Hi everyone!
And then there were eight!
The NRL finals are just around the corner and looking at the remaining sides, it's difficult to go past one of the Top 4 sides to take out the premiership but you can't underestimate the talent spread across the remaining sides such as your Thurstons, Bowens, Thaidays, Gallens, Carneys etc who could turn this finals series on it's head. It's a completely new ball game now so enjoy the show, folks!
In the final weekend of the competition, only the Tigers had any realistic chance of sneaking inside the top 8 but produced another dismal performance infront of their Leichhardt faithful to go down 26-6 to the Storm, who in the process wrapped up a top two finish.
The Bulldogs defeated the Roosters 42-10 to lock away the minor premiership for 2012. Amazingly the club has also secured the minor premiership in the Toyota Cup and NSW Cup competitions too in what has been an remarkable season for the Bulldogs. Coach Des Hasler has stepped in and completely turned this side around and is now on the verge of leading a 2nd club to premiership glory for a 2nd season in a row. Wow.
Congratulations too goes to Ben Barba who won the Dally M Player of the Year on Tuesday night!
The Rabbitohs also wrapped up a top 4 spot for the first time since 1989 defeating the Knights 18-6 in Newcastle, while Brisbane broke a 6 match losing streak to defeat the Panthers 19-12 at Suncorp Stadium and earn a finals spot in 8th.
So the finals series is set in which we have some mouth watering matches in the first week. Seriously...who writes these scripts?
Week one of the play-offs throws up some of the most intense, spirited and enthralling individual match-ups in finals history. What about these:
* Canterbury-Bankstown coach Des Hasler lines up against Manly, the team which he left last year under controversial circumstances;
* Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey confronts the man who taught him the coaching trade, Hasler;
* South Sydney coach Michael Maguire will plot the downfall of Melbourne, where he was an assistant coach under Craig Bellamy;
* Manly forward Tony Williams will be out to impress Canterbury-Bankstown, the club he will represent in 2013;
* Rabbitohs superstar Greg Inglis is ready to rip into Melbourne, his former club;
* Manly five-eighth Kieran Foran will face Canterbury, the team he rejected to stay at Brookvale;
* Souths centre Matt King will be out to spoil the finals campaign of Melbourne, a team he starred for before moving to England;
* Rabbitohs forward Michael Crocker will also front-up to Melbourne, his former club;
* Canberra's Blake Ferguson aims up against the club he walked out on, Cronulla;
* Cronulla's Todd Carney will play Canberra, the club who sacked him; and
* Former Bronco and current Cowboy Brent Tate faces his former side.
The match-ups will ensure a stellar start to the new finals format.
In our tipping competition, there were some all important All Corrects collected in the very last week of the round robin and it's not surprising that both sava4 and The Neighbour (both 156) were 2 of the 5 tipsters to land them! And they not only remain equal top of the Tipping Championship table, but have also stretched their lead out to 6 points! An exciting finals finish coming up for both these Seaeagles and Storm supporters!
BEARlythere (150) also picked up an All Correct to lift himself into 3rd spot while Wilshere Wonderland, Feet Little and ootz share 6th equal on 144.
Rounding off the Top 10 before we head into the finals are Evra69 (143), Keith Wilton and Simply The Bears (both 142).
So four weeks of finals (9 games) left to go...who will take out this year's Tipping Championship, the runner up prize, 3rd spot and the pools prizes? Good luck everyone!
The Neighbour & Keith Wilton with an All Correct score of 12 points and a margin of 0. Bang on, boys!
Here's what's happened in Week Twenty-Six
RAIDERS 2ND HALF REVIVAL STUNS WARRIORS
Canberra warmed up for the finals with a remarkable 42-22 come-from-behind victory over the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium.
The Raiders trailed 22-6 at half-time but produced a six-try effort in the second term and kept the Warriors scoreless to storm to victory.
The win helped the Raiders claim sixth position on the ladder and a home final in the first week of the play-offs, their cause helped by North Queensland's 36-22 defeat of Cronulla at Shark Park later on Sunday afternoon.
The Raiders will now meet the Sharks in an elimination final next Sunday on the back of a five-match winning streak.
Shaun Berrigan, who crossed for one of the Raiders' tries, highlighted that he and his team-mates needed to make up for a poor first-half display.
