The time for abhorrent performances has passed and it’s do-or-die for every club for the remainder of the 2019 NRL season.
Manly silenced their doubters by winning a finals game without Tommy Turbo and are full of running ahead of their semi against the Rabbitohs on Friday night.
The Melbourne Storm suffered the shock loss of the finals when they were unable to contain the Raiders for the second time in 2019, but they’re offered a good opportunity to regather a little confidence when the Parramatta Eels visit on Saturday night.
We’re set for an intriguing fixture when South Sydney and Manly go toe-to-toe on Friday night, and whichever club wins will be more than worthy of their position in the final four.
Plenty of people wrote Manly off prior to Week 1 of the finals. I personally thought that they were overs as outsiders against a pretty ordinary Sharks outfit but further than Week 2, I did not see them progressing. I’m happy to say that I’ve backflipped on that, and there is no doubt that they represent outstanding value to beat Souths, who themselves will need to improve tenfold on that ghastly performance against the Roosters.
Sure, there was no Sam Burgess, but any suggestion that he would have been the difference in last week’s horror show is surely fit for a straight jacket. The Roosters were in complete control immediately, and clearly enjoyed the second half off as they took the foot off the accelerator. The Bunnies obviously have plenty of class engaged, but everything is expected of them this week and they simply cannot afford to play only fairly.
Even without Turbo, I thought that the Sea Eagles looks a formidable side last week and I’m happy to take the value that is on offer again in head-to-head betting. Boy they’ve been a good little money spinner in 2019.
We’re set for an intriguing fixture when Melbourne and Parramatta go toe-to-toe on Saturday night, but only one club will be more than worthy of their position in the final four.
Jokes asides, the Eels were outstanding last weekend, but I personally find it extremely difficult to line up the thrashing of an appalling Broncos side at home alongside a trip to Melbourne, with the minor premiers as the opponent. For mine, the celebrations were a little too over the top given this week’s task. Perhaps they knew that they had just played their GF…?
I threw it out to twitter dot com in live time, make sure you give this a re-run when that prediction comes true on Saturday.
That result will make the Eels’ loss to the Storm next weekend sting just that little bit more. #NRLFinals #NRLEelsBroncos #NoChance
— Jared Timms (@JaredTimms) September 15, 2019
By their standards, the Storm were wildly mediocre in their tight loss to the Raiders and there is no doubt that they’ll need to improve as well. I find it extremely difficult to grasp the idea of them doing something like that two weeks in a row though, particularly at AAMI Park. Whether close or not, I think that they’re just going to win this one and I’m happy to spot the Eels a 7.5-point start.