Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 4:26:47 GMT
Hey guys, since the season starts on the first week of March I thought I would create a thread and manage it and have each of you guys pick a team to support, I will update this weekly with results and ladder updates, its a super fun sport (rugby league), its not the sport that the All-Blacks play, its the other version of the sport, its much more exciting imo.
Games are played every weekend just like the NFL, on Friday-Monday nights, sometimes Thursday (Thursday night games are rare).
You don't have to do much, just pick a team, follow it, and talk shit with each other, maybe start to don your teams colours if you want.
Since @iamoutbreak is from Melbourne, he gets his own team by default, the Melbourne Storm, same with me, since I'm from NZ I get the only NZ team by default, the Warriors (they have never won a championship, and break my heart every year, didn't even make the playoffs last year).
You can follow the NRL here:
www.nrl.com/
On this Saturday eastern time you guys can start picking your teams (first in first serve), there are 16 teams in total, and since 2 are already taken there are 14 teams left to choose from,
Here is a breakdown of how each team is expected to do this year so you can start to figure out who you want:
Winner - MELBOURNE STORM - Outbreaks Team
THE temptation is always to assume the runner-up is the next cab off the rank, but in the NRL the losing grand final team has bounced back to win the grand final just once (Manly in 2008).
The Storm will have lost winger Marika Koroibete and playmaker Blake Green, but it’s difficult to see how this team will not be stronger in 2017 with the return of star fullback Billy Slater — who, admittedly, is yet to confirm if he is certain to play on next season.
Melbourne still has a forward pack to be feared and the Craig Bellamy-inspired culture down south will ensure this team remains the benchmark of the NRL — as they were for most of 2016.
2nd - CANBERRA RAIDERS
THE scary part of Canberra’s rise in 2016 is that it happened when the club was rocked with countless injuries to key position players.
The Raiders will surely be stung by the loss of star players to State of Origin selection next year, but that is the only rain cloud on the horizon for this team on the up and up.
Best Player:
3rd - PENRITH PANTHERS
PENRITH won nine of their final 12 matches in 2016 and will be much stronger in the second season of coach Anthony Griffin’s tenure.
Penrith’s pre-season began with plans involving James Segeyaro in the No. 9 and a halves pairing of Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace.
There will be a lot of pressure on promising playmakers Nathan Cleary and Te Maire Martin, but the partnership could easily follow in the footsteps of former Manly duo Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans when the young halves guided the Sea Eagles to the premiership in 2011.
4th - NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
NO team with Johnathan Thurston and Jason Taumalolo could finish outside the top four. Despite going close to defending their title from 2015, the Cowboys’ only major loss to their roster is prop James Tamou.
5th - CRONULLA SHARKS - DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
MICHAEL Ennis is a huge loss and that famous fuel of the club having never won an NRL grand final will no longer be there. Young stars Wade Graham, Valentine Holmes and Jack Bird will have to stand up and pick up the slack of an ageing roster. Despite this, the Sharks remain a star-studded team that could easily challenge for the title if they have some luck with injuries.
6th - SIXTH — PARRAMATTA EELS
DESPITE being caught cheating the salary cap, losing captain Kieran Foran and high-profile forward Anthony Watmough and having to sell hooker Nathan Peats, Parramatta won 13 games of football in 2016.
It is arguably one of the most bungled seasons from a football club in rugby league and they still won 13 games of football.
Like the Gold Coast this season, coach Brad Arthur appears to have found a way to get the best out of his players. It’s a modestly-talented roster, but it’s basically the same playing group that won more games than they lost in 2016 despite essentially playing for nothing after the club was gutted by the NRL’s salary cap sanctions.
7th - BRISBANE BRONCOS
WAYNE Bennett has some real problems. There is no obvious area of the game where the Broncos will find improvement next season. Corey Parker is a huge loss, while it’s hard to see how five-eighth Anthony Milford could do any more than he did this year.
8th - NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS - My team
BETTING on the Warriors is stupid. You should never do it. The club gave up at the end of this season losing their last four games of the season, including their last three matches at home. If new coach Stephen Kearney can find a way for his side to take care of their matches at home, they should easily win enough matches to play finals football.
Star fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will provide a huge boost, while Kieran Foran could easily become the feel-good story of 2017. Any normal club with a spine of Tuivasa-Sheck, Foran. Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke should not miss the top eight, but the Warriors are no ordinary football club.
9th — WESTS TIGERS
IF James Tedesco finally plays a season without getting injured, the Wests Tigers can easily play finals football. The young playing list should continue to improve next season. It looms as a huge season for halfback Luke Brooks. It seems a long time since the rising star was labelled the next Andrew Johns.
