournemouth 0 Chelsea 2
Everton 1 Arsenal 1
Nottm Forest 2 Burnley 1
Read on for the match by match full preview and stats.
2023-24 English Premier League Week 5 Predictions Best Stats
Here are some of our favourite stats from the match H2H stats below. But read on for ore….
Crystal Palace have won just once at Aston Villa since 1992.
Man City are unbeaten v West Ham in 15 League matches v West Ham (W12 D3).
Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last six Saturday games v Spurs (W2 D4)
Luton are unbeaten in their last four games at Fulham on a Saturday (W2 D2).
Brentford’s only win at Newcastle came in 1934.
Everton (W4 D1) are unbeaten in their last five home games v Arsenal.
2023-24 English Premier League Week 5 Predictions – Match by Match H2H Stats Previews
Our big, beautiful full visual preview of each game is below.
More stats than you could probably ever want or need, for now.
SATURDAY 12:30PM – WOLVES v LIVERPOOL
THE STAT/S
Wolves (W1 D2 L1) have lost only one of their last four Saturday games v Liverpool.
OUR PREDICTION
Wolves 1 Liverpool 2
OUR THOUGHTS
With Mo Salah not taking the riches on offer from Saudi Arabia, yet, we will see if he can make it rain goals for Liverpool against a side that look set for another relegation scrap before a mid season run keeps them safe.
SATURDAY 3PM – ASTON VILLA v CRYSTAL PALACE
THE STAT/S
Crystal Palace have won just once at Aston Villa since 1992.
OUR PREDICTION
Aston Villa 3 Crystal Palace 0
OUR THOUGHTS
This could be plenty entertaining. Well for Aston Villa fans, given Crystal Palace’s woeful record at Villa Park.
SATURDAY 3PM – SPURS v SHEFFIELD UTD
THE STAT/S
Spurs (W4 D2) are unbeaten in their last six v Sheffield United at home, which covers the Premier League era back to 1992. Spur were also W5 L1 v promoted sides last season. But…….Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last six Saturday games v Spurs (W2 D4)
OUR PREDICTION
Spurs 4 Sheffield United 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Hopefully the International Break hasn’t harmed the Ange bandwagon, or the way Spurs are powering through the Premier League. New signing Brennan Johnson means they can probably park Richarlison for a bit.
SATURDAY 3PM – WEST HAM v MAN CITY
THE STAT/S
Man City are unbeaten v West Ham in 15 League matches v West Ham (W12 D3).
OUR PREDICTION
West Ham 0 Man City 3
OUR THOUGHTS
Top of the table clash you say? Somehow David Moyes defies all logic and has West Ham unbeaten after a tough-ish draw to start the season. But here come Man City to spoil the party.
SATURDAY 3PM – FULHAM v LUTON TOWN
THE STAT/S
Fulham (W4 D3) are unbeaten in their last seven matches v Luton, with Luton’s last win coming in 1998 in the third tier. But……Luton are unbeaten in their last four games at Fulham on a Saturday (W2 D2).
OUR PREDICTION
Fulham 0 Luton 0
OUR THOUGHTS
Both teams are up there for conceding goals this season, which is exactly why we’ve predicted a 0-0 draw. At least that’s a first point for Luton.
SATURDAY 3PM – MAN UTD v BRIGHTON
THE STAT/S
Brighton have won the last three league games v Man Utd.
OUR PREDICTION
Man Utd 1 Brighton 3
OUR THOUGHTS
This should be quite entertaining, with Brighton’s swashbuckling football – no surprise given they reside on the sea – and Man Utd’s indifferent start to the season and current ladder position. Likely to see a Bruno Fernandes referee meltdown at some stage.
SATURDAY 5:30PM – NEWCASTLE v BRENTFORD
THE STAT/S
Newcastle have won the last three games v Brentford. And Brentford’s only win at Newcastle came in 1934.
OUR PREDICTION
Newcastle 3 Brentford 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Like the shirtless fans at St James Park, Newcastle need a bit of heat for their hot and cold start to the season. Brentford are exactly the kind of side they need to beat, and based on previous H2H at home, they will.
SUNDAY 2PM – BOURNEMOUTH v CHELSEA
THE STAT/S
These teams have never met on a Sunday. Chelsea wee one of only four teams not to lose against a bottom six team away. (Bottom Six at time of match).
