“Moving forward” … way too much!

Have you ever seen so many forward passes in rugby league… ever?!!

THAT forward pass

Since THAT gridiron effort from Parramatta way back when, every week we see lazy forward passes from dummy-half; desperate forward passes to the wings; ‘deliberate’ forward passes up the middle (sorry Sterlo)… it’s amazing.

But what’s more incredible is that with six sets of official eyes on each game, at least half of them are going undetected… while in the immortal words of Fatty Vautin, “thousands” of perfectly legitimate offloads are being pulled up and called forward. Julia Gillard would make a better ref.! Braith Anasta’s tip on in that great game against the Bulldogs last weekend… forward? How could that possibly be?! And that was just the worst of many similar decisions in Round 19. Let’s hope we move forward to a brave new world of correct decisions this weekend.

So who’s gonna win the comp.? Who knows? The likely Grand Finalists are still as clear as mud. Sure St. George has been the most consistent team this year… but they were last year too. And even though they now have ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ back on board, I still remember them getting pummelled by Manly at Brookie Oval. The Sea Eagles toyed with the Dragons that night… of course their problem is they can’t seem to play for a full 80 minutes. Even against a hapless Sharks outfit last Saturday night, leading 36-0 at half-time, they ‘lost’ the second half 18 to 12. As much as it hurts to write, I really can’t see Manly winning a second title in three years.

The Panthers… looked like world beaters against Manly, but then got smashed by The Warriors at home and dropped a 22-0 lead against Parramatta. And despite Matt Eliott’s protests, they do rely on kicks to score, way too much. The Titans… gutsy as, but I’m just not sure they have the cattle to win enough big matches in a row at season’s end. The Rabittohs… even with Isaac Luke back on board, I’m not sure they have sufficient discipline to win the big one. Sam Burgess is absolutely brilliant – as good as any of the great POMs of yesteryear (think Mal Reilly, Kevin Ward, Phil Lowe, etc.) – but Sandow worries me.

The Eels… please. Yep, they can be brilliant if Hayne’s firing, but if he’s not, forget it. They just rely way too heavily on ‘the special one’ for me to put my hard earned on them. The Roosters… now here’s a team warming to the task. I haven’t really rated them until the last two rounds, but gee they looked good against the Bulldogs. Worth a saver. The Tigers… they can sure play and they’ll be a far stronger unit with Gareth Ellis back from injury… but how many close escapes can they have? Benji’s a genius, Farrah’s a terrific hooker and they have a really hard working pack of forwards and the likes of Chris Lawrence and Beau Ryan out wide who are super solid… but title holders? Don’t think so.

Two of the Broncos' exciting youngsters

So that leaves… The Broncos? Why not? Any team can with the 2010 premiership (well, except the Storm) and with Lockyer, Wallace and Thaiday guiding around a bunch of brilliant youngsters, I think the early money is safer on them than the other runners listed earlier. Hoffman… Te’o… Yow Yeh… Folau… exciting, every one of them. Of course, in this comp., anything could happen. Now that I’ve given them a rap, Brisbane’s likely to lose three on the trot. But if I was having a bet today, I think they just might be my tip.