Hi everyone!
So here we go again...Grand Final weekend is upon us and it's not the decider many thought it would be.
2nd placed South Sydney Rabbitohs, fresh from a week off, and aiming to qualify for their first grand final in 42 years, lead 14-0 after 11 minutes only for the 4th placed Manly Sea Eagles to put 30 points past them without response to kill of the Green and Red charge. An amazing result.
Their opponents will be the 2013 minor Premier Sydney Roosters, who had very little trouble getting past a spirited 7th placed Newcastle Knights 40-14 in the 2nd Preliminary Final.
After these two sides played out an epic 4-0 blockbuster a couple of weeks ago in the first week of the finals, this Grand Final promises much of the same
Three of our tipsters will be there on Sunday too, that I know of.
All big Manly fans - sava4, boogs_nz & TWiL Nate - will be cheering on their Sea Eagles heroes.
I'm sure I could name a few Roosters tipsters amongst us who will also be there!
Love to hear from anyone who will be there to leave a comment on our facebook page.
In our tipping competition, not much has changed in the top 5 race for the top 3 prizes, as all tipsters chose Rabbitohs & Roosters to play out the decider thus getting only the 1 game correct.
The 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes will be decided on Grand Final Day! Doesn't get any better than that!
Good luck fellas!
CLICK TO HERE VIEW ENLARGED VERSION
Here's what's happened in the third week of the Finals...
FINALS EXPERIENCED SEAEAGLES STUN RABBITOHS FOR PLACE IN DECIDER
A transformed Manly ruined South Sydney's NRL grand final dream, running away 30-20 preliminary final winners at Sydney's ANZ stadium on Friday night.
The Rabbitohs, looking to play in their first grand final in 42 years, were ahead 14-0 after 11 minutes, but the Sea Eagles put 30 points past the favourites without response, including a try-of-the-season contender from David Williams.
Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey lauded his side's ability to "hang in there", saying the spectre of a grand final may have got to the Rabbitohs' heads.
"I thought both sides were tired there for a while. Souths started off fantastic, we made a lot of mistakes but they played some good football," he told Grandstand.
"Maybe [their start] took a bit of juice out of them, maybe the excitement of the finals did as well. Our guys just hung in there, and if you hang in there long enough the scoreboard can turn, which it did.
"We knew Souths were a quality side, leading the competition for most of the year. We knew that if we hung in there we had the players to do it. Maybe [the Rabbitohs' start] took a bit of juice out of them, maybe the excitement of the finals did as well."
South Sydney coach Michael Maguire - who showed tremendous courage after his mother died earlier Friday - said his side failed to live up to its defensive potential.
"I knew we still had a lot of work to do. Manly are a team that keep coming back at you," he told the media
"Unfortunately we weren't able to get on the right side of the scoreboard in the second half.
"They came at us very quickly, and defensively we probably didn't do things the way we're capable.
"In these sort of games they take their opportunities, and unfortunately they got us."
It looked all too easy at first for Souths when John Sutton scored the easiest of tries, throwing a dummy before powering over inside seven minutes, before Nathan Merritt sped over on the left wing.
But Manly responded well to a bad start, with Brett Stewart running onto brother Glenn's clever grubber kick to open the Sea Eagles' account.
The Bunnies survived a late onslaught from Manly before the half-time siren, but more pain was to follow five minutes into the second stanza.
Matt Ballin reduced the deficit to just two points on 45 minutes, before Glenn Stewart and Daly Cherry-Evans combined to send captain Jamie Lyon over in the right corner.
Lyon converted his own try to take him to 1000 career points for the Sea Eagles - only the fourth Manly player to do so - but more fireworks were to follow when Williams chalked up a sensational try in the right corner.
Williams looked to catch a high pass behind his head with his left hand, before spinning his body in one movement and somehow grounding the ball inside the corner flag, all while keeping his body marginally in play despite pressure from Greg Inglis.
Lyon and Cherry-Evans combined again, this time defensively, to pressure Dylan Walker into grounding inside his own goal-line.
Todd Simons then put the icing on Manly's cake, charging down an Adam Reynolds kick to find himself in acres of space to run home an easy try.
There was late consolation for the Rabbitohs as Walker scrambled home a try, but the only smiles were on Manly faces as the Sea Eagles advanced to their 20th grand final.
