NRL NRL 2020 Season - Round 10

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Thursday 16th July
Sydney Roosters vs Canberra (SCG - 19:50)

Friday 17th July
Melbourne vs Gold Coast (Sunshine Coast Stadium - 18:00)
Wests Tigers vs Brisbane (Leichhardt Oval - 19:55)

Saturday 18th July
St.George-Illawarra vs Canterbury-Bankstown (WIN Stadium - 15:00)
South Sydney vs Newcastle (BankWest Stadium - 17:30)
Manly-Warringah vs Parramatta (Lottoland - 19:35)

Sunday 19th July
New Zealand vs Cronulla-Sutherland (Central Coast Stadium - 14:00)
Penrith vs North Queensland vs (Panthers Stadium - 16:05)
 
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Roosters: Brett Morris (groin) returns on the wing in place of Ryan Hall, with Matt Ikuvalu retaining his spot. Captain Boyd Cordner is back after a head knock pushing Mitch Aubusson to the bench and Poasa Faamausili to the reserves.
Raiders: Hooker Josh Hodgson (knee) and Bailey Simonsson (knee) have joined the injury list, with Siliva Havili and Jordan Rapana starting in their places respectively and Tom Starling and Curtis Scott coming onto the interchange. Joe Tapine has been named to start at lock with Kai O'Donnell reverting to the bench.

Storm: Five-eighth Cameron Munster returns in place of Ryley Jacks. Brandon Smith starts at prop for Jesse Bromwich (knee), Felise Kaufusi (knee) is back pushing Tino Faasuamaleaui to the bench. Chris Lewis and Marion Seve replace Darryn Schonig and Nicho Hynes on the interchange.
Titans: Brian Kelly (quad) and Phillip Sami (shoulder) return in the centres with Beau Fermor returning to the second row and Bryce Cartwright and Sam Stone out of the side.

Wests Tigers: There is an all-new halves pairing for the Wests Tigers with Josh Reynolds suspended and Luke Brooks dropped to the bench, with Benji Marshall and Billy Walters to start. Tommy Talau returns from a hamstring injury on the wing in place of Reece Hoffman, Russell Packer returns at prop with Ollie Clark dropped to the reserves, while Sam McIntyre and Chris McQueen join the bench in place of Michael Chee Kam and Elijah Taylor.
Broncos: Ben Te'o starts in the back row for injured skipper Alex Glenn with Joe Ofahengaue back from suspension on the bench in the team's only change from last week's drought-breaking win over Canterbury.

Dragons: Winger Jason Saab replaces Jordan Pereira in the only change from last week's big win over Manly.
Bulldogs: Interim coach Steve Georgallis has recalled Lachlan Lewis in the halves in place of Brandon Wakeham. Nick Meaney swaps to fullback with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak on the wing. Kerrod Holland starts at centre for the suspended Reimis Smith. Jeremy Marshall-King is back at starting hooker with Sione Katoa reverting to the bench.

Rabbitohs: Fullback Latrell Mitchell (suspension) and centre Campbell Graham (facial fracture) are out, with Alex Johnston switching to fullback, Dane Gagai moving to centre and a new wing pairing called up in Corey Allan and debutant Jaxson Paulo. Bench forward Mark Nicholls has been named but must successfully challenge the grading of a dangerous contact charge at the judiciary on Tuesday night to play.
Knights: Jacob Saifiti starts at prop for his injured twin Daniel. Connor Watson (ankle), Mitch Barnett (neck) and Sione Mata'utia (head knock) all return on the bench with Tex Hoy and Brodie Jones making way.

Sea Eagles: Morgan Boyle (groin) is out. Taniela Paseka starts at prop and Corey Waddell joins the bench.
Eels: Unchanged. Junior Paulo is included despite a back twinge ruling him out of the second half last week and rookie Stefano Utoikamanu gets a second game despite a slight biosecurity breach after full time against the Knights.

Warriors: Five-eighth Kodi Nikorima returns from a head knock in place of Chanel Harris-Tavita, and Eliesa Katoa returns from an ankle injury in the back row pushing Jack Murchie to the reserves.
Sharks: Ronaldo Mulitalo is back from a knee injury, displacing Nene Macdonald on the wing. Toby Rudolf starts at lock with Jack Williams dropped and Andrew Fifita (hamstring) is also out. Scott Sorensen and Connor Tracey are the new faces on the bench.

Panthers: Centre Dean Whare returns with Brent Naden moving to the wing in place of Charlie Staines.
Cowboys: With Val Holmes set to be sidelined for two months with an ankle injury, Justin O'Neill returns on the wing. Mitch Dunn replaces Scott Drinkwater at five-eighth and Daejarn Asi debuts on the bench with Peter Hola out.
 
