Last Minute NRL Season Preview

The NRL season is once again upon us and life is worth living again. While Cronulla fans (and myself) have been celebrating heavily the last four months, it seems forever ago that Paul Gallen lifted the trophy and the porch lights in the shire were turned off (the power bill has been better for it too). Cronulla’s premiership win should inspire NRL fans of all teams that there is hope for your club, no matter if they are trying to win their first or twenty second premiership, that they’ll eventually have their day in the sun. The 2017 NRL season brings us one the most equal and wide open premiership races we’ve seen in years, any one of the top eight teams in our season preview could go on to win the title and it’d be thoroughly deserved.

 

Brisbane Broncos

Ladder Prediction: 6th

Brisbane face a tough opening month that could define the rest of their season as they face the Sharks, Cowboys, Storm and Raiders. Luckily for them the Sharks and Storm will both field under strength sides while they’ll play the Raiders and Cowboys from the comfort of Suncorp and could make it to round five with three wins. Corey Parker is a big loss although the Broncos have always had a knack for uncovering the next generation of great young forwards and will be well serviced by the likes of Arrow, Ofahengaue and Ese’ese. With 13 of the 20 scheduled matches on a Thursday/Friday night, the Broncos have a much more stable weekly routine than most and in such a tight competitive year, every little advantage helps.

 

St George Illawarra Dragons

Ladder Prediction: 15th

The Dragons were lucky to finish as high as they did in 2016 (11th) and will again count themselves lucky if they can avoid the wooden spoon this year. The Dragons were abysmal in attack ranking 15th, only outscoring a young and very inexperienced Knights team and were a massive 102 points behind the 14th ranked team. There is not much to suggest this will change in 2017 and despite the promise young half Jai Field shows, they shouldn’t be relying on a 19 year old to carry the team. Paul McGregor is the favourite to be the first coach sacked this season however the Dragons could get some early wins as they have been gifted an easy travel schedule and don’t leave Sydney until round 11.

 

Canberra Raiders

Ladder Prediction: 2nd

Canberra enjoyed their best season in 20 years in 2016 and were dreadfully unlucky to not make a grand final appearance. With a huge forward pack, an exciting halves pairing and one of the best left edges in the game, the Raiders have a complete side that is strong across the field. Their captain and goal kicker Jarrod Croker will miss the first 5-6 weeks of the competition, his absence could be costly as the Raiders must travel to Queensland twice to take on the Cowboys and Broncos and losses against them could be the difference between a minor premiership and second. Keep an eye out for young sensation Nick Cotric, touted as the best junior to come through Canberra’s system since Josh Dugan and Todd Carney.

 

Penrith Panthers

Ladder Prediction: 5th

Everyone’s sentimental favourite to win the NRL premiership this season, the Panthers have assembled a squad that will have them challenging for the title over the next few years. Josh Mansour’s ACL injury hurts however Penrith have plenty of depth to draw from in their back five while the addition of Kangaroo and NSW front rower James Tamou takes the Panthers forward pack to another level. They’ll be lead around the park by young halfback Nathan Cleary who set the competition alight after making his debut mid way through last season however it is important to remember he has only played 15 games and how he copes with the extra attention he’ll receive in 2017 is vital to the Panthers fortunes.      

 

Canterbury Bulldogs

Ladder Prediction: 13th

Blessed with arguably the best forward pack in the NRL, the Bulldogs are unfortunately one of the worst teams to watch. With an unimaginative attacking style, a coach who appears to be phoning it in before his inevitable departure and a full back who doesn’t like to play on Sundays, there isn’t much to get excited about at Canterbury. Young hooker Michael Lichaa hasn’t lived up to expectations so far and has copped some of the blame for the Bulldogs dour attack, with his contract running out at the end of the season, he could be moved on elsewhere if he doesn’t start to perform. The Bulldogs are in dire need of a breath of fresh air at the club and it might need to take an awful season to kick start a rebuild to begin getting back to being regular premiership contenders.     

 

Melbourne Storm

Ladder Prediction: 3rd

No matter what happens, you can never write off the Storm. As long as Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Craig Bellamy are at Melbourne, they’ll be a premiership threat. The Storm lost Marika Koroibete, Blake Green and Kevin Proctor to over the off season and those losses can’t be understated, meanwhile they’ll also be without Kiwi international Tohu Harris for the first two months of the season. It could take the Storm a few rounds before they find their groove, particularly with where to play Cameron Munster and may start the season slow however unless anymore injury strikes you can bet they’ll be peaking at the business end of the season.

 

Newcastle Knights

Ladder Prediction: 16th

The less said about 2016 the better for the Knights, with the only win a two point victory over the Tigers in round 6, it was a long and horrific season. The great thing about rock bottom is that it can only get better, unfortunately for the Knights the good times are still going to be served up in small infrequent doses in the immediate future and another wooden spoon is heavily on the cards, unless one of the other poorer teams has a train wreck of a season. The younger players the Knights blooded last year will all be better for it and more steeled while Jamie Buhrer and Anthony Tupou are both excellent additions and should lead the young forward pack the right way, Rory Kostjasyn should also improve things when he returns from injury.    

 

Cronulla Sharks

Ladder Prediction: 8th

History doesn’t bode well for the Sharks, it has been 24 years since the last defending premiers went back to back and only two premiers have returned to the grand final the following year in the NRL era (and one of those were the disgraced Melbourne Storm in 2008-09). Ben Barba and Michael Ennis are huge losses however the Sharks still possess enough quality in the rest of the team to make finals. The halves pairing in Maloney and Townsend have only spent one season together and still have room to improve while Holmes and Bird provide the X-factor needed from the back line. The forward pack is another year older yet still has a great blend of experience and youth who are in their prime and the 2016 NYC player of the year Jayden Brailey will only get better with time, meanwhile the Cronulla bench is arguably the best in the league.

