Here’s this week’s Kick to Come – The Gurgler’s preview of the NRL weekend ahead.
We’ve reached lucky Round 7, and it’s about time we had a win with our tips.
Talking of about time for wins, both the Roosters and Newcastle got their first wins of the season in Round 6, and left both of their opponents fans wondering how much/little finals football they’ll be involved in later in the year. And one state wondering what could be for State of Origin if not for a night out in the emerging camp.
We thought that the last round looked too easy on paper, thankfully we were too stupid to change many of our tips and went badly just like we deserved.
THURSDAY – MANLY v PARRADRADRA EELS
Both team had good wins last weekend and looked good, but can either be trusted to back it up this weekend. Fans and Supercoach fans of Semi Radradra will be wondering when the try scoring will start, but at least he saw a little more of the ball last match. Manly must be getting some kind of buyer’s remorse seeing a hooker becoming a makeshift halfback and killing it for far less than the 10 Million they paid to keep Daly Cherry Evans. Hard to pick, easy to chicken out with pissweak tip.
GURGLER TIPS – MANLY +6.5 start
FRIDAY – COWBOYS v SOUTHS
Aside from a quick burst in the first half against Manly in Round 5, Souths have been close to terrible in attack for the last 4 weeks, starting with the 6 points and scoreless second half against the Dragons and finishing with last week’s effort. Although they were not quite as inept as they were on Good Friday last weekend, it wasn’t far off. Greg Inglis looks disinterested, but will no doubt spring to life when playing for Australia and his home state later in the year. Souths look like a team that needs Adam Reynolds and John Sutton back ASAP. At least Sutton anyway. The Cowboys just got home against Penrith last weekend, and will no doubt appreciate a side with as little venom as Souths have at the moment. Although from memory Souths were going just as ordinary last year before they easily beat the Cowboys away in Townsville on a Thursday night. Doesn’t look likely this time around.
GURGLER TIPS – COWBOYS to WIN
SATURDAY – GOLD COAST v DRAGONS
The Dragons have recently scored at a rate that would embarrass the most defensive of Italian football teams. Averaging 10 points every 2 hours, they certainly can’t be described as the Entertainers of the NRL, or scorers of the last two rounds following two consecutive shut outs. At least Benji Marshall is back, so they may score some points. If they crack 20 they should re-sign him without delay. The Gold Coast were spoken of as potential wooden spooners at the start of the year, but look good despite consecutive losses against two teams that look like Top 4 sides. The Gurgler enjoys that both halves for the Titans are Queensland Cup graduates, and their adaption to the NRL shows the Queensland Cup’s usefulness as a feeder of talent.
GURGLER TIPS – DRAGONS to score first but lose.
SATURDAY – BULLDOGS v NZ
Game of the big boys featuring plenty of Kiwis on both sides, and both with a zippy half with almost unlimited ability. This should be one of the better games of the week, or descend into the toughest game of the year. All good on either count for us. The Bulldogs need to back up a good win for a change, and despite the win against the Roosters, it is still hard to pick the Warriors away from home in the first half of the season. Even when it is in New Zealand, and despite the “home” ground advantage, the Bulldogs have a terrific record against them anyway in NZ when they take a home game there.
GURGLER TIPS – BULLDOGS to win
SATURDAY – BRONCOS v NEWCASTLE
And you thought a Thursday game was a rarity. Saturday night football comes to Suncorp Stadium for the visit of the Knight fresh from their drought breaking win for 2016. The Broncos are at the other end of the pool with just a single loss, but haven’t been overly wonderful in their last two wins. That is a bad sign for the Knights as it will no doubt click together this weekend at their expense. The Broncos will also be looking to put the Cagney work to bed quickly with a big win proving we can still all be friends again.
GURGLER TIPS – BRISBANE wins 13+
SUNDAY – CANBERRA v SHARKS
Last time we checked Canberra were well beaten last weekend and the Sharks had another good win and are 4th against the Raiders 7th. So the odds having Canberra as favourites was a surprise. Some may argue the home ground advantage, but Canberra only won 3/12 in Canberra in 2015, and are 1-2 now with one of those wins by 1 point. What would we know though, as proved by our tips, but if we’re right we’ll grab some Sharks value. The Sharks look like a genuine Top 4 side this season, and given the slow start of some of last year’s top 8, their chance is now.
GURGLER TIPS – SHARKS to win
SUNDAY – WESTS TIGERS v MELBOURNE
No wonder Gus harps on about loving his Sunday afternoon football. It’s always in Sydney (or Newcastle) and between two Sydney teams. At least NSW are winning something we guess. This week Channel 9 have taken big step and have a game that features a non-Sydney/Newcastle side in Melbourne. Although given the Storm’s style of play, most would welcome two Sydney teams in place of the Storm’s dull offerings. They may take the 2 points too as they don’t tend to lose too many consecutive game. Although we’ve got the Tigers with points start so…
GURGLER TIPS – WESTS TIGERS +6.5 start
MONDAY – ROOSTERS v PENRITH
The Roosters broke their duck (pardon the pun) last weekend, and will be ready for the Penrith onslaught this weekend. Will Dylan Napa continue to take on entire games by himself like last weekend, probably. Penrith get close every week, but just can’t manage to get over the line, so whatever the odds or the stats and chances we’ll take our standard Penrith bet which hasn’t let us down this season so far.
GURGLER TIPS +8.5 start