10TH — GOLD COAST TITANS
AFTER Jarryd Hayne’s first handful of games on the Gold Coast, the Titans have actually gone backwards in the eyes of bookmakers.
Hayne’s signing saw the club slashed to $10 to win the 2017 grand final, but now find themselves drawn out to $17. Neil Henry has done an impressive job with what many thought was one of the worst playing lists in the NRL last season, but there is a lot more obvious improvement in the teams that finished around them this year.
11TH — CANTERBURY BULLDOGS
DES Hasler is a genius, but even he won’t be able to get the Bulldogs out of the mess they find themselves in. The Bulldogs appeared too structured and struggled to create scoring opportunities this year. Difficult to see how they improve that next year.
12TH — MANLY SEA EAGLES
FOR the second season in succession the Sea Eagles will undergo a major roster shake-up. Being able to put Blake Green at five-eighth and move Dylan Walker to the centres is a good start, but there are too many unsettled pieces in the Manly puzzle heading into the pre-season.
13TH — SYDNEY ROOSTERS
EVEN when the Roosters welcomed back star forwards Boyd Cordner and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves they struggled in 2016. There is no quick fix for this club, despite winning the minor premiership in 2015.
14TH — ST GEORGE-ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
THE Dragons roster clearly needs major surgery, but coach Paul McGregor has still been able to win 22 football games in the past two seasons. It is going to be another long season for the Dragons faithful, but you can bet the players will still play with heart every week.
15TH — SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
THE battle for the first high-profiled coach to get the chop in 2017 appears to be a two-horse race between Bunnies mentor Michael Maguire and Bulldogs coach Des Hasler.
The Rabbitohs fell hard in 2016 and the signing of Robbie Farah doesn’t seem like it will be enough to arrest the slide. They need star fullback Greg Inglis to have an injury-free year to have any hope of playing finals football.
16TH — NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
ONLY won one game this year and it’s not going to get much better any time soon. Their recruitment efforts won’t be enough to turn the club around. They appear to be treading water, desperately hoping their promising bunch of young talents can come through sooner rather than later. Don’t hold your breath.
Betting odds:
2017 GRAND FINAL WINNER MARKET
$7.50 North Queensland
$8 Brisbane
$8 Melbourne
$9 Cronulla
$9 Penrith
$9 Canberra
$13 New Zealand
$15 Canterbury
$15 Manly
$15 Sydney Roosters
$17 Gold Coast
$17 South Sydney
$17 Parramatta
$26 Wests Tigers
$101 St George Illawarra
$251 Newcastle
Games are played every weekend just like the NFL, on Friday-Monday nights, sometimes Thursday (Thursday night games are rare).
You don't have to do much, just pick a team, follow it, and talk shit with each other, maybe start to don your teams colours if you want.
Since @iamoutbreak is from Melbourne, he gets his own team by default, the Melbourne Storm, same with me, since I'm from NZ I get the only NZ team by default, the Warriors (they have never won a championship, and break my heart every year, didn't even make the playoffs last year).
You can follow the NRL here:
www.nrl.com/
On this Saturday eastern time you guys can start picking your teams (first in first serve), there are 16 teams in total, and since 2 are already taken there are 14 teams left to choose from,
Here is a breakdown of how each team is expected to do this year so you can start to figure out who you want:
Winner - MELBOURNE STORM - Outbreaks Team
THE temptation is always to assume the runner-up is the next cab off the rank, but in the NRL the losing grand final team has bounced back to win the grand final just once (Manly in 2008).
The Storm will have lost winger Marika Koroibete and playmaker Blake Green, but it’s difficult to see how this team will not be stronger in 2017 with the return of star fullback Billy Slater — who, admittedly, is yet to confirm if he is certain to play on next season.
Melbourne still has a forward pack to be feared and the Craig Bellamy-inspired culture down south will ensure this team remains the benchmark of the NRL — as they were for most of 2016.
2nd - CANBERRA RAIDERS
THE scary part of Canberra’s rise in 2016 is that it happened when the club was rocked with countless injuries to key position players.
The Raiders will surely be stung by the loss of star players to State of Origin selection next year, but that is the only rain cloud on the horizon for this team on the up and up.
Best Player:
3rd - PENRITH PANTHERS
PENRITH won nine of their final 12 matches in 2016 and will be much stronger in the second season of coach Anthony Griffin’s tenure.
Penrith’s pre-season began with plans involving James Segeyaro in the No. 9 and a halves pairing of Jamie Soward and Peter Wallace.
There will be a lot of pressure on promising playmakers Nathan Cleary and Te Maire Martin, but the partnership could easily follow in the footsteps of former Manly duo Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans when the young halves guided the Sea Eagles to the premiership in 2011.