 

North Queensland Cowboys

Ladder Prediction: 1st

The Cowboys, like many defending premiers before them, found out just how hard it is the second time round, losing in the preliminary final to eventual premier Cronulla. The off season changes with Ben Hannant announcing his retirement and James Tamou leaving for Penrith makes the Cowboys forward pack looks slightly less intimidating than it once did, however with Shaun Fensom headed up north they’ll still possess a pack to be feared. The Cowboys back line is not only stable and talented but also has a mountain of depth waiting in the wings with Ponga, Gela-Mosby and Bowen all ready to go in case injury strikes. With Johnathan Thurston leading the way and Michael Morgan alongside him, the Cowboys will be almost unstoppable at home and are still one of the teams to beat.

 

Parramatta Eels

Ladder Prediction: 9th

The Eels had a season to remember for all the wrong reasons as they had premiership points stripped from them for salary cap cheating along with other off-field scandals involving key players Corey Norman and Semi Radradra. Not all is doom and gloom however as Parramatta are gifted a fresh start in 2017 with a talented (and under the cap) squad that will contend to make finals again. The Eels have a gluttony of fire power in the outside backs on both sides and Corey Norman should have a great season in a pressure free environment so we should expect to see the Eels produce some high scores. Parramatta are probably another good forward and a quality 80 minute hooker away from being considered premiership contenders and despite the fact they should enjoy their best season in a while they’ll be considered unlucky to miss finals once again.  

 

Gold Coast Titans

Ladder Prediction: 11th

The Titans surprised everybody last season when they finished 8th despite many tipping them to be near the bottom two and there’s many pundits who think they can repeat that feat again this season. Gold Coast’s acquisition of Jarryd Hayne and Kevin Proctor forced them to make a mountain of changes over the off season with club stalwarts Greg Bird, David Mead and Luke Douglas all moved on, along with a few others in the best 17 and the amount of change could take a while to settle. The Titans do have the talent to surprise a couple of the top teams but whether they can do it consistently enough to make another finals appearance is another question. The injury clouds under key players Jarryd Hayne and Nathan Peats could be detrimental to the Titans season particularly with the tough opening eight weeks.

 

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Ladder Prediction: 10th

The Souths spent most of 2016 in second gear and didn’t start performing well until their finals chances were over in a classic case of “too little, too late”. Whether or not they can carry those later performances into the new season is anyone’s guess and that makes the Rabbitohs one of the hardest teams to predict in 2017. How well new hooker Robbie Farah can adjust into his new team and game plan will go a long way to determine what type of Rabbitohs team we’ll see. The Souths opening month pits them against the Tigers, Manly, Knights and arch-rivals the Roosters, at full strength the Rabbitohs would have been good odds to win at least three games however the injury to Adam Reynolds leaves them dangerously vulnerable and may head into April on the back foot with only one or two wins.  

 

New Zealand Warriors

Ladder Prediction: 7th

On paper the Warriors have a squad that should seriously contend for the NRL premiership, though as we all know football games are played on grass, not paper. Perennial disappointments, the Warriors have a history of self-imploding even in the best of circumstances, however 2017 presents possibly the best chance they will ever have. In fact if the Warriors can’t at least make something of a run at the title with this team then they never will. Boasting the entire Kiwi spine, as well as the former New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney, it’s hard not to back the Warriors to at least make finals, particularly if they can get off to a good start, they should coast through the middle rounds in the origin period as they normally do and could make a serious run at the top four.

 

Manly Sea Eagles

Ladder Prediction: 14th

Manly made a few smart buys in the off season, most notably Blake Green who will take the pressure off newly appointed captain Daly Cherry-Evans much in the same way he did with old partner Cooper Cronk. The retirement of long time fullback Brett Stewart allows young sensation Tom Trbojevic to make a permanent move to the position which will utilise all his attacking potential. Manly have always been a very successful club (excluding the Northern Eagles era), featuring in at least one grand final every decade since the 1950’s and winning at least one premiership every decade since the 70’s so the recent rebuild has been a strange and underwhelming time for the Silvertails. The rebuild is showing promising signs and the quality of football Manly play will be better than what they came up with last season however they are still probably 12 months away before the results come.

 

Sydney Roosters

Ladder Prediction: 4th

The Roosters had an awful season that went off the rails well before the season had started with Mitchell Pearce’s infamous Australia Day actions. With other key figures injured, it created a domino effect that left too much for the younger inexperienced players to handle and by the time the Roosters had gotten back to full strength the season was practically over. Sydney won the minor premiership three seasons in a row (2013-15) and will be determined to prove 2016 was just a blip on the radar. The Roosters have kept the squad that won those minor premierships mostly together and have added handy recruits in Michael Gordon and Luke Keary that should see the boys from Bondi surge back into the top four and probable premiership contenders.  

 

Wests Tigers

Ladder Prediction: 12th

The Tigers are an interesting team heading into 2017. On one hand with the attacking prowess they have at their disposal with Tedesco and the halves pairing of Brooks and Moses they could finish in the top eight however on the other hand, their inconsistency and unhealthy reliance on the four players who are all off contract at the end of the season could leave them stranded in the bottom four and whichever way they end up wouldn’t surprise anybody. The Wests Tigers opening month is arguably the toughest of all 16 teams in the league, with a highly publicised match up with former Tiger Robbie Farah and his new club South Sydney followed by the Panthers, Raiders and Storm. On a final note, if James Tedesco were to get injured (as he is prone to in the past) the Tigers season is all but done, though let’s hope for Tigers and football fans alike that doesn’t happen.

 

 

Written By Mitchell McGuinness

 

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