NRL NRL 2025 - Round 8

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https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/pickem/picks/2025-official-bigfooty-nrl-tipping.183/?week_id=431

Thursday 24th April
Brisbane vs Canterbury-Bankstown (Suncorp Stadium - 19:50)

Friday 25th April
Sydney Roosters vs St.George-Illawarra (Allianz Stadium - 16:00)
New Zealand vs Newcastle (Go Media Stadium - 16:05)
Melbourne vs South Sydney (AAMI Park - 20:10)

Saturday 26th April
North Queensland vs Gold Coast (Queensland Country Bank Stadium - 17:30)
Penrith vs Manly-Warringah (CommBank Stadium - 19:35)

Sunday 27th April
Canberra vs Dolphins (GIO Stadium - 14:00)
Wests Tigers vs Cronulla-Sutherland (Leichhardt Oval - 16:05)


Bye: Parramatta

 

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NRL Team Lists: Round 8

Official team lists, updates and injury news for Round 8 of the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership.

www.nrl.com

NRL Late Mail Round 8: Trbojevic on track; Fifita eyes shock return

See all the late mail, official team news and updates for Round 8 of the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership competition.

www.nrl.com

 

[Jatz]

Away in NZ. This will go well...

Honestly think we're genuine spoon favs.

 

[Jatz]

Lol.

Tigers have recalled Galvin.

They've handled this in a way that only the West Tigers can. Reckon they'd want their time again.

 

[PhatBoy]

They were always going to. They were never going to sit him out all season and I still think they did the right thing giving him a week out of the side.

For a while I thought they got the response from the remaining players when the game got to 26-20 on Monday but they overcooked it - especially Turuva who lost his shit.

It’s been debated to death and everyone has their view of it and that’s fair enough.

But the more I look at it the more the simple fact that sticks out like dogs balls to me is this:

He is the one who signed to play at the club he’s at. No clauses, no nothing. He and his management made that decision.

Now nobody needs to make him stay beyond that so he is well within his rights to leave once that commitment is over so he’s done nothing at all wrong in determining in his mind that he would like to go elsewhere afterwards.

So I cannot criticise him on that score.

Or his management.

But I will always criticise players to varying degrees who say THAT far out that they want to leave, especially if they haven’t even committed to another club, when they are critical of the club they’re still signed to, and moreso when it is clearly designed to more or less force their current club into letting them go.

That’s probably my biggest problem with the whole situation.

I don’t think on reflection the Tigers have handled it perfectly, but I also think they have been backed into a situation where they have a player they have invested a lot of time and money into, that they have signed until the end of next year in good faith, trying along with his management, to force them into letting him go nearly two seasons early. So they are trying to deal with that on the fly as best they can, and deal with the alleged reason for that which it seems is the player’s lack of faith in the man in charge of the team. There is no book written on how to handle that scenario, especially when you are a club that has been struggling for a long time.

A Melbourne or Penrith or to a lesser extent the Roosters might have a way to deal with it because they’ve been at the top. They cut their losses and say ‘ok we’ve got contingencies as we always have because we’ve been well run for a long time and we haven’t gotten to where we are by accident.’

The Tigers don’t have that.

 

[Jatz]

They were always going to. They were never going to sit him out all season and I still think they did the right thing giving him a week out of the side.

For a while I thought they got the response from the remaining players when the game got to 26-20 on Monday but they overcooked it - especially Turuva who lost his shit.

It’s been debated to death and everyone has their view of it and that’s fair enough.

But the more I look at it the more the simple fact that sticks out like dogs balls to me is this:

He is the one who signed to play at the club he’s at. No clauses, no nothing. He and his management made that decision.

Now nobody needs to make him stay beyond that so he is well within his rights to leave once that commitment is over so he’s done nothing at all wrong in determining in his mind that he would like to go elsewhere afterwards.

So I cannot criticise him on that score.

Or his management.

But I will always criticise players to varying degrees who say THAT far out that they want to leave, especially if they haven’t even committed to another club, when they are critical of the club they’re still signed to, and moreso when it is clearly designed to more or less force their current club into letting them go.

