We are now outright 2nd favourite for the minor premiership. We are coming for the riff.
NRL Ladder Predictions 2026
- Thread starter Wrighty
- Start date
Fourth favourite, Manly were so poor at the start of the season they sacked their coach.
A reminder how fickle form can be!
They're in great shape as it is, already the 4th equal most wins with a game in hand today.
Pretty mad that were having out 2nd bye week next week while the Cows havent even had one as of yet
I don't really understand Gambling but I understand odds somewhat (although how they reach these conclusions in a Gamblers universe is still mysterious to me).
Warriors 6.50 then Roosters 20.00 seems ridiculous to me, ridiculous!
Disagree. Chooks are so overrated. Their current position is currently being inflated by their having had 2 byes already. On both the ladder and in the stats, penrith and us have been the top 2 teams all year by some distance. Also should note, this is for minor premiership, not premiership. It is starting to become clear that we are penrith's only viable threat to finishing first. All other teams are already too far behind.
I get all that.
But like I say, I don't really grasp the risk side set by these bookies, all it would take is for the Warriors to have injuries and the Roosters will glide by no worries. Seen that movie a lot.
That's a bit selective. Same argument applies for the riff. If they lose Cleary for an extended period, they come back a bit and the prem becomes a more open race. Current betting doesn't incorporate thst risk either. Either apply it for all or for neither.
CWC
🔍
So looking at the draw on top of the page, it's actually a moderately difficult block before the bye - Sharks, Cows, Dolphins.
Should win all 3 but won't be surprised if 1 of them get up, dolphins probably the most threatening
You know who we play after the R23 Panthers game? Broncos at Suncorp
Who the heck designed this shite? We might as well rest players for the last 2-3 rounds if we can lock up 2nd already
If we put our spine on ice then I'd play Metcalf, Hansen or Jett, Healey and CNK, injuries took our super stars we can't afford the spine to take any more hits
Should win all 3 but won't be surprised if 1 of them get up, dolphins probably the most threatening
You know who we play after the R23 Panthers game? Broncos at Suncorp
Who the heck designed this shite? We might as well rest players for the last 2-3 rounds if we can lock up 2nd alreadyIf we put our spine on ice then I'd play Metcalf, Hansen or Jett, Healey and CNK, injuries took our super stars we can't afford the spine to take any more hits
If we are a serious top 2 team, as we all believe we are, we should win all 3. If we play like we did on Sunday, we will beat them all 13+. It's also good to play teams that are in contention for the top 4 because by beating them, we put further distance on the chasing pack for 4th.So looking at the draw on top of the page, it's actually a moderately difficult block before the bye - Sharks, Cows, Dolphins.
Should win all 3 but won't be surprised if 1 of them get up, dolphins probably the most threatening
You know who we play after the R23 Panthers game? Broncos at Suncorp
If we put our spine on ice then I'd play Metcalf, Hansen or Jett, Healey and CNK, injuries took our super stars we can't afford the spine to take any more hits
Sharks game is origin impacted. So we won't face AFB, Brailey and Hynes will still be out. Cows will be missing Mikaele, Dearden (still out) and Cotter probably won't back up since this is the game immediately after origin II. We are also coming off a bye and returning to MSS for the first time since round 7 (WTF NRL!). So I expect us to come out firing against the Sharks and Cows at home. As you say, the Phins game will be tougher as it is not origin impacted. But we still jagged a win against them last time playing perhaps our worst game of the year. So I still back us to win that.
If we go 12-3 into our 3rd bye, it is pretty smooth sailing after that. Other than the riff rematch in rd 23 and Newcastle in rd 26, everyone else is currently outside the top 4. Of course form is ephemeral and games that seem tough now might not seem so tough in a few months. I was thinking the Souths game would be tough a month ago, but not so much now.
CWC
🔍
I was thinking throwing the south game that’s after penrith and broncos consecutively lol, 6 games after the last bye, maybe a b team can be competitive, I think knights and manly games are home games so probably can’t just throw it, maybe limit the minutes for absolute key players to keep the form without burning them. Have to think about if losing R1 we’d be playing 4 in a row to win it, plus the prior games from the 9 game stretch. Obviously have to see where we are at by then if we can afford to rest players or have to fight it out, good warm up for knock outs though, knights usually go on a run late and Manly looking playoff bound
The next 3 games between our 2nd and 3rd bye is crucial. We are already 2-3 wins ahead of most of the teams vying for the top 4. If results go our way during this bye round (ie Raiders beat Roosters and Melbourne beat Knights), we will be 4 pts clear of 3rd and 6 pts ahead of 5th. Given our far superior p/d, that is effectively 6 and 8 pts ahead of 3rd and 5th. So if we win all 3 games after the bye, the comp could be in a situation where the top 2 positions have already been wrapped up (us and the riff). Then we might have a bit of luxury in the final run home to potentially rest players. If we are still in contention for the minor premiership, I'd still want to go hard until rd 23. Not that finishing first matters, we just need to finish top 2.
