A new year brings new excitement for the new rugby league season ahead. A clean slate and high hopes for the new season, until the reality hits in May for a lot fans. So, before the enthusiasm washes away here are some bold 2022 NRL Season Predictions.
Given what is happening around the world heading into 2022 making any predictions is bold enough. So some may be pretty obvious, some left field, and others flogging a dead horse like every other year.
Will there even be a 2022 NRL season? With crowds? Will Gus work his magic instantly with the Bulldogs? Can Penrith create a dynasty? Will Redcliffe sign a big name or be the new Crushers?
An attempt to answer some of those questions and more are here in the Bold 2022 NRL Season Predictions.
MELBOURNE STORM TO MISS THE TOP FOUR
It’s hard to think of the Melbourne Storm finishing outside of the top four, it has only happened twice since 2006 – 6th in 2014 and 16th in 2010 for boat related reasons. But we may as well start the bold prediction of the Storm missing out in 2022.
You may well ask why? The Storm have lost Smith, Cronk, Slater in recent seasons but maintained their lofty run. And no club reinvents itself like Melbourne do.
But one could look to the Melbourne Storm’s end to the 2021 season. Outplayed by eventual premiers in the second last week of the season. And then there’s the off-field drama.
Like Cameron Munster’s party scandal, which has since seen him do a successful stint in rehab.
Then there’s Brandon Smith’s 2023 NRL Contract Tour of the East Coast, which has seen him end up at the Rooster in 2023, but also reports that he was being shopped around on loan for 2022 to the Tigers after a now infamous podcast.
Another off field distraction is Nelson Asofa-Solomona whose refusal to take the vaccine has seen him ordered to train alone, with reports he’s put the rest of the team on radio silence.
Throw into that heady mix is the loss of work horse Dale Finucane, and the electric Nicho Hynes and Josh Addo-Carr. While the Fox has been replaced with the very adequate Xavier Coates, you feel that losing Nicho Hynes’ utility will be huge if/when Ryan Papenhuyzen goes down in 2022.
Sure, tipping against the Storm is a historically bad idea, especially given their culture and history of regeneration, but our first bold prediction is doing just that.
Given the gulf between the top and bottom sides, missing the top eight would be too far. But we see the Storm playing knock out finals football in 2022.
IT’S AN ALL-SYDNEY TOP FOUR
So who replaces Melbourne in the top four?
Well our crystal ball says it will be a Sydney team, and the top four will be exclusively Sydney.
Penrith are a given, and Manly with a season-long Tom Trbojevic look a strong package too. And the Roosters surely won’t have as bad a season with injuries too.
That leaves the remaining top four place up to South Sydney, who we don’t think are that much weaker than the team who pushed Penrith in the Grand Final.
Throw in Parramatta who should be as strong in 2022 as last season, and a Sharks team with key new recruits and a new coach in Craig Fitzgibbon ready to prove himself as his own man, we can’t see any team outside Sydney in the top four.
Which will be nice with the Grand Final returning to Sydney. Maybe.
NRL REFEREES TO BECOME INVISIBLE AS SIX AGAIN RULE CHANGE WORKS A TREAT
Off season news in the NRL usually doesn’t lend itself to be the best of news, nor the most law abiding, but one piece of news for the 2022 NRL season is all good.
This involves a change in the six again rule which will see the set restart only applied in the attacking half when a penalty is warranted. Any indiscretion in the defensive half will revert to an old style penalty kick and punishment of a fresh set of six and territory loss.
The change was to stop some of the cynical penalties given early in the tackle count and deep in the defensive half where the set restart was not much of a punishment. It seems a very good compromise between the free flowing rugby league Peter V’Landys wants to see, and not ruining too much of the game.
So will all this settled, our crystal ball says that referees will not even be mentioned come June.
Until the traditional mid season crack down. Which hopefully doesn’t coincide with Magic Weekend again.
MIDWEEK RUGBY LEAGUE TO RETURN
Prior to late 2021 the word Omicron was known mainly by Latin language nerds and fans of Futurama, but now the name is synonymous with continuing the misery of the Coronavirus pandemic.
It has affected life across the world, and sport as well. It has even hit the NRL in the off season with Andrew Johns a recent Covid positive case, and sadly former NRL star Frank Pritchard in a bad way after catching it.
