To the guys and girls on this forum who know me but don't know the news, the reason I haven't been here the last few days is because my grandfather passed away on Sunday. The funeral's tomorrow and I'll be doing the eulogy.
Anyway, onto the topic of rugby league.
First off, Trent Barrett. While I feel that his actions deserved a suspension, I would like to raise the issue of precedent. I can't understand why the Dragons didn't contest the charge and take video footage of Round 1, 2003, when Brisbane beat Penrith 24-20 at Penrith Stadium (from memory, that was the score... might have been 24-22...). I would have thought they take in the video of Tallis bashing the crap out of Ben Ross, show the judiciary that, and their job was done.
But he copped the early plea, and know our halves for the Manly game are Holdsworth and Sheppard. That's quite unnerving, actually.
Secondly, the Roosters have rorted the NRL and signed both Anasta and Harrison. And, in the process, screwed Souths chances at signing any big names, consigning them to a crappy near future. They might have to make their top priorities Tony Grimaldi and Ben Galea now, because I strongly doubt Orford will want to go there now.
However, looking at the Roosters' forward pack for 2006, they will now have a lack of size (apart from Morley), and they will have to focus on the increased mobility of the forwards. Players like Ben Hannant, Mickey Paea, Richard Fa'aoso, Nigel Plum, George Rose and Heath Lestrange will have to stand up, otherwise the Roosters will be screwed on the bench.
Melbourne signed Crocker, and now they are looking at fellow Qld rep, Ben Ross. I always thought that this was all too predictable for season 2006, following the huge hits they took in the forward department at the end of 2004.
Canberra signed Jason Smith for another year, which is definitely good news for them. They are nothing without him. If he can reproduce his early season form, Canberra could just push for the Finals this season.
The Sharks have some huge problems, and I have a feeling they will drop out of the eight by season's end. It seems they are axing half the squad for this weekend's match against last-placed Newcastle, and it will be interesting to see how they perform with the huge local derby at Kogarah in a fortnight.
If the Sea Eagles lose to the Dragons this weekend, it will make it two losses at a row at Brookvale, and that would probably spell the end of "Fortress Brooky". If they lose this weekend, look for them to suddenly start a freefall down the competition ladder. They've already lost three in a row, and not coincidentally, Anthony Watmough has been injured for the same amount of time. He's still out for another three, I think, and by the time he returns, Manly may have shot their Finals' chances in the foot.
It's too hard to make up my mind about the Roosters. They have the players to be dangerous enough, but they have no direction inside the opposition red zone. While Ryan Cross is out, their attacking options are exponentially decreased, and in the last three matches, I think they've only scored seven tries.
The Dragons were destroyed by the bye. The prospect of the holiday and an easy two points led to a sub-standard performance against the Tigers, and they lost for the sixth straight time coming off a bye, running out of steam against a very good Parramatta side.
The Tigers have suddenly hit form again, but it seems every time they do this, they end up collapsing. I recall last season, when they only needed one win from their last four games to make the eight and proceeded to lose every single match. If they can keep it up, they'll finish in the eight, but history says that they will collapse in a bundle again.
Brisbane and Parramatta are the teams to beat at the moment, and the Cowboys, despite their slip-up against the Knights, are still a top three side. With Cronulla and Manly looking like they are running out of legs, the race for the all-important home final is looking very interesting. In reality, though, the Storm only need to win every second game from here on, and their amazing points differential will probably guarantee them a top four position.
Sorry for the long post....
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