OUR PREDICTION
Bournemouth 0 Chelsea 2
OUR THOUGHTS
Just when you think Chelsea have turned the corner and you’ve loaded up your Fantasy team with their players, they lose at home to last season’s worst away team. Blip turns into crisis pretty quick with a loss to Bournemouth.
SUNDAY 4:30PM – EVERTON v ARSENAL
THE STAT/S
Everton (W4 D1) are unbeaten in their last five home games v Arsenal.
OUR PREDICTION
Everton 1 Arsenal 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Maybe a game that will prove one thing for this season. If Arsenal can’t beat current Everton they can’t win the league. If Everton don’t win with their recent home record v Arsenal, they can’t stay up.
MONDAY 7:45PM – NOTTINGHAM FOREST v BURNLEY
THE STAT/S
Nottingham Forest have won all three home games v Burnley on a Monday by the combined total of 9-2.
OUR PREDICTION
Nottm Forest 2 Burnley 1
OUR THOUGHTS
Burnley’s first away game of the season comes in GW5, and against a side who have a 100% record a home this season (1 game) and just beat Chelsea away. Which used to be a big deal.
SYDNEY - NOVEMBER 1993 : TINA TURNER AND RUGBY LEAGUE PERSONALITY ANDREW ETTINGHAUSEN IN SYDNEY.(Photo by Patrick Riviere/Getty Images)
Two down, six NRL teams to go, as the sharp end of the 2023 NRL season is here. Surely that deserves another one of our dives into data with our 2023 NRL Finals Week 2 Stats in Depth. Our look into the first week of the NRL finals goes into each team’s record in the finals since 1998, H2H with this week’s opponent, key player match ups for stats, and some general 2023 NRL season stats. All that and more awaits. If you have the time. You’ll need it. READ MORE: NRL FINALS WEEK 2 TIPS
2023 SEASON FORM v REMAINING FINALS SIDES
The below are some visuals and facts for the remaining finalists against the other sides that are alive in the 2023 NRL Finals series. A useful metric given that these teams will need to beat each other to win the title. Penrith’s only loss against this year’s finalists is still Brisbane in Round One.Worries for the Warriors who are the opposite to Penrith with their only win against the remaining finalists was their first clash. Only Brisbane and Melbourne are the other teams with a win % of better than 50%. LADDER POSITION FOR TOP EIGHT SIDES IN 2023
FINALS WINNING RECORD FROM 1998
Here is the Finals wining record for all teams since 1998. And the top team may surprise you.
MATCH BY MATCH STATS
MELBOURNE STORM v SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Busted arse Roosters’ reward for a hard earned win over Cronulla is a trip to Melbourne for a sudden death finals match with key injuries. The Roosters have a few good players out like Joey Manu, making life a lot harder. But Melbourne aren’t going that great, as per last weekend’s result. In fact you could argue they haven’t been great this season, and are hardly on a roll. Unlike the Roosters. And talking of injuries, we wish Paps a speedy recovery. Sometimes rugby league just sucks. Overall, who knows with this match to kick off Finals Week 2.
FINALS RECORD (including Finals H2H)
KEY PLAYER H2H STATS
Sadly no Ryan Papenhuyzen after his horror injury last weekend, but the ever reliable Nick Meaney has done the job for most of the season and faces one of the best in James Tedesco. Another key match up is Cameron Munster v Luke Keary in the halves where Munster will be looking to make up for a lacklustre trip to Brisbane. The player v player look ends with the current and former Storms hookers.
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS v NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
Two feelgood stories for NRL 2023 collide in Auckland as Newcastle and Warriors duke it out for the honour of playing the Broncos. The fact these two teams are alive in the NRL premiership race is great considering what the Warriors have had to endure over the past few years, and how far down the ladder Newcastle were. Sadly it’s the end of the road for one of these teams on Saturday.
FINALS RECORD (including Finals H2H)
KEY PLAYER H2H STATS
You have to start at the back with Kalyn Ponga, whose late season form has sparked the Knights winning rn, but the Warriors fullback holds his own too. Two quality, masters of the spectacular try go head to head next with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak vs Dom Young, both of whom have scored over 20 tries this season. For balance, there’s a comparison between two of the toilers Tohu Harris and Tyson Frizell.
FINALS WEEK 1 TEAM STATS
Here are the best team stats fro last weekend’s Week 1 of the finals.
2023 TOP PLAYER STATS
Here are the best player stats from the first week of the NRL Finals last weekend.