That’s probably my biggest problem with the whole situation.

I don’t think on reflection the Tigers have handled it perfectly, but I also think they have been backed into a situation where they have a player they have invested a lot of time and money into, that they have signed until the end of next year in good faith, trying along with his management, to force them into letting him go nearly two seasons early. So they are trying to deal with that on the fly as best they can, and deal with the alleged reason for that which it seems is the player’s lack of faith in the man in charge of the team. There is no book written on how to handle that scenario, especially when you are a club that has been struggling for a long time.

A Melbourne or Penrith or to a lesser extent the Roosters might have a way to deal with it because they’ve been at the top. They cut their losses and say ‘ok we’ve got contingencies as we always have because we’ve been well run for a long time and we haven’t gotten to where we are by accident.’

The Tigers don’t have that.

He really has committed to Parra, they just can't admit that because he's not supposed to be talking to anyone yet. The whole system is a joke (and has been for ages).

 

[PhatBoy]

He really has committed to Parra, they just can't admit that because he's not supposed to be talking to anyone yet. The whole system is a joke (and has been for ages).

Well I think you’re probably right and there is no doubt that the system is absolutely ridiculous.

As I said I think it was probably a sensible decision to sit him out for a week but it wasn’t without some irony that, despite the end scoreline which probably doesn’t show the closeness of the match, his absence could have been the difference in his probable new club winning and losing on Monday.

 

[Big Unit 30]

Lol.

Tigers have recalled Galvin.

They've handled this in a way that only the West Tigers can. Reckon they'd want their time again.

Knights that bad you’ve made the bears your avatar ?

 

[Falconista]

Broncos hotter than the sun right now!

 

[PhatBoy]

Was certain the Dogs had already won the comp.

Interesting turn of events

 

[BStaff17]

Was certain the Dogs had already won the comp.

Interesting turn of events

No street marches or parties in Belmore last night.

Utter Flogs the dogs fans are

 

[moto748]

TBF, Reynolds was terrific. But I've never been fully convinced by the Dogs. There's clearly a lot to like about their coach, though, and he will be heartened by their improved effort in the second half. And learning a few lessons, to boot.

 

[balmainforever]

At least the SFS is a better stadium than it was the last time I was here.

 

[sosos]

As a Carlton supporter, I am well qualified to ask wtaf is that puke baby blue gurnsey the Roosters are wearing?

 

[Lebbo73]

The Dragons are a ****ing disgrace. If they were fighting for us we’d be speaking a different language to English guaranteed.

 

[balmainforever]

There’s a reason why teddy is better than gutho.

Attack and defence.

 

[sosos]

There’s a reason why teddy is better than gutho.

Attack and defence.

Gutho twice not going for the man with the ball was pretty embarrassing.

 

[Greenstar5]

As a Carlton supporter, I am well qualified to ask wtaf is that puke baby blue gurnsey the Roosters are wearing?

It's what East's wore in War years. Something about darker dye being unavailable. Or along those lines.

 

[Greenstar5]

At least the SFS is a better stadium than it was the last time I was here.
View attachment 2294605

We forget how bad the old one became. Probably the best stadium in the country.

Yet the comp or people or journos want to play at Leichardt and North Sydney.

 

[Paul Kersey]

WTF was Mitchell thinking there? Lucky he didn’t kill him.

 

[balmainforever]

We forget how bad the old one became. Probably the best stadium in the country.

Yet the comp or people or journos want to play at Leichardt and North Sydney.

You can blame Uncle Nick by not wanting any other club yo play there. They’re trying like hell to not let Souffs to play there.

 

[brutus76]

Enjoy your long holiday Latrell you cheap shot thug

 

[PhatBoy]

You can blame Uncle Nick by not wanting any other club yo play there. They’re trying like hell to not let Souffs to play there.

Good.

F**k ‘em

 

[moto748]

Has it been unusually wet this year? I don't recall so many early NRL games being played in torrential rain in previous seasons.