"Our defence was a bit poor I suppose, that is because we didn't complete sets and if you give the Warriors too much ball they will put points on you," he said.
"But in the second half I thought we held the ball a lot better and we got some points."
The visitors took full advantage of the breeze at their backs in the second half, with Blake Ferguson and Reece Robinson each getting a double.
The Raiders made light of being without two key players in full-back Josh Dugan and half-back Sam Williams, who failed late fitness tests for ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.
Their comeback began when lock Shaun Fensom busted up the middle and powered over early in the second half.
Robinson, moved from wing to full-back for Dugan, edged the visitors closer when he sliced through a gap to score.
The Raiders kicked on, with Ferguson, Robinson and second rower Josh Papalii adding further tries to leave the Warriors routed.
The defeat was a club record eighth in a row for the Warriors, who have made a habit this season of giving up big leads.
Winger Manu Vatuvei opened the scoring in the eighth minute courtesy of a bust by impressive prop Ben Matulino.
The Raiders replied when Berrigan, in for Williams, latched on to a Josh McCrone kick-ahead to dot down.
From there, the home side pulled away, with Matulino, Vatuvei and Godinet all touching down, but their 16-point half-time lead proved to be way short of enough.
Canberra: 42 (B Ferguson 2, R Robinson 2, S Berrigan, S Fensom, J Papalii tries; J Croker 6 cons, pen)
Warriors: 22 (M Vatuvei 2, B Matulino, P Godinet tries; B Henry 2 cons, J Maloney con)
|
RANK
|
TIPPER
|
ROUND 26 SCORE
|
ROUND 26 MARGIN
|
TOTAL SCORE
|
TOTAL MARGIN
|
|
1
|
sava4
|
12
|
6
|
156
|
258
|
|
2
|
The Neighbour
|
12
|
0
|
156
|
299
|
|
3
|
BEARlythere
|
12
|
2
|
150
|
349
|
|
4
|
Vee8head
|
7
|
2
|
148
|
318
|
|
5
|
Kiwi_Misty
|
7
|
6
|
145
|
294
|
|
6
|
Wilshere Wonderland
|
6
|
4
|
144
|
275
|
|
7
|
Feet Little
|
4
|
18
|
144
|
276
|
|
8
|
ootz
|
5
|
6
|
144
|
294
|
|
9
|
Evra69
|
7
|
6
|
143
|
269
|
|
10
|
Keith Wilton
|
12
|
0
|
142
|
298
|
|
11
|
Simply The Bears
|
5
|
2
|
142
|
335
|
|
12
|
Link Abrams
|
6
|
4
|
141
|
318
|
|
13
|
Jessamine
|
6
|
2
|
141
|
322
|
|
14
|
melz
|
6
|
1
|
141
|
349
|
|
15
|
boogs_nz
|
12
|
7
|
139
|
279
|
|
16
|
Harveysan
|
7
|
13
|
139
|
286
|
|
17
|
Sincas
|
2
|
18
|
139
|
291
|
|
18
|
steven bowers
|
4
|
16
|
138
|
308
|
|
19
|
wayne
|
4
|
1
|
137
|
256
|
|
20
|
cmcnls+1day
|
3
|
16
|
137
|
321
|
|
21
|
Heath Caldwell
|
5
|
6
|
137
|
348
|
|
22
|
Bronco2020
|
5
|
4
|
137
|
375
|
|
23
|
Lainey
|
6
|
4
|
136
|
292
|
|
24
|
blo1
|
5
|
2
|
136
|
358
|
|
25
|
kazgriffo
|
5
|
2
|
135
|
274
|
|
26
|
Beakster
|
7
|
4
|
135
|
