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[Timelord2067]

Round 21 of the 2021 NRL Australia finished without a hitch as the SEQ 11 LGA's came out of lock-down (masks are still mandatory for another two weeks)





Oddly enough, I said the sharks, but it seems I had a win on the NZ Warriors (not sure what happened there) 


Week 22 of the NRL 2021 Season kicks off in three days time.



I expect the Storm, Panthers, Roosters, Rabbitohs, Cowboys, Sea Eagles, Warriors and Sharks to further cement their positions in the top ten/eight.

[aoluain]

I'm going with Storm, Panthers, Roosters and The Sea Eagles. The Eels are slipping, they
are looking like slipping into 5th after this weeks games with 3 to play before the finals, two
of those games are against Storm and The Panthers, massive task ahead

[Timelord2067]

Do any of the Womens games get televised in Australia?

Play your part this Harvey Norman Women in League Round (August 12th - 15th)

https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/08/09/play-your-part-this-harvey-norman-women-in-league-round/

Every player, every coach, and every fan has a part to play in raising the next generation of champions and creating a level playing field. Big or small, we can all play our part. How are you playing yours?

I don't normally watch the pre-game talk on channel nine (on the week-ends at any rate), however, I caught this commercial promoting the "Women in League round" this week.  The NRL's own website is very klunky and thin on information about the State Based competitions, or, the Women's games in general, so I'll have to do a bit more digging.

[aoluain]

Yea, information seems to be a bit hit and miss, I can see that the Womens League
game is expanding this year with further expansions next year

https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/06/11/nrl-telstra-womens-premiership-expansion/

I can see from wiki the pre-season fixtures

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_NRL_Women%27s_season

but I cannot see any dates.

The NRL website is fantastic if you want to find out abour the mens games but its
not o much for the womens side.

[Timelord2067]

I *was* going to write up how the Melbourne Storm won their match in the 77th minute with a two point field goal, but just two minutes later, they repeted the effort to beat the Canberra Raiders 26 - 16.



https://www.nrl.com/draw/nrl-premiership/2021/round-22/storm-v-raiders/



The last fifteen minutes saw the Raiders pile on multiple errors and one send off right before the inevitable match winning field goal.  Then, after an succesful "Captain's Challenge" by the Raiders (a ploy to catch their breaths) the Storm gained the ball and made a second field goal.


The NRL have quietly added a button at the lower right of screen "Women of NRL".  However, all it does is take you to the draws page https://www.nrl.com/draw/ ^{(and there isn't any current news concerning the Women's matches).}.

[aoluain]

I had Storm to win this one, from the highlights they looked in control of the match
although the scoreboard was close. That was some high tackle by Corey Harawira-Naera
with 5 minutes to go in the match. Fair play to him though for apologising for a moment
of madness.

For the rest of this round I have The Panthers, Roosters and Sea Eagles over The Eels,
if both The Roosters and Sea Eagles win I recon they both will overtake The Eels, what
do you think?

[Timelord2067]

For the rest of this round I have The Panthers, Roosters and Sea Eagles over The Eels,
if both The Roosters and Sea Eagles win I recon they both will overtake The Eels, what
do you think?

At a guess, the Sea Eagles would still be in sixth position on 28 points jointly with the Eels (also 28 points, or is it 29 points if they get one point for the loss??)

If the Roosters and Sea Eagles both win, then the Eagles and Eels would just swap places and be

• Roosters - 30 points
• Eels - 28 points
• Sea Eagles - 28 points

A Titans win would keep them in seventh (a loss would shunt them to tied eight with the Raiders who would rise to seventh - I don't think the Raiders are a spent force any time yet)

A win for the Sharks would lift them to tied (7/8/9) with Titans/Raiders on 20 points.


The shoulder charge and subsequent high tackle are what's holding the Raiders back (and plenty of unforced errors)

[aoluain]

As I'm writing this the game is level between The Roosters and Broncos at 12 - 12,
I really need The Roosters to win, I lost a lot of bets this week on the Tennis in Toronto
and Montreal. I have doubled up on my bets on the NRL this week.

