Another shortened Origin round has Oscar Pannifex digging for value across Round 15’s five-game slate!
All the numbers from Brisbane’s loss to the Gold Coast last week point towards a Broncos win.
If it wasn’t for that Keano Kini moment, we could be talking about NRL Round 14 as the scrappy, ugly win that Brisbane needed to get their ‘26 campaign back on track. Instead though, we’re now talking about Brisbane dropping five straight games and now needing a win against the Old Master in Wayne Bennett.
South Sydney are in a spot of bother themselves right now.
The injuries are piling up once again to make for an ill-disciplined and inconsistent playing group, most weeks. Between unforced errors, yardage penalties and poor execution in attack, we haven’t seen the best of this Rabbitohs side for a few weeks now.
Two sides looking to play themselves back into form while their best players are missing should make for a tight contest, if nothing else. othe
Two big wins last week from two genuine premiership contenders this season.
Easts found points easily enough against Canberra on either edge while still leaving a few out there but the ease with which they marched downfield was most impressive. Like Redcliffe did to North Queensland on the same weekend, the Roosters dominated in yardage to barely give Canberra a look at their own line.
Assuming these two sides meet – hopefully at full strength – later in the year, this one feels more like a test of roster depth.
It’s Redcliffe with the advantage in the outside backs in that regard but I like the Roosters pack to win the middle first and the scoreboard from there.
Cronulla looked dead in the water in the first half against St George last week but came out stronger after the break. Their outside backs are crucial to how the Sharks work downfield and set up in attack; if they don’t carry out of their own end cleanly, Cronulla’s big forwards can end up working against them.
New Zealand on the other hand play with a wonderful balance across the park.
Even when key players have been missing (or injured mid-game) this year, the Warriors have produced a familiar, repeatable and consistent style of footy.
A lot of those positives come through Wayde Egan from behind a quick ruck. The variety of questions this Warriors pack asks of their opposing middle each week spells danger for a Sharks pack that can struggle under repeat efforts.
The experience of Daly Cherry-Evans was on show last week against this young Canberra backline. He found the grass or the touchline on a number of occasions to pile the pressure back on the Raiders in yardage on Easts way to a big win.
Parramatta don’t have the kicking game to isolate Kaeo Weekes & Co here, though.
The Eels goal-line defence was desperate against Canterbury on Monday but were they really tested by the Bulldogs attack? I’m expecting the Raiders to manufacture a few more points – either repeatable or off the cuff – in this one.
Wests were nothing short of humbled by Penrith last week. Their ruck was completely exposed by the Panthers attack to leave their edges on an island and ripe for the picking.
The Gold Coast don’t play with anything like the systems Penrith do but their attack through the middle-third profiles well against this Tigers ruck defence. The Titans score an NRL-high 39% of their tries through the middle this year thanks largely to the work Oliver Pascoe is doing from dummy-half.
It’s an area we’ve seen AJ Brimson, Keano Kini and Jayden Campbell all pop up in support in recent weeks and that’s where I’m looking again here.