Manly's Jamie Buhrer said his side always had the belief to overtake South Sydney.
"We have a lot of belief in ourselves at this club, no matter what situation we're put in," he said.
"We didn't get the start we would have liked, but we knew we had it in us. We stayed composed and came away with it in the end.
"We're starting to click at the right time of year. There's a lot of things we can improve on - giving up 14 points straight away is not ideal.
"We need to tinker with a few things before our next game, but we'll be going prepared."
Manly: 30 (B Stewart, M Ballin, J Lyon, D Williams, T Symonds tries; J Lyon 5/5 cons)
South Sydney: 20 (J Sutton, N Merritt, D Walker tries; A Reynolds 2/2 cons, 1/1 pens; I Luke 1/1 cons)
ROOSTERS EASE PAST KNIGHTS TO BOOK GRAND FINAL DATE v MANLY
The Roosters rounded off a difficult week to comfortably beat a gallant Newcastle 40-14 at Sydney Football Stadium and book their place in next weekend's grand final against Manly.
Four tries in a blistering 13-minute second-half spell was enough to end the season of a Knights side roared on by more than 15,000 of their supporters who made the trip down to Sydney.
The Roosters' build-up to the match was disrupted by a report linking three of their players to performance-enhancing substances.
But Trent Robinson's side showed no signs of distraction and were ruthless after half-time, as they blew away Wayne Bennett's men.
Sonny Bill Williams had been in doubt for the match because of a virus but he showed no ill effects with a match-high seven offloads.
He says it was a team effort that set up the Roosters' victory, rather than individual performances.
"I think everyone stepped up right across the board, we played pretty good as a team," he told the media
"Newcastle came to play but we snuffed them out early in that first half."
Williams says it is a satisfying feeling to have advanced to the grand final but he is under no illusions as to the challenge that lies ahead against the Sea Eagles.
"I'm happy to be in the grand final but still a long way to go," he said.
"Manly are a very good team and they're in form."
The Knights had more than held their own in the first half, holding out the home side comfortably in the opening 30 minutes with James Maloney and Tyrone Roberts exchanging penalties to tie the scores at 2-2.
But their plans were thrown into disarray midway through the opening stanza when Danny Buderus was forced out of the match after being knocked unconscious, coming off second-best trying to bring down Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
It was a sad end to a glorious career for the retiring former New South Wales skipper, as he was given a standing ovation from the 37,752 crowd as he was taken to hospital as a precaution.
The loss of their talisman appeared to affect the Knights with Daniel Tupou and Michael Jennings crossing for the Roosters just before half-time, to make the score 12-2 before Roberts kicked his second goal on the stroke of the half-time to narrow the gap.
But it was the Roosters who started fastest after the break with Aidan Guerra, Jennings, Mitch Aubusson and Jake Friend going over to effectively end the game as a contest and book their place in a second grand final in four seasons.
The Knights refused to go down without a fight with the impressive Jarrod Mullen, who was in no way overshadowed by the equally outstanding Mitchell Pearce and Maloney, teeing up former Rooster Joey Leilua for two late consolation tries.
But Guerra had the final word crashing over again in the final seconds with Maloney adding the extras with his fifth successful conversion.
Sydney Roosters: 40 (A Guerra 2, M Jennings 2, D Tupou, M Aubusson, J Friend tries; J Maloney 5/7 cons, 1/1 pen)
Newcastle: 14 (J Leilua 2 tries; T Roberts 1/2 cons, 2/2 pens)
Four tries in a blistering 13-minute second-half spell was enough to end the season of a Knights side roared on by more than 15,000 of their supporters who made the trip down to Sydney.
The Roosters' build-up to the match was disrupted by a report linking three of their players to performance-enhancing substances.
But Trent Robinson's side showed no signs of distraction and were ruthless after half-time, as they blew away Wayne Bennett's men.
Sonny Bill Williams had been in doubt for the match because of a virus but he showed no ill effects with a match-high seven offloads.
He says it was a team effort that set up the Roosters' victory, rather than individual performances.
"I think everyone stepped up right across the board, we played pretty good as a team," he told the media
"Newcastle came to play but we snuffed them out early in that first half."
Williams says it is a satisfying feeling to have advanced to the grand final but he is under no illusions as to the challenge that lies ahead against the Sea Eagles.
"I'm happy to be in the grand final but still a long way to go," he said.