As we enter the final stages of the "pre final" qualifications there is a lot to play for
for some teams to make it into the top 4 and 8, exciting.

[Timelord2067]

18 - 18 at the 65 minute mark with fifteen nail-blighting minutes left to go.



I didn't do too good at picking winners in the Olympics (including the various Rugby games on offer) so I'm hoping the Roosters pull off a last minute win.  This game's very close.


In the earlier game, the Panthers slayed the Dragons 34 - 16

[Timelord2067]

Now that was a thrilling end to the last fifteen minutes of the Roosters 21 - Broncos 20 game.



Starting at 18 - 18, the Roosters made a one point field goal



After a high tackle the Broncos took the lead with a two point penalty goal



Then with just two minutes to go, the Roosters had their own two point penalty goal kick then spent two tense minutes fending off the Broncos to win the game and return to the top four in the competition.




Rugby Union.

I really must visit the Rugby Australia site more often:



There's better coverage of the Women's games (would like to see a play-by-play scorecard like how the League website does.  (let's not mention the drubbing the Australian's got in the Bledisloe Cup)

[aoluain]

What a win by The Sea Eagles over The Eels, 56 - 10, not even a close result and it means
because of the big difference in result the Eels slip to 6th and The Sea Eagles do overtake them.

In my reconing they are the team who have slowly fallen off with the performance, slipping from 2nd to 6th.

Did they peak too early in the season, will they have a big push in the finals?

[Timelord2067]

What a win by The Sea Eagles over The Eels, 56 - 10, not even a close result and it means
because of the big difference in result the Eels slip to 6th and The Sea Eagles do overtake them.

In my reckoning they are the team who have slowly fallen off with the performance, slipping from 2nd to 6th.

Did they peak too early in the season, will they have a big push in the finals?

At half time the score was 28 - 4 and I said to myself that the Sea Eagles would win 56 - 10 (double on the Eagle's side and one try plus conversion on the Eels side).  I wouldn't have prdicted such a high score or wide gap in those scores prior to half time.

Did they peak too early in the season, will they have a big push in the finals?

If the Eels slide two more spots over the next two games they may fall out of the top eight in the last round of the "regular" season.  The Eels next meet the Cowboys, so it'd be pretty embarrassing if they lost.  My money will be on the Eels for round 23.




The Warriors out played the Bulldogs and the Knights just squeezed in past the Sharks (who I thought might win that outing).

[aoluain]

I not backing The Eels this round, I have Storm, Roosters, Sea Eagles, and Knights for the wins.

There is a lot to play for just inside and outside the top 8 positions, Titans, Raiders
and Sharks could all be fighting for that 8th spot in the finals.

[Timelord2067]

I not backing The Eels this round, I have Storm, Roosters, Sea Eagles, and Knights for the wins.

There is a lot to play for just inside and outside the top 8 positions, Titans, Raiders
and Sharks could all be fighting for that 8th spot in the finals.

Rugby League.



This week ( Round 23 of the NRL 2021 season ) I'm going with :

The Storm, Sea Eagles, Panthers (should be a good game against the Rabbitohs), Sharks (another mid ladder good game), Knights, Eels (if they don't win, then they're going to have trouble for the remainder of the series), Roosters & The Warriors.

I've heard teams such as the Eels are having difficulties in lock-down where the single men (on higher priced contracts) are in more luxurious hotel rooms, while family / married men have their whole families in cramped smaller hotel rooms (hence disrupted sleep etc).

Apparently this is why the Eels have started loosing recently.  (as good as any other story out there)


Rugby Union.

Hopefully the Australian's can emulate the Qld State of Origin team and win the third (dead rubber) game this week-end against the All Blacks.

