NRL Match Review & Judiciary Charges: 2024 Round 2
4 days ago | LeagueUnlimited Media
Hot topic
The ownership structure of a team is more important than their brand in determining success. The clubs with a settled ownership tend to outperform those that have internal ructions or many divisions. By my reckoning there are 10 stable clubs with the rest having their own issues to overcome.
Below are the ownership status and the positions of the teams on the 2014 table:
1 | Roosters | Powerful patriarch, backed by a strong leagues club | + |
2 | Sea Eagles | Privately owned by Penn family | + |
3 | Rabbitohs | Passionate owners and large member base | + |
4 | Panthers | Large and profitable leagues club | + |
5 | Cowboys | Strong community support | + |
6 | Storm | New private ownership, may impact club focus? | ? |
7 | Bulldogs | Large and profitable leagues club | + |
8 | Broncos | Newscorp majority owner | + |
9 | Warriors | Private ownership | + |
10 | Eels | Large and profitable leagues club | + |
11 | Dragons | Joint venture with falling profits | - |
12 | Knights | Much publicised reversion from Tinkler to members | ? |
13 | Tigers | Joint venture with one party struggling | - |
14 | Titans | Recent takeover by the NRL | - |
15 | Raiders | Leagues club support | + |
16 | Sharks | Ailing leagues club relying on future property profits | - |
The Storm has been incredibly successful with its Newscorp funding in a hostile market. However, the question is whether the new owners will seek profits over performance? While Bellamy and the big three are present they will still be very competitive, but how will the next generation go if the owners look for bargain buys to maximise their return on investment?
Hopefully the Knights and Titans will see more off field cohesion with their changes in structure. The concerns are whether they will again fail in the medium term. The Knights used to be member owned and were on their last legs before being bailed out by Nathan Tinkler. Regardless of how his ownership is remembered, the club was recapitalised with his funds. Can the members be more successful in charge this time round?
The Titans on the other hand have a temporary owner in a tough market. The Giants, Seagulls and Chargers all came and went and the AFL is investing big dollars to manufacture a team at a huge financial loss. Can the Gold Coast support two professional teams in the long term without a cashed up, long term benefactor?
The Sharks have been running on the smell of an oily rag for years. They will be bailed out by their property development, but will Harold Holt return before they finally win a premiership? (Ouch!)
The plights of the two joint venture clubs are the most disconcerting. They have been around for over 15 years and have each won a premiership. However, they are nomadic, being the only teams not to have a single home ground. They have multiple decision makers within their ranks and an imbalance between the JV partners. Unless they can regain their identity they will continue to underperform and will waste away in some of their markets. Their supporters will grow weary of the lack of cohesion.
The league is heading towards private ownership, not unlike the mega franchises in the USA and Western Europe. The privately owned teams, or the leagues clubs that are run like corporations, have tended to perform better over the last few years and it is hard to see the other clubs competing at the same level over the long term.
Performance of the Week
Manly has managed to overcome a week of great disruption to hold onto a gutsy win over the Storm. It started with Daly Cherry-Evans announcing to the coach about his defection to the Titans during the warm up before last week's game. This was followed by the news that Kieran Foran is heading to Parramatta next season. Then the rumours started about whether Geoff Toovey would be replaced by Nathan Brown as head coach.
The match started with several key players being sidelined with injuries, including Kieran Foran (hamstring), Jorge Taufua (shoulder) and Josh Starling (Knee). All these problems followed Manly's demolition by the Eels the week before.
Most teams would find this sort of adversity too much to handle. Not Manly though.
Manly have a long history of thumbing their nose at the competition. It probably stems back to the time when they used to pilfer the best players from their opponents without any compunction. Their siege mentality was born from being the most hated team in the league. The saying of the time was "I go for my team and anyone who plays Manly".
Their playing roster was often the envy of the league. Individually the "Silver Tails" had many players to admire, but once they pulled on the Manly jersey, they were despised by all except their peninsula supporters. However, this did not impact on their performance, having appeared in 15 grand finals since 1970 (winning 8 of them).
Manly stood up to the challenge from the Storm on the weekend. They started fast, jumping out to a 24-6 lead which they maintained up to the hour mark. The under fire Daly Cherry-Evans was the leader of the onslaught. Although Melbourne piled on 16 points in the last 18 minutes, Manly held on to record a win that most other teams would have found too difficult in the same situation. The question is whether they can keep the squad together and focussed throughout the whole season.
Predictions
Last week I correctly picked 5/8. Here are my picks for this week.
Sea Eagles vs. Bulldogs @ Brookvale Oval
Manly showed some real grit last week, but have their former coach coming back to haunt them. Bulldogs by 6
Broncos vs. Cowboys @ Suncorp Stadium
On paper it should be the other way around, but they play on grass so it will again be big brother teaching the Cowboys a lesson.