The NRL Finals are underway, and the winners are rising to the top and losers getting the chomp. Or maybe that’s the winners. Either way, it’s sudden death rugby league from here and only the winners survive. And to help with the winning here is our 2023 NRL Finals Week 2 Tips Predictions & Stats.
Each week we offer up a quick preview glance for each match, a bunch of barely interesting stats, probably more than one could ever need or want. So read on for tips and stats to help you find a winner.
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.
MELBOURNE v ROOSTERS
Busted arse Roosters’ reward for a hard earned win over Cronulla is a trip to Melbourne for a sudden death finals match with key injuries. The Roosters have a few good players out like Joey Manu, making life a lot harder. But Melbourne aren’t going that great, as per last weekend’s result. In fact you could argue they haven’t been great this season, and are hardly on a roll. Unlike the Roosters. And talking of injuries, we wish Paps a speedy recovery. Sometimes rugby league just sucks. Overall, who knows with this match to kick off Finals Week 2.
Melbourne have won all six finals games at home in finals on a Friday.
Melbourne have won 24/30 home games on a Friday at AAMI Park.
Melbourne have lost four of their last five games on a Friday at all grounds. And conceded exactly 26 points in the last two.
The Storm have won seven of their last eight clashes against the Roosters. The only loss did come on a Friday though.
Roosters are W2 L1 on a Friday at AAMI Park.
Roosters record on a Friday away from home in finals is W1 L5.
WARRIORS v NEWCASTLE
Two feelgood stories for NRL 2023 collide in Auckland as Newcastle and Warriors duke it out for the honour of playing the Broncos. The fact these two teams are alive in the NRL premiership race is great considering what the Warriors have had to endure over the past few years, and how far down the ladder Newcastle were. Sadly it’s the end of the road for one of these teams on Saturday.
New Zealand have won 13 of the last 15 games v Newcastle at home in New Zealand. Ut only two of the last six on a Saturday.
The Warriors won both of their fixtures Mt Smart Stadium on a Saturday this season.
Newcastle have won ten in a row, the Warriors were also unbeaten over the same time (7 wins) until the final round of the season.
Newcastle have won four in a row on a Saturday, the last three have been away games.
Newcastle are 3/11 on a Saturday in finals since 1998. 1/7 away from home.
The Knights have also won just 2/12 away finals games, both wins coming in 2013.
New Zealand haven’t played a home final since 2008. Their record at Mt Smart Stadium in finals since 1998 is W2 L1.
Warriors have lost four of their last five finals games on a Saturday.
2023 NRL Season Stats
SEASON FORM STATS v REMAINING FINALS SIDES
Here is our usual form stats, but this is limited to the finalists and their record this season v other finalists.
Christian Slater and Konami Karaoke machine at the Karaoke Revolution hosted by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (Photo by Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage)
A Brisbane man has avoided embarrassment at a karaoke bar.
As a fan of ’90s African-American hip hop group ‘Trouble ‘n’ Justice’, Peter was surprised when a handful of TnJ songs were on his local karaoke bar’s playlist.
Enthusiastically choosing ‘Runnin’ from the Law’, Peter started well, but then ran into some trouble.
“‘Runnin” is one of their older songs, so I’d forgotten how often a certain word appears. You know the one,” Peter told Everyday News Staff Writers, who understood the implication.
“When that word appeared the screen, I started to panic, but I used some substitute words that still kept the rhyme scheme intact. I think I got away with it,” said Peter. “While I love TnJ, I don’t know why their songs are allowed in a karaoke bar. They’re not family friendly.”
Though Peter indulged his love of ‘Trouble ‘n’ Justice’ when he got home, listening to them on Spotify for an hour before he went to bed.
Everyday News is a brand new general news/parody section of The Gurgler, and definitely not a lame rip-off of ‘The Betoota Advocate’. We swear.
What an incredible first weekend of NRL Finals it was. Superstar performances, work horses giving it their all, and more. But which players were the best of the best you ask? Like Tyson Gamble, we’re giving you something you can chew on, and separate the Wheat/Chaff to present the 2023 NRL Finals Week 1 Player Stats and Team of the Week.
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.
2023 NRL Finals Week 1 Player Stats & Team of the Week
2023 NRL Finals Week 1 Team of the Week
So 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 include the best four interchange players of the week. Seeing who has provided maximum impact from the bench.
Plus we throw in the players we thought were great but the stats did not.
LADDER POSITION FOR TOP EIGHT SIDES IN 2023 
