Just three weeks to go of the regular season to go, and our Kick to Come preview of the NRL Round 24 is ready.
As per usual we have a short rundown of each game, tips and multi selections, answer the big questions and moan about the Free to Air game.
This week there is the added involvement of Jarryd Hayne and the Titans. Neither particularly interest us at the best of time, unless we sniff an opportunity for the Walker Brothers to get a go at the NRL.
More on that soon, enjoy the NRL Round 24 preview.
THE NRL ROUND 24 PREVIEW MATCH BY MATCH
IN 24 WORDS OR LESS OR SO
THURSDAY – EELS v TITANS
Refer Jarryd Hayne.
FRIDAY – RABBITOHS v WARRIORS
Up to a few weeks ago, both of these were in the running for the most disappointing teams of 2017. After a good run, only the Warriors are still fighting for that title. And probably deserve it.
FRIDAY – BRONCOS v DRAGONS
These two teams have bashed up the Titans in the last two weeks, and the Broncos are starting to look real good as the next best challenger for the Storm. The Dragons remain in the pack of teams chasing a top 8 spot.
SATURDAY – KNIGHTS v STORM
Two in form sides meet, and surprisingly it is 1st v last. More than one win looked unlikely for the Knights, so to put three together has been great to see for most league fans. A shame they meet Melbourne, although another upset is not out of the question after they took out Parramatta last week.
SATURDAY – ROOSTERS v TIGERS
Tigers beating Manly was timely with the Knights finding wins easy to come by now, the way both of those teams are going they may yet both get past the Gold Coast Tithaynes.
SATURDAY – COWBOYS v SHARKS
Paul Gallen gets a second consecutive week in Queensland, to continue his Mr Popular tour, but he will be hoping this goes better than his milestone game against the Broncos. Cowboys have more injury worries, but thankfully that means Kalyn Ponga gets another game. One more injury and Carlin Anderson might finally get a go too. Rather than being wasted in the ISC.
SUNDAY – RAIDERS v PANTHERS
A top 4 slot for the Panthers is not out of the question as they charge up the ladder, and they could hurt Canberra’s progress this Sunday with a win. Canberra are going nicely too, so this should be a quality clash.
SUNDAY – BULLDOGS v SEA EAGLES
Manly have been overtaken by Penrith and have opened door for others to sneak into 8. In saying that, they’ll beat the Bulldogs. If the draw for the last 6 weeks isn’t done at the start of the season, how on earth do the Bulldogs have another FTA game.
THE BIG QUESTION
WHAT TO DO WITH THE GOLD COAST TITANS?
Rugby League biggest story right now revolves around Jarryd Hayne, just the way he likes it one would suspect.
With the power play looking likely to account for coach Neil Henry, especially now that halves Ash Taylor and Kane Elgey have jumped on board the mutiny, it is a club in trouble.
A shame for the side who were so tough and dogged last year and unexpectedly made the finals. You could point to Jarryd Hayne, and not without justification for his pouting ways, but he’s not the only one.
So, how would we solve it?
Since Henry is going anyway – why not throw in the Walker Brothers from Ipswich. What fun couldbe had with the free wheeling brothers on the sideline in the NRL.
Get rid of Hayne. Surely it is not worth the nbother, nor the premium price they have to shell out to have him. He’s not been in great form this year, has sulked since being a major part in NSW’s origin capitulation, and it appears as if he is not being a positive influence on the younger players either. No boxes ticked.
Finally, let the NRL get the North Sydney Bears consortium on board and rename them. Although there would be some attachment to the Titans brand on the Gold Coast, they’ve had a few and adapted, and with the Bears name on board there would be countless people across Australia jumping on board to have them as a second or third side, such is the positive nostalgic vibe around the Bears.
In summary – the Gold Coast Bears, coached by Walker Brothers, and sans Hayne.
THE GURGLER’S NRL TIPPING COMPETITION
Each week we will supply our tips for the week ahead, plus take on some guest tipsters. They are likely to determined by a ridiculous method. Will arse beat class? Probably. Pity we’re neither.
We have done it for the EPL, and no one reads it. So we hope to get at least half of those people for the NRL tipping.
THE GURGLER’s NRL ROUND 24 PREVIEW TIPS
Eels to beat Titans
Rabbitohs to beat Broncos
Broncos to beat Dragons
Knights to beat Storm
Tigers to beat Roosters
Cowboys to beat Sharks
Panthers to beat Raiders
Sea Eagles to beat Bulldogs
NRL ROUND 24 PREVIEW – GUEST TIPSTER – RGB VALUES OF TEAM JERSEYS
Since we are fast running out of ideas and week to do it in for our stupid tipping premise, we reckon we’ve got a real crap one coming up this month.
This week we are basing the tips on how high they score in the RGB Colour Code Chart. Each colour has a value for Red, Green and Blue, and we have got those values for each of the major colours for those teams and added them together and then found an average out of all the clubs colours.
E.g. Dragons are Red & White.
Red (RGB = R 255 G 0 B 0 = 255) + White (R 255 G 255 B 255 = 765)
Average for Club colours = 255 + 765 / 2 = 510
So with that out of the way, here are tips based on Club Colours and the RGB scale.
Average RGB Score in Brackets
TITANS (459) to beat Eels (383)
RABBITOHS (179) to beat Warriors (128)
DRAGONS (510) to beat Broncos (306)
STORM (337) to beat Knights (255)
ROOSTERS (422) to beat Tigers (383)
COWBOYS (464) to beat Sharks (357)
RAIDERS (485) to beat Panthers (383)
BULLDOGS (510) to beat Sea Eagles (434)
NRL ROUND 24 PREVIEW – REGULAR GUEST TIPSTER – THE DOG
RESULTS SO FAR
Here’s a list of our results and the ridiculous things we’ve put our tips up against this year so far.
Most Visited Website – 88% – 7/8
Best Worst Coaches – 88% – 7/8
R3 Ladder Improvement from 2016 – 75% – 6/8
Deadliest Mascot – 75% – 6/8
Scrabble – 63% – 5/8
Penalties Conceded 63% – 5/8
Twitter – 63% – 5/8
Number of Jerseys – 63% – 5/8
<strong>The Gurgler – 61% – 92 / 152 </strong>
Jersey Sponsor’s Annual Turnover – 4/7 – 57%
Selections by Postcode – 55% – 22/40
<strong>The Dog – 53% – 77 / 144</strong>
4 Rounds Form – 50% – 4/8
Errors – 50% – 4/8
Odds Change from Start of Season – 50% – 4/8
Leagues Club Turnover – 38% – 3/8
Selection by Mascot – 38% – 3/8
Most Interesting Fan – 38% – 3/8
Pack of Cards – 25% – 2/8
Best Chart Position of Club’s Fan -16% – 1/6
Origin Players from last 3 Years – 0% – 0/4
GURGLER NRL ROUND 24 SUPER MULTI
EELS -13.5 start v Titans
RABBITOHS to beat Warriors
DRAGONS +12.5 start v Broncos
KNIGHTS +16.5 start v Storm
TIGERS +12.5 start v Roosters
COWBOYS +6.5 start v Sharks
PANTHERS to beat Raiders
SEA EAGLES -7.5 start v Bulldogs
