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NRL NRL 2025 - Finals Week 2

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balmainforever

Dibs
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Sep 4, 2003
26,652
31,789
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Balmain, GreenBay, Edmonton, Celtic
Saturday 20th September
(1) Canberra Raiders vs (5) Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (GIO Stadium - 19:50)

Sunday 21st September
(3) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs vs (7) Penrith Panthers (GIO Stadium - 16:05)


Preliminary Final: Friday, September 26, 7.50pm (AAMI Park)
Preliminary Final: Sunday, September 28, 4.05pm (Suncorp Stadium)
 

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The Old Dark Navy's said:
I'm a Cronulla supporter. I live in Brisbane and the Broncos have always been my second team. I have a soft spot for the Storm because I support the Norths Devils in the QRL and they were the feeder club for the Storm.

I'll be right for the GF.
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eddiesmith said:
Cheer on the underdog

Up Up Cronulla!!!

Although both comps looking like the battle of the teams who’ve won too many times with Cats v Lions and Storm v Panthers
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Greenstar5 said:
Never been at this point in my life. But, Go Broncos!
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I've generally gone with the "what is best for Rugby League" and even then I'm struggling.

Melbourne? Does nothing for the code.
Brisbane? Probably the best option given the apparent take over by AFL.
Penrith? The West is already won.
Cronulla? I guess if you want the underdog to win.

Who will win? The winner of the Broncos v Penrith game I think.
 
windyhill said:
Agree with this, they were flying mid season the dogs, bring him in and it stopped all momentum.
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At the point they were leading the comp - round 16 or whatever it was - which was a few weeks after they bought him, it flattered them a bit. They had 3 wins against top 8 sides. 1 of them was against the Roosters who weren’t in the 8 at the time; we were 4-6. So basically they were leading the comp at round 16 with 2 wins against good sides, one against Cronulla in round 3, and one against the Raiders.

In the next 11 rounds they dropped 5 games to finalists, out of 7 games against them: the exceptions were the Panthers game where they sat a heap out and the Warriors.

All told for the year they went 5-8 against top 8 sides - and they only played other teams from the top 4 five times.

It’s not horrendous but for a side that was lauded as they were for as long as they were, it’s underwhelming. I don’t think Galvin ‘f**ked’ it as such I just don’t think they were all THAT good to begin with and it just seems like he didn’t take them where people assumed they were going to go. I agree if they had their time again they’d have held off and would have maybe had a better shot keeping the status quo.

But I still think they just weren’t as ready to challenge as what people were thinking midway through the season
 
I said at the start of the season when the Dogs were flying, that I wasn't convinced they had the squad to get to the end of the comp. I agree with PhatBoy; it's easy, but a bit simplistic, to just blame Galvin.
 

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PhatBoy said:
At the point they were leading the comp - round 16 or whatever it was - which was a few weeks after they bought him, it flattered them a bit. They had 3 wins against top 8 sides. 1 of them was against the Roosters who weren’t in the 8 at the time; we were 4-6. So basically they were leading the comp at round 16 with 2 wins against good sides, one against Cronulla in round 3, and one against the Raiders.

In the next 11 rounds they dropped 5 games to finalists, out of 7 games against them: the exceptions were the Panthers game where they sat a heap out and the Warriors.

All told for the year they went 5-8 against top 8 sides - and they only played other teams from the top 4 five times.

It’s not horrendous but for a side that was lauded as they were for as long as they were, it’s underwhelming. I don’t think Galvin ‘f**ked’ it as such I just don’t think they were all THAT good to begin with and it just seems like he didn’t take them where people assumed they were going to go. I agree if they had their time again they’d have held off and would have maybe had a better shot keeping the status quo.

But I still think they just weren’t as ready to challenge as what people were thinking midway through the season
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They had a very soft draw to start the year.

I think the Dogs finished where most would have them anyway at the start of the year.

There forward pack still doesn't have enough punch. There small & mobile but the bigger packs get over them.

Its why the Broncos have the wood over them in the past couple of seasons.

Blokes like Salmon & Mann can play 5 positions but are ain't exactly great at anything.

I woke up this morning over the moon those scumbags in Belmore are gone for another year.

No finals win for over a decade now.
 
moto748 said:
I said at the start of the season when the Dogs were flying, that I wasn't convinced they had the squad to get to the end of the comp. I agree with PhatBoy; it's easy, but a bit simplistic, to just blame Galvin
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My reference was surprise that Canterbury went after him because he wasn’t exactly a need but a luxury that hasn’t blossomed… and that pleases me no end.
 
Jatz said:
It's going to be Panthers v Storm again, isn't it?

Any chance of two new teams, pleaseeeeee.
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Not that the Roosters being there ttrough the last few years would have made people any happier but talent wise we were probably the best placed to challenge those two teams.

But our ‘method’ only works if you can still match Penrith’s discipline. Ie. you can try and beat them with flair and throwing the ball around but you still have to complete at 85% or better and throwing the ball around the way we do doesn’t give us much chance.

Brisbane had their opportunity off the back of the game’s best forward and one incredible back having the game of his life but Cleary just said ‘not this time.’

Melbourne do have the discipline required generally to compete but they haven’t mostly done it quite as well.

And no other team comes close, really: you can’t ’out-Penrith’ Penrith at the moment especially while they have the Cleary’s steering the ship.

So until a team like maybe the Dolphins that is stacked with natural talent maybe marries it with some starch in their defence and holds the ball a bit more, or the Raiders plug a few more gaps, it’s hard to see where the challengers come from aside from Melbourne or Brisbane who have the rosters to compete. I say that with respect to Cronulla who have been outstanding for the last few weeks
 

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Jatz said:
I actually would've liked to see Penrith v Cronulla this week. You'd say Penrith win but it can be interesting when teams are playing with confidence.
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If they meet next week it would be interesting. You’ve got the experience of Penrith and the advantage of Klein running the show, but it’s also 2 teams in great form with great defence.

Can the Sharks defensive efforts hold up against the Panthers attack? That 20 minutes after half time v Roosters was some phenomenal defence in the back of repeat set after repeat set and unable to get out of their own half when they did get it.

Plus neither team had the week off so in a similar boat instead having had a rest about 2-3 weeks before finals instead.
 
Freaking Penrith is going to do it again. Melbourne will choke when it counts. My Sharkies are good, but I have doubts if they are at Melbourne and Penrith's level.

I never thought I'd be rooting for a Brisbane win :sick:
 
It used to be so easy to get tickets for anything; sporting events, music gigs etc. You rang up, and they put a ticket in the post. Now, it's set up an account, choose a username and password, check your inbox for a confirmation, create a wallet...

Anyone who hasn't got an online smartphone is completely disenfranchised these days.
 
moto748 said:
It used to be so easy to get tickets for anything; sporting events, music gigs etc. You rang up, and they put a ticket in the post. Now, it's set up an account, choose a username and password, check your inbox for a confirmation, create a wallet...

Anyone who hasn't got an online smartphone is completely disenfranchised these days.
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I'm confused. How is the current system difficult? You can buy tickets seamlessly from your phone and get your e-ticket in seconds after purchase.

Then again, I'm biased because where I come from (Canada) it works great. IDK how effective the system is in Oz.
 

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