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Feb 23, 2009
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Thursday 16th July
Sydney Roosters vs Canberra (SCG - 19:50)

Friday 17th July
Melbourne vs Gold Coast (Sunshine Coast Stadium - 18:00)
Wests Tigers vs Brisbane (Leichhardt Oval - 19:55)

Saturday 18th July
St.George-Illawarra vs Canterbury-Bankstown (WIN Stadium - 15:00)
South Sydney vs Newcastle (BankWest Stadium - 17:30)
Manly-Warringah vs Parramatta (Lottoland - 19:35)

Sunday 19th July
New Zealand vs Cronulla-Sutherland (Central Coast Stadium - 14:00)
Penrith vs North Queensland vs (Panthers Stadium - 16:05)
Roosters
Storm
Wests
Dragons
Souths
Parramatta
Cronulla
Penrith

On paper that was a pretty easy round to tip, there will be some upsets of course, but on the surface most of them should go the one way.
 

moto748

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On paper that was a pretty easy round to tip, there will be some upsets of course, but on the surface most of them should go the one way.

Well if that's the case, I'll be taking the credit! :D
 
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Well if that's the case, I'll be taking the credit! :D
Placed an 8 team parlay on all 8 of those, but it was before anyone posted here. Seems we are all in deep agreement this week. So I sense 3-4 losses!
In saying that I posted before seeing some of the players in/out through injury, there are a couple of names across some games that make it slightly more interesting. Not enough for me to change my tips, but enough for me to see the risk for some upsets.
 

diegodcg

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Really looking forward to watching Penrith again this weekend, after their show in the last match.

What does everyone think - are they real contenders? I've followed them for a few years but being away from Australia I hardly ever watch any other teams (except when vs Penrith, of course), so it's difficult for me to compare. They always seem to have good young players but as a team they have never looked that strong - in my limited experience at least.

Cleary is a beast but there are good players in every position. Big fan of the likes of Luai, Mansour who has been incredible for years now, Koroisau has been a great addition/return.
 

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In saying that I posted before seeing some of the players in/out through injury, there are a couple of names across some games that make it slightly more interesting. Not enough for me to change my tips, but enough for me to see the risk for some upsets.

Which positions are considered more important than others?
 
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Which positions are considered more important than others?
Full back, 5-8th, halfback, hooker is what’s known as the spine and is usually essential in a premiership run
 
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Which positions are considered more important than others?
Can depend on the side too as some names are more important to a teams performance than others. For example Jason Taumalolo is named at Lock for Cowboys, but hed be the most important lock for a teams performance than any other Lock. Same as Tom Trbojevic or Ponga at Fullback compared to other teams like the Tigers or Panthers who arent as dependant at that spot.

I've always considered the playmakers and kickers like the halfback and 5/8 to be the most important players to a team scoring and game management.
 
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Really looking forward to watching Penrith again this weekend, after their show in the last match.

What does everyone think - are they real contenders? I've followed them for a few years but being away from Australia I hardly ever watch any other teams (except when vs Penrith, of course), so it's difficult for me to compare. They always seem to have good young players but as a team they have never looked that strong - in my limited experience at least.

Cleary is a beast but there are good players in every position. Big fan of the likes of Luai, Mansour who has been incredible for years now, Koroisau has been a great addition/return.

I rarely buy into Penrith hype as it seems to pop up every few years but there is certainly a toughness about them at the moment.

I think as biased as I am, the Roosters’ best footy is daylight ahead of the next best (Melbourne) who in turn are daylight ahead of Parra and Penrith BUT it only takes for Smith to have a quiet day for Melbourne and they’ve vulnerable (as brilliant as Munster is so much of what he does comes off the back of Smith) and it only takes the Roosters’ doing there once a month channeling of Shaun Kenny Dowall and dropping every second pass and they’re beatable too.

I actually think Canberra have had a line drawn through then a little quickly - yes Hodgson is a superb player but the guy replacing him in havili is a very very good player and would be starting at 9 for two thirds of the teams in the comp. if they get Bateman back they can still fire a shot or two.
 

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Which positions are considered more important than others?

Halfback is your quarterback equivalent. They direct every - well most - attacking moves and generally call the plays and organise what is going on.
Cameron Smith has changed that though. Your hooker (number 9) touches the ball more than any other player on the field. In days gone by he would have a role to play in steering the big forwards around the field and organising who takes the first few runs in an attacking set, and occasionally if he sees a gap, running at it himself. Smith has become an extra halfback though and dictates where his teams go.

fullbacks are also very important as the modern fullback generally has a bit of a license to roam the field and run off the half back and five-eighth and even the hooker or a big forward. At the roosters a pet play has been for a big forward to take a good run, make 15-20 metres and get a quick play the ball, then our hooker Jake friend will take a quick run and throw a short pass to James Tedesco who is simply too fast for the big defenders in the middle when they are going backwards.

five eighth acts as a second halfback but usually plays either wider than the halfback, or on the other side of the field depending on what sort of style that team plays.

those are the four positions that, if you have a gun player in them, can determine a team’s quality.

it’s very difficult for centres, wingers or second rowers to have THAT big an impact. Jason Taumololo is the best forward in the game but with a rubbish forward pack around him and average players in 9, 6, 7 and 1, the cowboys can’t take advantage of how good he is.
 