"Manly are a very good team and they're in form."
The Knights had more than held their own in the first half, holding out the home side comfortably in the opening 30 minutes with James Maloney and Tyrone Roberts exchanging penalties to tie the scores at 2-2.
But their plans were thrown into disarray midway through the opening stanza when Danny Buderus was forced out of the match after being knocked unconscious, coming off second-best trying to bring down Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
The loss of their talisman appeared to affect the Knights with Daniel Tupou and Michael Jennings crossing for the Roosters just before half-time, to make the score 12-2 before Roberts kicked his second goal on the stroke of the half-time to narrow the gap.
But it was the Roosters who started fastest after the break with Aidan Guerra, Jennings, Mitch Aubusson and Jake Friend going over to effectively end the game as a contest and book their place in a second grand final in four seasons.
The Knights refused to go down without a fight with the impressive Jarrod Mullen, who was in no way overshadowed by the equally outstanding Mitchell Pearce and Maloney, teeing up former Rooster Joey Leilua for two late consolation tries.
But Guerra had the final word crashing over again in the final seconds with Maloney adding the extras with his fifth successful conversion.
Sydney Roosters: 40 (A Guerra 2, M Jennings 2, D Tupou, M Aubusson, J Friend tries; J Maloney 5/7 cons, 1/1 pen)
Newcastle: 14 (J Leilua 2 tries; T Roberts 1/2 cons, 2/2 pens)
As mentioned last week, the top 3 make up won't be officially decided until after the Grand Final is played.
This is largely because no one in the top 5 made any ground after all picking the Rabbitohs to beat the Sea Eagles in the 1st Preliminary Final.
The battle for 1st prize and the Tipping Championship title, Scotsta (182) is still hanging on to a 1 point lead over Bronco2020 (181) but Bronco2020's 26 point margin could still see him leapfrog Scotsta if he manages to draw even on Grand Final Day!
And in the battle for 3rd prize, Darren Scott and Anu (both 177) will go toe to toe on Grand Final Day with Butch (176) still an opportunity to overtake the two if he manages to draw even with a much greater margin.
Good luck to everyone involved!
TO SEE WHO TIPPED WHAT - VISIT THE FOOTY TIPS 'WHO TIPPED WHAT' LINK (YOU MUST BE SIGNED IN TO VIEW).
2013 POOLS WATCH
Winner: Anu.
Winner: Rocketane.
WHERE ARE YOU? FOR THE LATEST POOLS TABLES PLACINGS - VISIT THE CURRENT POOLS TABLE PAGE
RANK
|
TIPPER
|
FINALS WEEK 3 SCORE
|
FINALS WEEK 3 MARGIN
|
TOTAL SCORE
|
TOTAL MARGIN
|
1
|
Scotsta
|
1
|
14
|
182
|
376
|
2
|
Bronco2020
|
1
|
20
|
181
|
350
|
3
|
Darren Scott
|
1
|
17
|
177
|
371
|
4
|
Anu
|
1
|
18
|
177
|
371
|
5
|
Butch
|
1
|
17
|
176
|
306
|
6
|
Link Abrams
|
1
|
22
|
174
|
345
|
7
|
Vee8head
|
2
|
4
|
174
|
348
|
8
|
Rocketane
|
1
|
17
|
173
|
340
|
9
|
Gorillagrip
|
1
|
18
|
173
|
