Battler's NRL Finals Week 1

spot the financial panther !

 agree, amazing for a side thats 11-1 at home to be catching a converted try against any opponent

Solid points you make mercurial regarding the Titans. It's their unpredictability that concerns me, although that could be said for any side in the 8 I guess.

No need at all to apologise re the Knights mate, that's what we're all here for. I am however confident that Newcastle get over the Bulldogs on Saturday. I'd love to hear why you think they won't

STORM: Billy Slater, Steve Turner, Will Chambers, Greg Inglis, Dane Nielsen, Brett Finch, Cooper Cronk, Aiden Tolman, Cam Smith (capt), Brett White, Adam Blair, Ryan Hoffman, Dallas Johnson. Interchange: Ryan Hinchcliffe, Hep Cahill, Ryan Tandy, Wairangi Koopu.

Quote Originally Posted by ChkChkBoom:

  

 Brett Finch  

Cahill  Thought he was a soccer player. 

Tandy??? Who the fcuck is he? 

Tolman??? Who are ya???  

Nielsen???? 

the Storm in Melbourne should never be  'd at

Quote Originally Posted by 06lochie:

round 20. GCT 34, BRI 18 and this was without any of the Broncos half decent players. B. Hunt and Gorrel in the halves (what kind of play making is that?) i wouldnt expect any team to put up points with that pair let alone 18.

 

Broncos are rolling right now and know how to get it done in the finals. i expect the broncos to cover -5.5

 

GL

 

 

I'd tread very carefully with that one, this current Broncos side is not even close to the one that rolled to the premiership in 06' from a similar position. This current Broncos side isn't even in the same class as the one that got edged out in the semis by Melbourne last year.

Apart from patches against Penrith and the win against StGeorge, this current Broncos side hasn't produced premiership calibre football during it's late season revival. And the major glaring thing with me remains the lack of grunt and thrust in their forward pack.

On the other side of the fence, this is a massive occasion for the Titans. Their first appearance in the NRL finals, and it's at HOME against the BRONCOS ! They will come at Brisbane so hard in this game, especially early. I can almost see Scott Prince putting someone through a hole for 6-nil before the Broncos have even had a chance to blink.

This is a dream scenario for the Titans, going up against "big brother" at home (where they're 11-1 this season) in their first ever finals match and they're underdogs ! 

That's pretty much what I'm seeing

Geography isn't the largest factor in this game imo; an important reason why the Graveyard grew in reputation was because the in-goal was short, field narrow and the weather always miserable.  Weather won't be a factor tomorrow night, and neither will the negative mindset that plagued visiting teams in Melbourne.  Even if the Storm construct a field with similar dimensions as Olympic, it won't be the ground that wins it for them.  Haven't settled on this match yet, but the location will only play a small role in my analysis - Manly are 6 - 6 on the road this year, and imo the Storm have lost a lot by playing at a 60% full, covered stadium.