Having seen what Covid has done to the Premier League fixtures – one of the richest sporting competitions in the world – it is hard to see the NRL not being affected in some way in 2022.
So the crystal ball can see games being postponed, and rearranged at short notice and in midweek, so as not to push back the finals series.
Some may rejoice at the sight (and sound) of midweek football, those old enough to miss the Toohey’s Challenge or even the Panasonic Cup. But the players won’t we can imagine.
Hopefully we get this one wrong and Covid is done and dusted before the NRL season kicks off. That looks unlikely though.
TIGER TOWN TO GET INTERESTING EARLY AS MAGUIRE SHOWN THE DOOR AROUND EASTER
The Wests Tigers documentary was certainly a talking point in 2021, and the crystal ball says more of the same in 2022.
We can see an early change of head coach at the Wests Tigers to give the series an early talking (and selling) point.
Michael Maguire must have gone close to losing his position in the off season, and you’d imagine that anything less than blistering start to 2022 will have him under pressure at the very least.
It’s not an easy start either. Melbourne Storm first week, away to Newcastle. then three away games from rounds four to six.
As a coincidence they play South Sydney Rabbitohs the week after Easter, and coach Maguire’s former team. Our crystal ball says that will be the Tiger’s current coach’s last game in charge.
BULLDOGS TO SNEAK INTO THE TOP EIGHT
The Bulldogs look an exciting prospect for 2022 compared to previous seasons, with key new recruits on the field and Phil Gould working his magic off the field, they will surely move off the bottom.
Some may say that the top eight is being a little ambitious, but there’s a lot to like about the incoming players.
Premiership winning Matt Burton from Penrith, the very speedy Josh Addo-Carr, Tevita Pangai Jnr, and Matt Dufty will certainly bring something different and better in 2022.
The key issue will be the halfback position, and maybe 2022 will be Kyle Flanagan’s year, but if it isn’t it may well be the difference between a return to finals football and not.
And the trouble is who do they displace from last season? Especially when there’s likely improvement from bottom eight teams like Sharks, Canberra and Brisbane.
Well, these are bold predictions and we’ll go out on a limb and say top eight, just.
NORTH QUEENSLAND FURTHEST SOUTH
Sadly for Cowboys fan the crystal ball says they will finish last in 2022. Which is not really a bold prediction given they were second last in 2021 and as above the Bulldogs are likely improvers.
Looking at their squad you can’t see how they can improve too much or at all on last season.
They did hire Chad Townsend from the Sharks, but we’re not sure if that solve their problems, in fact it may backfire if it means Scott Drinkwater is marginalised.
And Tom Dearden simply doesn’t look up to NRL standard at times.
Of course they do have Jason Taumalolo, one of the best paid forwards in the game, but he had a pretty ordinary 2021 season, and even an improved 2022 may not save the Cowboys.
REDCLIFFE WILL GO BUDGET FOR 2023, BUT WAYNE BENNETT WILL PULL A RBBIT (NOT RABBITOH) OUT HIS HAT
One of the exciting rugby league stories from 2021 was the confirmation of the Redcliffe Dolphins as the NRL’s 17th team for 2023.
And the timing appeared right too, with a host of big name players coming off contract for 2023 and available to sign from November.
But come January 2022, none of those big names were signed, as it increasingly looked like the Dolphins were being used by player managers to fatten up contracts with player’s current clubs.
So with the last big name Kalyn Ponga looking like he might stay with Newcastle, none of the big targets are left. Especially as Redcliffe may not have a volunteer position available for Ponga’s father.
That’s not to say that the players Redcliffe have signed already aren’t bad, they just don’t get anyone, let alone Dolphins fan fired up.
Then, as this goes to press there are reports that Redcliffe are looking at Konrad Hurrell, who has been a great player in the past, but is another name heading towards the twilight not the apex of their career.
But that doesn’t mean the Dolphins won’t assemble a great team for 2023. Supercoach Wayne Bennett will find a handful of gems from the outer of current NRL clubs, or even the Queensland Cup and surprise everyone.
If not, this is starting to smell like Crushers.
BUZZ ROTHFIELD WILL STILL APPEAR TO HATE RUGBY LEAGUE
Fox League’s NRL360 is a decent watch, but Buzz Rothfield certainly isn’t.