Broncos by 4
Warriors vs. Eels @ Mt Smart Stadium
The Warriors must put up a good fight to win their first game at home. They need a good home record to overcome their usual road woes.
Warriors by 4
Raiders vs. Dragons @ GIO Stadium
Even though the Dragons broke their hoodoo last year, it is only a blip.
Raiders by 8
Storm vs. Sharks @ AAMI Park
The Storm has been gritty and the Sharks have struggled to score. This will be a dour match.
Storm by 10
Rabbitohs vs. Tigers @ ANZ Stadium
The Tigers will try hard up front to match the might of the Bunnies pack. However, they will be outgunned on the bench.
Rabbitohs by 12
Titans vs. Knights @ Cbus Super Stadium
The Titans can hear the cavalry coming. Unfortunately they will not make it to the fort until next year. The Knights are looking more settled under their new administration.
Knights by 8
Roosters vs. Panthers @ Allianz Stadium
This is a good test for the Panthers against a strong squad. It is a shame that this game has been relegated to a Monday night in front of what will be a park football crowd.
Roosters by 4
Form Guide
We have kicked off the form guide model (we will have to find a name for her - if you have any suggestions let me know in the comments!) and have some very preliminary results. The output will start to become more meaningful in the next few weeks. This model ranks the teams based on their most recent performances and gives an indication of who has the best current form. Older results are given less importance and hence the table will be different to the official NRL ladder.
The table based on recent form is:
1. Panthers - are playing to script
2. Rabbitohs - have forgotten how to lose
3. Tigers - the young guns are injury free and looking the goods
4. Knights - two good wins against fancied opponents (NZ & Cowboys)
5. Bulldogs - bounced back to show their true potential
6. Warriors - an away win after a sub-par start to the season
7. Broncos - improved their defence to beat the Sharks away
8. Sea Eagles - have turned adversity into a win against the Storm
9. Roosters - went down against the title heavyweights after dominating long periods of the game
10. Eels - injuries cruelled their night against the Bulldogs
11. Storm - came up just short of starting the season 2 from 2
12. Raiders - lost at home against a traditionally poor traveller
13. Sharks - finding it hard to score, losing their first two games at home
14. Cowboys - underperformed expectations, also having two home losses
15. Dragons - have only scored 8 points in two matches
16. Titans - a good first up performance followed by a blow out to the Panthers
Composite Team
Last week's composite team was made up of players who retired on a grand final win. Surprisingly, the positions fell into place quite easily without having to delve into the Dragons and Bunnies winning streaks of the 1950's and 60's to fill up the squad.
Can you work out the theme for the team below?
1. Graham Eadie
2. Hazem El Masri
3. Michael Cronin
4. Ryan Girdler
5. Daryl Halligan
6. Johnathan Thurston
7. Andrew Johns
8. David Furner
9. Cameron Smith
10. Corey Parker
11. Craig Fitzgibbon
12. Bernie Purcell
13. Wayne Bartrim
14. Steve Rogers
15. Jason Taylor
16. Eric Simms
17. Luke Burt
This squad has a classy backline and world class halves. However, the pack and bench are undersized. Predicted placing in 2015 table: 6th
Flash Back
Let's look back in time at a cult hero of the 1980's. Geoff Robinson was a tough as nails prop for the Bulldogs who burst into first grade in 1976 as an 18 year old. He played 139 first grade games in Australia, with a short stint in the UK with Halifax.
Robinson was well known for his flowing dark hair, bushy beard and socks around his ankles. He was a strong runner, never taking a backward step when he hit the line. His collisions caused his hair to explode into all directions.
Known primarily for his defence and intimidation, he rarely crossed the line. He scored six tries in his nine years in Australia, two of which came in his last season of 14 games. However, his strike rate in the UK was much better, bagging 8 tries in 30 appearances.
Robinson started at prop in the 1980 grand final against Eastern Suburbs. The Roosters started strongly, but Robinson used his aggression to help the Dogs get on top. Canterbury went on to win the game 18-4 which contained arguably the best grand final try of all time when Steve Gearin caught a Greg Brentnall bomb on the fly by outleaping the Roosters winger David Michael.
Robinson came off the bench in Canterbury's come from behind 1984 grand final win over the Eels (6-4). The following two years he played in the UK, only to return mid way through the 1986 season to help the Bulldogs to once again face Parramatta in the grand final. This time the Eels were victorious 4-2 in the lowest scoring premiership decider of all time. Robinson retired at the end of that season.
Robinson went into coaching and guided the Canterbury U/23 side to the 1991 premiership. He will always be remembered as a tough hombre with a bushranger appearance.
Until next week.