296
|
|
27
|
Dean Campbell
|
7
|
2
|
135
|
321
|
|
28
|
TUMUCH
|
6
|
22
|
135
|
348
|
|
29
|
Brenda Kirkman
|
7
|
6
|
134
|
297
|
|
30
|
NO1QPRNZ
|
5
|
2
|
134
|
308
|
|
31
|
Warmess
|
6
|
6
|
134
|
316
|
|
32
|
TimmyDemon
|
6
|
6
|
134
|
334
|
|
33
|
OVERATEDBENJI
|
3
|
13
|
133
|
315
|
|
34
|
killswitch
|
7
|
4
|
132
|
268
|
|
35
|
Steven Marshall
|
3
|
20
|
132
|
282
|
|
36
|
Richard McCourt
|
7
|
6
|
132
|
302
|
|
37
|
NZ Tiger (Aka NZ Ranger)
|
6
|
8
|
132
|
303
|
|
38
|
Matthew Bowers
|
5
|
7
|
132
|
311
|
|
39
|
jared francois
|
4
|
8
|
132
|
336
|
|
40
|
sole@basher
|
3
|
20
|
131
|
321
|
|
41
|
Rex Kwando
|
3
|
13
|
131
|
330
|
|
42
|
Scotsta
|
6
|
20
|
131
|
349
|
|
43
|
Scott Nielson
|
6
|
2
|
129
|
308
|
|
44
|
taijay
|
5
|
3
|
129
|
337
|
|
45
|
Shay Wall
|
7
|
18
|
128
|
294
|
|
46
|
Staks
|
2
|
22
|
128
|
304
|
|
47
|
Yo Mama
|
7
|
2
|
128
|
307
|
|
48
|
MrBusy
|
5
|
0
|
127
|
252
|
|
49
|
eviltwin
|
7
|
2
|
127
|
278
|
|
50
|
Bearette
|
3
|
10
|
126
|
278
|
|
51
|
Balmainadrian
|
6
|
0
|
126
|
291
|
|
52
|
Bearass
|
7
|
0
|
126
|
314
|
|
53
|
tais1
|
1
|
12
|
123
|
356
|
|
54
|
Redv4me
|
5
|
8
|
122
|
286
|
|
55
|
Hemi Ropata
|
7
|
0
|
121
|
299
|
|
56
|
5JS
|
6
|
7
|
121
|
309
|
|
57
|
Joejoez
|
6
|
6
|
120
|
267
|
|
58
|
money_box_man
|
7
|
4
|
120
|
406
|
|
59
|
kelren
|
4
|
2
|
119
|
272
|
|
60
|
ROOSTERSRCHAMPIONS
|
4
|
12
|
118
|
268
|
|
61
|
Kyle Thomson
|
1
|
12
|
118
|
310
|
|
62
|
Gaddaffi
|
7
|
10
|
118
|
337
|
|
63
|
Bruiser
|
6
|
14
|
116
|
274
|
|
64
|
katie rice
|
5
|
2
|
116
|
353
|
|
65
|
Tiger Warrior
|
1
|
12
|
114
|
334
|
|
66
|
mdt64
|
1
|
12
|
110
|
286
|
|
67
|
Pistol
|
2
|
22
|
110
|
336
|
|
68
|
BT Ross
|
5
|
2
|
110
|
355
|
|
69
|
Radman
|
4
|
12
|
109
|
325
|
|
70
|
melros
|
1
|
12
|
106
|
266
|
|
71
|
Darren Scott
|
1
|
12
|
106
|
321
|
|
72
|
rog the dodge
|
1
|
12
|
94
|
335
|
|
73
|
Anotherstranger
|
1
|
12
|
93
|
276
|
|
74
|
Tubasaurus
|
1
|
12
|
90
|
344
|
|
75
|
haze13
|
1
|
12
|
89
|
310
|
|
76
|
Irontiger
|
1
|
12
|
87
|
302
|
|
77
|
Tigerstu
|
1
|
12
|
87
|
340
|
|
78
|
Joey James
|
1
|
12
|
86
|
285
|
|
79
|
Dave Gearey
|
1
|
12
|
72
|
287
|
|
80
|
Sanka
|
1
|
12
|
68
|
279
|
|
81
|
Big Trouble
|
1
|
12
|
64
|
286
|
|
82
|
Tiger77
|
1
|
12
|
60
|
348
|
TO SEE WHO TIPPED WHAT - VISIT THE FOOTY TIPS 'WHO TIPPED WHAT' LINK (YOU MUST BE SIGNED IN TO VIEW). FOR THE LATEST POOLS TABLES PLACINGS - VISIT THE CURRENT POOLS TABLE PAGE
That's it for this update.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the 2012 finals series!
That's it for this update.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the 2012 finals series!
Mark
aka NZ Tiger
 |
| Go the Tigers in 2013! |
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