4th - NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
NO team with Johnathan Thurston and Jason Taumalolo could finish outside the top four. Despite going close to defending their title from 2015, the Cowboys’ only major loss to their roster is prop James Tamou.
5th - CRONULLA SHARKS - DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
MICHAEL Ennis is a huge loss and that famous fuel of the club having never won an NRL grand final will no longer be there. Young stars Wade Graham, Valentine Holmes and Jack Bird will have to stand up and pick up the slack of an ageing roster. Despite this, the Sharks remain a star-studded team that could easily challenge for the title if they have some luck with injuries.
6th - SIXTH — PARRAMATTA EELS
DESPITE being caught cheating the salary cap, losing captain Kieran Foran and high-profile forward Anthony Watmough and having to sell hooker Nathan Peats, Parramatta won 13 games of football in 2016.
It is arguably one of the most bungled seasons from a football club in rugby league and they still won 13 games of football.
Like the Gold Coast this season, coach Brad Arthur appears to have found a way to get the best out of his players. It’s a modestly-talented roster, but it’s basically the same playing group that won more games than they lost in 2016 despite essentially playing for nothing after the club was gutted by the NRL’s salary cap sanctions.
7th - BRISBANE BRONCOS
WAYNE Bennett has some real problems. There is no obvious area of the game where the Broncos will find improvement next season. Corey Parker is a huge loss, while it’s hard to see how five-eighth Anthony Milford could do any more than he did this year.
8th - NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS - My team
BETTING on the Warriors is stupid. You should never do it. The club gave up at the end of this season losing their last four games of the season, including their last three matches at home. If new coach Stephen Kearney can find a way for his side to take care of their matches at home, they should easily win enough matches to play finals football.
Star fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will provide a huge boost, while Kieran Foran could easily become the feel-good story of 2017. Any normal club with a spine of Tuivasa-Sheck, Foran. Shaun Johnson and Issac Luke should not miss the top eight, but the Warriors are no ordinary football club.
9th — WESTS TIGERS
IF James Tedesco finally plays a season without getting injured, the Wests Tigers can easily play finals football. The young playing list should continue to improve next season. It looms as a huge season for halfback Luke Brooks. It seems a long time since the rising star was labelled the next Andrew Johns.
10TH — GOLD COAST TITANS
AFTER Jarryd Hayne’s first handful of games on the Gold Coast, the Titans have actually gone backwards in the eyes of bookmakers.
Hayne’s signing saw the club slashed to $10 to win the 2017 grand final, but now find themselves drawn out to $17. Neil Henry has done an impressive job with what many thought was one of the worst playing lists in the NRL last season, but there is a lot more obvious improvement in the teams that finished around them this year.
11TH — CANTERBURY BULLDOGS
DES Hasler is a genius, but even he won’t be able to get the Bulldogs out of the mess they find themselves in. The Bulldogs appeared too structured and struggled to create scoring opportunities this year. Difficult to see how they improve that next year.
12TH — MANLY SEA EAGLES
FOR the second season in succession the Sea Eagles will undergo a major roster shake-up. Being able to put Blake Green at five-eighth and move Dylan Walker to the centres is a good start, but there are too many unsettled pieces in the Manly puzzle heading into the pre-season.
13TH — SYDNEY ROOSTERS
EVEN when the Roosters welcomed back star forwards Boyd Cordner and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves they struggled in 2016. There is no quick fix for this club, despite winning the minor premiership in 2015.
14TH — ST GEORGE-ILLAWARRA DRAGONS
THE Dragons roster clearly needs major surgery, but coach Paul McGregor has still been able to win 22 football games in the past two seasons. It is going to be another long season for the Dragons faithful, but you can bet the players will still play with heart every week.
15TH — SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
THE battle for the first high-profiled coach to get the chop in 2017 appears to be a two-horse race between Bunnies mentor Michael Maguire and Bulldogs coach Des Hasler.
The Rabbitohs fell hard in 2016 and the signing of Robbie Farah doesn’t seem like it will be enough to arrest the slide. They need star fullback Greg Inglis to have an injury-free year to have any hope of playing finals football.
16TH — NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
ONLY won one game this year and it’s not going to get much better any time soon. Their recruitment efforts won’t be enough to turn the club around. They appear to be treading water, desperately hoping their promising bunch of young talents can come through sooner rather than later. Don’t hold your breath.
Betting odds:
2017 GRAND FINAL WINNER MARKET
$7.50 North Queensland
$8 Brisbane
$8 Melbourne
$9 Cronulla
$9 Penrith
$9 Canberra
$13 New Zealand
$15 Canterbury
$15 Manly
$15 Sydney Roosters
$17 Gold Coast
$17 South Sydney
$17 Parramatta
$26 Wests Tigers
$101 St George Illawarra
$251 Newcastle