General 2024: Will we make the top eight?

[Makasene]

We will end up regretting the 2 loses to the Titans & the 1 loss to the Dragons.

Round 1 v Sharks
Round 2 v Melb
Knights away
Titans at home

These are the most regrettable games. 8 points down the gurgler

 

[Dantheman]

Round 1 v Sharks
Round 2 v Melb
Knights away
Titans at home

These are the most regrettable games. 8 points down the gurgler

Also round 18

 

[Wrighty]

No I don't think we will make the top 8.
Our season has no momentum to it and I think our hearts were broken by a number of matches being stolen from us especially Bulldogs last game and Storm Game 2 of the season.
I also think we have lost a lot of self esteem, to the club, and playing group by losing 66-6.
I don't see a path back from this. Winning breeds more winning. Losing just creates more losing.

I also like other people are saying don't resonate with the idea the next three matches are any easier than the following matches. Eels and Raiders will fight like Imran Khans famous corned tigers speech to get a victory when we play them. Those games could be harder than against the higher ranked sides.
If the TAB offered a betting option on us not to make the 8 I would put $100 on that and I am not flush with money in 2024.

 

[Wrighty]

Raiders also get Fogarty back next game.
Their spine will be better than ours

1 - Weekes
6- Strange
7 - Fogarty
9- A meh hooker

 

[kos]

Raiders also get Fogarty back next game.
Their spine will be better than ours

1 - Weekes
6- Strange
7 - Fogarty
9- A meh hooker

The other point about the Raiders game
It’s on at 10 pm Auckland time Friday night.
Another stitch up
I know the comments will roll in about how the club has had 29 years to optimise travel but I m guessing there’s two flights one Nz to Melb or Syd then another flight to Canberra
Canberra can turn on very cold bleak weather in Winter
This is no easy game

 

[BigUCE]

The other point about the Raiders game
It’s on at 10 pm Auckland time Friday night.
Another stitch up
I know the comments will roll in about how the club has had 29 years to optimise travel but I m guessing there’s two flights one Nz to Melb or Syd then another flight to Canberra
Canberra can turn on very cold bleak weather in Winter
This is no easy game

Will be pretty stupid if they don’t fly over on Monday/Tuesday to acclimatise instead of the usual day before the game

 

[Wrighty]

The other point about the Raiders game
It’s on at 10 pm Auckland time Friday night.
Another stitch up
I know the comments will roll in about how the club has had 29 years to optimise travel but I m guessing there’s two flights one Nz to Melb or Syd then another flight to Canberra
Canberra can turn on very cold bleak weather in Winter
This is no easy game

Raiders also have Rapana.

I know he runs hot and cold during the season but he has the heart of a lion. And if he turns up with a good night he will be yet another asset for them.
I will be very surprised if they are not favourites at the TAB.

 

[Wrighty]

When we started the season 0-2 that was the end of the season. We have had no momentum or confidence or self belief ever since.

We did not pick the right line ups in the first two games. But hindsight is 20-20 and hard to know who to pick at the start of the year.

 

[kos]

Will be pretty stupid if they don’t fly over on Monday/Tuesday to acclimatise instead of the usual day before the game

That’s the way to better our chance of a win.
Flying over Thurs or even Wed lessens our chance.

 

[Inruin]

When we started the season 0-2 that was the end of the season. We have had no momentum or confidence or self belief ever since.

We did not pick the right line ups in the first two games. But hindsight is 20-20 and hard to know who to pick at the start of the year.

I'd argue that we had momentum after the Panthers, Dolphins, Cowboys games but burst the balloon going back to what wasn't working previously.

 

[MrFrankWhite]

Depends on whose picking the team.

 

[juju]

When we started the season 0-2 that was the end of the season. We have had no momentum or confidence or self belief ever since.

We did not pick the right line ups in the first two games. But hindsight is 20-20 and hard to know who to pick at the start of the year.

The early round form across the league very rarely correlates to end of season form.

2009 we went 3 - 0 and stunk the rest of the year.

 

[Lance155]

If we want to continue building we need to play finals this year. Missing it would be a big step backwards for me. Even if we lose our first finals game I can live with that.

 

[Defence]

If the TAB offered a betting option on us not to make the 8 I would put $100 on that and I am not flush with money in 2024.

They do- we're paying $1.22....

 

[Theking267]

All those other games besides the Dragons & Titans 2nd game. We were blown out by 2 of the worst teams in the league. To beat the Panthers with your 2nd team & to be out blown by those 2 just cost us the season

 

[watcher]

I think of all the permutations but the thing zi keep coming back to is the Titans thrashing. There is something soft about this yeam. You can have a bad day and be beaten by 30 or 40 however, 60 suggests something else. I thing JFH will make a big difference next yrar. There eill also be a strong group of middles. In the Halves we will have Metcalf back and a strong and talentd group of outside Backs emerging. It would be preferable to make the 8 this year but not catastrophic for next season

 

[tyrael]

I think it is too late now. I just want to see some youth in our team and look to the future. We've always played Dad's Army unless it was injury enforced.

I can't think of games where the young guys let us down

Zyon Maiu’u, Ali, Laban, Halasima, TT

 

[CWC]

Win against the Bulldogs and we would have been above the Broncos on the table with 40ish percent chance of finals.

That loss (and non call) hurt…

The ladder is deceiving, I said last week if we win vs dogs we were de facto in the top 8. Unfortunately we were robbed then couldn't kick field goals, it's now harder but not impossible, just too many things going wrong in the same year, 1 of those seasons...

 

[Dippa]

I've already said that I don't see us making the 8 this year, but the team has to bring the right attitude against the Raiders and replicate what they produced against the Dogs. hey, we did it against all odds and we all know that the Raiders are a very similar grinding outfit.

If we can surprise them and get one over them at a venue where we do have some success, then we do take momentum into what should and has to be wins against the Tigers and Eels at home.

The next block is a trip to Suncorp where we had success against the Panthers and likely to have a strong backing from the local Kiwis in Brisbane. Get that one done and maybe, we take the loss against Manly who will probably be the biggest threat for me away too.

Against Manly, I feel that this will also be the period we Andrew Webster will have to make a call on what he does with Shaun Johnson. The timing of a potential return here would have one positive which is his experience in crunch situations.

Eagles, Dogs and Sharks is where a Shaun Johnson maybe needed.

The last round bye is an interesting one. Clearly the NRL saw a Warriors resurgence and expected them to be playing finals footy in 2024. Giving them the last round bye would mean that they can go into the finals fresh. They are the only team with a bye in Round 27.

At this stage Round 27 is looking like an early finish to their regular season, however, could work wonders if they did manage to make the finals.

 

[CWC]

We were literally back on track after the 3-win streak with our juniors and TMM/CHT/CNK combo, 6-1-6 was basically the same as last year at the same point, all we needed was not break up the combination then fix some edge sliding, kick defusal and winger brain farts after the Storm game, but coach inherited the brain fart putting Walker at 12, playing CNK busted (now can see what happened), Barney/Capewah were away and the whole team couldn't cope with Badger's junk calls and sunk, then coach continuing to play busted CNK snowballed in the dogs game in which we should have blown them away after HT, instead we got a brand new dad army backline +Halasima.

On the positive notes coach and management can learn from all the brain farts this year and hopefully we go out guns blazing next year with a new leader JFH who looks like someone who is not a yes man and probably will call out coaches' brain farts