Can the Eels walk away from the wreck?
The draw has been kind to Parramatta, a team who on their last outing conceded five tries in 10 minutes en route to losing a game they led 30-6. You’d think conceding five tries in 10 minutes is beyond the reach of human endeavour, like running 100m in 8 seconds, climbing Everest in Speedos, or shopping at Aldi without buying, on impulse, a flute or a caravan cover - even when you don’t play the flute or own a caravan.
But the Eels managed it by turning themselves into water turbines in the face of the onrushing Cowboys. The good news is that the electrical energy that that generated kept the lights on in 10,000 homes in the Parramatta area, but it came at the expense of the Eels’ pride.
Even their supporters spent Tuesday with black rings around their eyes, Rasputins all in blue and gold. Now the Eels must pick themselves up and travel to Melbourne; Mordor with better coffee.
Still, the Eels will face a Storm side missing Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Will Chambers, as big a blessing as they could hope for given the circumstances. An opportunity awaits to exorcise their demons. Can they take it? And will Chris Sandow’s public rebuke - however cushioned the delivery - influence his, and the Eels’, form?
Canterbury begin their quest for a negative split
Considering they were grand finalists last year Canterbury have thus far underwhelmed. Their halves have stumbled under the burden of expectation, their forwards have missed the menace of (Michael) Ennis, and injuries have set them back.
As a result Des Hasler has at times this season looked like a man who spends his nights sleeping in a box beneath an overpass. Rarely has a suit made someone look so dishevelled.
But for all that, the Bulldogs are currently in seventh spot and this week they’ve enjoyed the buzz from putting together 19-unanswered second-half points to beat the then ladder-leading Dragons on Monday. Could it be that those 40 minutes turns Canterbury’s season around?
Unfortunately for the Dogs, the opportunity to build on that win against the Gold Coast on Sunday will be undertaken without their Origin players; the Morris brothers, Trent Hodkinson, Josh Jackson and David Klemmer. But with Hodkinson’s form sketchy at best - and Moses Mbye looking an assured fill-in - it may not matter against a Titans side that will be without Nate Myles and Dave Taylor.
Sam Tomkins’ swan song starts with warm-up scales
He came to the NRL rightfully feted as one of Super League’s leading lights but it seems fair to say that the NRL hasn’t yet seen the best of Sam Tomkins, at least on a consistent basis.
Given he returns to the UK at season’s end his opportunity to make us miss him is rapidly diminishing. Injury hasn’t helped his cause; this season Tomkins has spent two months on the sideline —a convalescence that ends this week when he finally returns to action for the Warriors’ home game against the Sydney Roosters (which means he’ll play opposite Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, the human pinball who’ll take over his No.1 Warriors jersey next season).
No doubt Tomkins will be hoping to get through the game without re-injuring his knee or making any telling errors, but it’ll do the Warriors good if he can offer more than that. Last week the Warriors were rolled 36-4 by Souths in Perth and by doing so showed that the run of three straight narrow wins that preceded the loss (over the Sharks, Eels and Knights) were not a sign that the Warriors were building to something big.
While Tomkins will be a welcome addition to the squad, Ryan Hoffman and Jacob Lillyman will miss the Roosters’ clash. Their absence, however, should be offset by the Roosters’ own list of absentees that includes Mitchell Pearce, Michael Jennings, Boyd Cordner, and Aidan Guerra. On the other side of the ledger, Blake Ferguson returns from injury, and we’ll get a look at up-and-comer Jackson “Son of Horry” Hastings in the Tricolours’ No.7 jersey.
More woe for the Tigers
After beating the Bulldogs 38-4 in round 8 the Wests Tigers have lost four in a row to slip to 13th on the ladder, and this week they’ll face premiers South Sydney without forward leaders Aaron Woods and Robbie Farah.
Tigers coach Jason Taylor said this week that results were not important (so far so good, then) - or at least less important than the team’s performance. But the team’s performances haven’t been good either, so there is some room for improvement.
The Tigers have been particularly hampered by their inability - especially over this past month - to get the ball over the line. In those four losses they’ve averaged just eight points a game. That says something about how little sway they’ve held in the forwards, but also about the lack of a cutting blade in the backs.
So the return to action this week of first-choice wingers Tim Simona and David Nofoaluma can only increase their potency. For Souths, Issac Luke is out with a knee injury and Greg Inglis’ Origin absence means Alex Johnston shifts to fullback giving John Olive his NRL debut on the wing. That might give the Tigers a sniff but it’s hard to see them getting to eat the meal.
The fleet turns for home
“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon.”
So said Dr. Suess (a man you wouldn’t choose/ to remove your ruptured spleen/ but one you’d think quite keen/ to rhyme a tambourine), prophetically, about the current NRL season.
It’s round 14 already, for crying out loud, which means the run for home begins this weekend. Courtesy of byes due to Origin II, half the fleet - including the ladder-leading Cowboys and Broncos - will mark the occasion by catching some rays on their respective poop decks, while the rest will have to earn their two points the hard way.
But looking beyond round 14 (which has been covered haphazardly above) - what can we expect from the second half of the season?
Allow me to close my eyes and launch a few darts:
The Cowboys should remain at or near the top to give them their best chance of a premiership since they made the grand final in 2005 (and should they make the grand final against the Broncos column ink will spill like a severed artery as debate rages about the need to move the grand final to Queensland);
As the pressure mounts, the Dragons may struggle to match their excellent first half of the season but they look sound enough for a top six finish;
As they overcome some of their injury hurdles Penrith will make a push for the eight, while Manly will rally and climb desperately close to finals football. But who, if anyone, will drop out of the eight as it currently stands (Broncos, Cowboys, Storm, Dragons, Rabbitohs, Roosters, Bulldogs, Warriors)?
While the current placings are bound to change, the eight does have the look of September about it. For obvious reasons (one being that they’re eighth, the other being that they are as flaky as the flakiest of Flakes) the Warriors look most under threat.