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At the roosters a pet play has been for a big forward to take a good run, make 15-20 metres and get a quick play the ball, then our hooker Jake friend will take a quick run and throw a short pass to James Tedesco who is simply too fast for the big defenders in the middle when they are going backwards.

Great and informative post all around. Thanks for it.

Specially to the quoted part, it’s good to get a detailed explanation of what they are doing when they get in that “downhill, attacking mode”. I would almost compare it to teams “playing on” quickly after a mark in AFL, not giving the other team a chance to get set and regroup.
 
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Great and informative post all around. Thanks for it.

Specially to the quoted part, it’s good to get a detailed explanation of what they are doing when they get in that “downhill, attacking mode”. I would almost compare it to teams “playing on” quickly after a mark in AFL, not giving the other team a chance to get set and regroup.

100 per cent, very good analogy.
 

diegodcg

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I love a good hooker myself :D - and it feels dirty to say it this way but you know what I mean - and the reason is that the first rugby league match I ever watched was a St Helens game in England and their star player is (or was at the time) James Roby, a brilliant number 9, very strong in the tackle and capable of some amazing runs. It took me a while to understand just how important a good halfback is, but if you watch the Panthers under the guidance of Nathan Cleary you get that instantly. He's intelligent in anticipating play and his execution is often flawless - his kicking game can also be great.

And of course there was Jhonathan Thurston. That Grand Final he won was one of my favourite sporting moments ever, and I was essentially a neutral who didn't care much about either team, I just wanted JT to have his moment.

I love a good fullback as well, Paul Wellens for St Helens was amazing, and I very much enjoyed Matt Moylan when he was at Penrith. Never quite understood what happened to his career because he seemed a proper star at the time, thought he would move to numbers 6 or 7 eventually. Munster as a young fullback was also a lot of fun to watch.
 
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I love a good hooker myself :D - and it feels dirty to say it this way but you know what I mean - and the reason is that the first rugby league match I ever watched was a St Helens game in England and their star player is (or was at the time) James Roby, a brilliant number 9, very strong in the tackle and capable of some amazing runs. It took me a while to understand just how important a good halfback is, but if you watch the Panthers under the guidance of Nathan Cleary you get that instantly. He's intelligent in anticipating play and his execution is often flawless - his kicking game can also be great.

And of course there was Jhonathan Thurston. That Grand Final he won was one of my favourite sporting moments ever, and I was essentially a neutral who didn't care much about either team, I just wanted JT to have his moment.

I love a good fullback as well, Paul Wellens for St Helens was amazing, and I very much enjoyed Matt Moylan when he was at Penrith. Never quite understood what happened to his career because he seemed a proper star at the time, thought he would move to numbers 6 or 7 eventually. Munster as a young fullback was also a lot of fun to watch.

as a roosters fan Minichiello was brilliant to watch at the back, probably the first fullback who had that kamikaze approach bringing the ball back and going from dummy half out of our own danger zone - previously it was all about just sneaking a few metres, crabbing around sideways a little and trying to retain possession. Mini kind of turned kick returns and working the ball away from your own line into an attacking weapon.
lockyer was the other fullback I loved watching. He played the same time-stopping way that Scott Pendlebury does with a Sherrin.

I’ll be honest though - as a card carrying member of the fat c***s club, and having played every single game of my life in one position, I love the front rowers. I am biased obviously but I don’t think there is a tougher job in sport outside of the combat sports, than being a rugby league prop. Thankless job, often only get noticed when you make a mistake, get belted every time you touch the ball, and every time you make a tackle it’s on someone just as big as you.

props can’t win teams matches (Dylan Napa against Souths a few years back and JWH in last year’s grand final - still can’t believe he didn’t win the medal) are very rare instances, but they are usually a very good barometer for the rest of their team.
 
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Man, I haven’t seen any other team be able to do that. They smell blood in the water and they go for the jugular. It’s really impressive to watch.

I death-ride my own team a lot. We are prone to really basic mistakes and poor discipline. Few sides that win as often as we do drop the ball as much or give away penalties as often. But we have 4-5 guys in the side that just know when to push the button and when that happens there’s not a lot the opposition can do about it.
 

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