Sure, he will deliver many a scoop in 2022, but he will also continue to look and sound like he hates rugby league.
And be as hard to like as he was in 2021.
QLD TO WIN ORIGIN SERIES
Queensland were terrible in 2021 in the first two games, but that was probably more to do with just how good NSW were.
But the beauty of State of Origin means, despite the deficit in playing talent or form, Queensland will always be in the game. Their Game Three win proved that.
And Queensland does tend to pick up its game after a really bad series.
It’s as if Queenslanders hear the word dynasty being used by NSW after a few consecutive wins and step it up a gear.
Anyways for the record it will be 2-1, with no more than six points in all three games.
PNG TO MAKE THE WORLD CUP SEMI FINALS
The last prediction is a little bold, and may need a little luck on the draw side, but the PNG Kumuls are a team on the improve and can surprise at the end of season World Cup.
Sure, there’s a load of PNG bias here, but they have climbed from a ranking of 15th before the last World Cup in 2017 to 5th in the last ranking delivered in December.
They don’t have a great deal of NRL talent, but they haven’t really needed a lot of it in recent seasons. Their win over the Great Britain Lions in 2019 featured just a handful of NRL players. Including one player who couldn’t get into Wynnum Manly’s first team. The rest coming from the UK Super League or the PNG Hunters Queensland Cup.
In saying that, Jack de Belin qualifies for PNG, and there are positive sounds coming out about his involvement for the World Cup. That should add just the extra touch of experience they need to have a big tournament in the UK at the end of the year.
2022 BOLD SEASON PREDICTIONS QUICK HITS
PREMIER – Penrith
GRAND FINAL – Penrith v Roosters
STATE OF ORIGIN – QLD 2-1
NUMBER OF COACHES TO LEAVE THIS SEASON – FIVE (Tigers, Raiders, Cowboys, Dragons, Knights)
DALLY M – Cameron Murray
LEADING TRY SCORER – Tom Trbojevic
LEADING POINT SCORER – Nathan Cleary
2022 BOLD SEASON PREDICTIONS – PLAYERS TO WATCH
XAVIER WILLISON (Broncos) – Gave a taste of his ability last season until injury cut the season short. Re-signed until 2025, so the Broncos see him the future, and he probably is.
ADAM REYNOLDS (Broncos) – Will be very strange to see him in the maroon and yellow of the Broncos, but he will show Souths what they are missing in 2022, providing the Broncos with a large chunk of what they need.
NICHO HYNES (Sharks) – A new home for one of Melbourne’s stars of 2021. And a different position to where he has made his name. But he is a superstar of the future, and we have no doubt he will kill it in 2022.
KALYN PONGA (Knights) – Owes the Knights a big season, or he could head to Redcliffe if he doesn’t.
MATT BURTON (Bulldogs) – One of the Premiership winning Panthers’ best in 2021, and a key to the forward momentum of the Bulldogs in 2022.
XAVIER COATES (Storm) – The Storm don’t usually get a winger with such experience, so looking forward to the Bellamy polish being applied.
ANTHONY MILFORD (Souths) – If he can clear his legal woes, it will be so interesting to see if Milford can reboot his career at Souths.
TOM TRBOJEVIC (Manly) – One can only imagine how good the Manly fullback can be, if he can avoid malls and plays a whole season.
JACKSON HASTINGS (Tigers) – Fresh from a decent stint in the UK Super League, we will be under pressure early to deliver, as his head coach looks a certainty for the sack. Can he and Adam Doueihi save the Tigers?
2022 BOLD SEASON PREDICTIONS – BURNING QUESTIONS
Finally, some quick burning questions that we will answer ourselves with Yes or No.
Will we see Blake Ferguson back in rugby league? Yes
Will the Video Referee be any better in 2022? No
Will Channel Nein continue to produce outstanding coverage? Nein
Will there be a sensational comeback from a former player in 2022? Yes
Will there be a Sex scandal before Easter? No
Will the Fox Sports journalists still appear to hate Penrith? Yes
Will Brandon Smith finish the season with the Storm? No
Will Ricky Stuart be the first coach to wear the $10K fine? Yes
Does anyone still know what a Firehawk is? No