368
|
10
|
devoid (2009 Champion)
|
1
|
16
|
171
|
342
|
11
|
Bruiser
|
1
|
4
|
169
|
359
|
12
|
Lainey
|
1
|
11
|
169
|
394
|
13
|
jall091 (2008 Champion)
|
1
|
10
|
167
|
359
|
14
|
Feet Little
|
1
|
22
|
167
|
362
|
15
|
taijay
|
1
|
21
|
166
|
375
|
16
|
Dean Campbell
|
2
|
5
|
165
|
321
|
17
|
Keith Wilton
|
1
|
16
|
165
|
358
|
18
|
Heath Caldwell
|
1
|
26
|
163
|
319
|
19
|
Warmess
|
0
|
10
|
163
|
346
|
20
|
Sincas
|
0
|
10
|
162
|
363
|
21
|
BEAR KNUCKLE
|
0
|
10
|
161
|
340
|
22
|
Harveysan
|
0
|
10
|
161
|
341
|
23
|
Kiwi_Misty
|
1
|
16
|
160
|
367
|
24
|
NZ Tiger (2004 Champion)
|
1
|
17
|
159
|
311
|
25
|
jared francois
|
1
|
16
|
159
|
347
|
26
|
Alfie
|
1
|
14
|
159
|
380
|
27
|
Richard McCourt (2007 Champion)
|
1
|
6
|
158
|
327
|
28
|
1YEARWONDERBARBA
|
0
|
10
|
157
|
472
|
29
|
tawa killers
|
1
|
16
|
156
|
401
|
30
|
Bearass
|
2
|
2
|
155
|
370
|
31
|
Jessamine (2005 Champion)
|
1
|
20
|
155
|
405
|
32
|
BT Ross
|
1
|
17
|
155
|
406
|
33
|
Redv4me
|
1
|
22
|
154
|
383
|
34
|
killswitch
|
1
|
18
|
154
|
387
|
35
|
melz
|
1
|
18
|
154
|
390
|
36
|
steven bowers
|
1
|
2
|
153
|
363
|
37
|
Rob Killer (2006 Champion)
|
0
|
10
|
153
|
376
|
38
|
sava4 (2012 Champion)
|
2
|
0
|
152
|
336
|
39
|
The Neighbour
|
1
|
22
|
152
|
363
|
40
|
NO1QPRNZ
|
1
|
22
|
152
|
365
|
41
|
ootz
|
1
|
26
|
152
|
449
|
42
|
Desire Wilton
|
0
|
10
|
151
|
345
|
43
|
kelren
|
1
|
16
|
151
|
361
|
44
|
Simply The Bears
|
0
|
10
|
151
|
405
|
45
|
cmcnls+1day
|
0
|
10
|
151
|
408
|
46
|
LOUNGIN SON
|
0
|
10
|
150
|
2854
|
47
|
tais1
|
0
|
10
|
149
|
337
|
48
|
mdt64
|
0
|
22
|
149
|
400
|
49
|
MrBusy
|
0
|
22
|
148
|
410
|
50
|
Stevefromoz (2009 Champion)
|
0
|
10
|
147
|
372
|
51
|
Pet Johnson (2010 Champion)
|
1
|
14
|
147
|
384
|
52
|
Balmainadrian
|
2
|
2
|
147
|
396
|
53
|
kazgriffo
|
1
|
14
|
146
|
383
|
54
|
Matthew Bowers (2011 Champion)
|
2
|
0
|
146
|
503
|
55
|
Craig Carnihan
|
0
|
10
|
143
|
377
|
56
|
trey waldron
|
1
|
16
|
143
|
411
|
57
|
boogs_nz
|
1
|
8
|
142
|
356
|
58
|
Gaddaffi
|
1
|
19
|
142
|
417
|
59
|
Yo Mama
|
1
|
10
|
141
|
357
|
60
|
TWiL Nate
|
0
|
10
|
138
|
318
|
61
|
Rex Kwando
|
2
|
16
|
138
|
399
|
62
|
Jojo Azrein
|
0
|
10
|
136
|
364
|
63
|
Kye Hudson
|
0
|
10
|
135
|
425
|
64
|
Staks
|
0
|
10
|
134
|
474
|
65
|
HUDS99
|
0
|
10
|
133
|
419
|
66
|
Tubasaurus
|
0
|
10
|
133
|
427
|
67
|
blo1
|
0
|
10
|
131
|
441
|
68
|
eviltwin
|
2
|
20
|
128
|
371
|
69
|
Team Upton
|
1
|
10
|
127
|
423
|
70
|
Bearette
|
0
|
10
|
117
|
417
|
71
|
rog the dodge
|
1
|
25
|
111
|
550
|
72
|
melros
|
0
|
10
|
98
|
378
|
73
|
tank (2004 Champion)
|
0
|
10
|
95
|
418
|
74
|
Kyle Thomson
|
0
|
10
|
80
|
387
|
75
|
haze13
|
0
|
10
|
76
|
539
|
76
|
Evra69
|
0
|
10
|
64
|
429
|
77
|
Wilshere Wonderland
|
0
|
10
|
62
|
417
|
78
|
Joejoez
|
0
|
10
|
49
|
421
|
That's it for this update!
Enjoy the 2013 Grand Final! The best of luck to both sides!
Mark
aka NZ Tiger
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