[aoluain]

The Storm, Sea Eagles, Panthers (should be a good game against the Rabbitohs), Sharks (another mid ladder good game), Knights, Eels (if they don't win, then they're going to have trouble for the remainder of the series), Roosters & The Warriors.

I've heard teams such as the Eels are having difficulties in lock-down where the single men (on higher priced contracts) are in more luxurious hotel rooms, while family / married men have their whole families in cramped smaller hotel rooms (hence disrupted sleep etc).

Apparently this is why the Eels have started loosing recently.  (as good as any other story out there)

Thats interesting, I would never have thought of that as a reason for the
team to be disrupted but of course it does make sense.

I was wondering what the salaries are like and from this list it varies from
$1,200,000 [max] to $140,000 > https://www.zerotackle.com/rugby-league/players/highest-paid-players/

3 Eels players earn less than $500,000, Isaiah Papali'i = $150,000 being the lowest
while for example the lowest Panthers player, Apisai Koroisau earns $470,000 and next
nearest is $635,000, Viliame Kikau.  

Rugby Union.

Hopefully the Australian's can emulate the Qld State of Origin team and win the third (dead rubber) game this week-end against the All Blacks.

Yea I was wondering about this championship but I actually havent paid any attention
to it, The odds on sportsbet dont portray much hope for Australia I'm afraid
Australia 8.60 v 1.05 New Zealand

I have a bet on the Springbok to beat The Pumas, odds are Argentina 4.70 v 1.16 South Africa

[Timelord2067]

Yea I was wondering about this championship but I actually havent paid any attention to it, The odds on sportsbet dont portray much hope for Australia I'm afraid Australia 8.60 v 1.05 New Zealand

I have a bet on the Springbok to beat The Pumas, odds are Argentina 4.70 v 1.16 South Africa

I've put a couple of wagers on - South Africa to win and Australia to win (even though deep down I know the New Zealander's are always seem as the better of the two teams).


As with the Rugby League betting, once the odds go down to below about 1.1 there just isn't enough in it (for the small amounts I'm betting) for me to warrant placing a bet.

I've also just heard on the Radio the Broncos captain is going to retire at the end of this season. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-19/alex-glenn-announces-brisbane-broncos-nrl-retirement/100389482

Alex Glenn calls time on 13-year NRL career, leaving Brisbane Broncos searching for a new captain

Alex Glenn has called time on his 13-year NRL career, the Brisbane captain admitting the ability to retire a one-club player was "beyond anything I could have imagined".

The 282-game back-rower made the announcement on Thursday in the lead-up to Sunday's clash with the Warriors.

Glenn debuted as a 20-year-old in 2009 and, now 33, will hang up the boots at the end of this season as the fourth most-capped Broncos player in history.

The Broncos would be better off telling Alan Langer to get off the field (their dubiously named "trainer" on field during a game)  The players are too scared to ignore him barking orders as though it was still the late 1980's when he was a superstar of League instead of playing their own game.

[Timelord2067]

The Storm won their 19th game in a row last night with a 34 - 20 win against the Titans who it has to be said managed to put in a fairly decent defending game of their own.


Maddick ready to tackle NRLW challenge after touch triumphs

Mary Konstantopoulos
Ladies Who League
Timestamp    Fri 20 Aug 2021, 12:25 PM

One of the best things about rugby league is the many forms it comes in and the varied opportunity people have to get involved through tackle, touch and tag versions of the sport.

These different versions of rugby league also present another pathway and in the women’s game we have seen many exceptional touch footy players try their hand at the contact version of the game including Tamika Upton, Tarryn Aiken and Maddie Studdon.

Further reading at: https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/08/20/maddick-ready-to-tackle-nrlw-challenge-after-touch-triumphs/

[aoluain]

Storm definitely deserve to be at the #1 spot and are probably favourites to take the title.

The Knights have a comfortable 10 point lead at half time against The Bulldogs. The pressure
is on The Eels to win today to keep a bit of distance between them.


Interesting article about Hayley Maddick and in general the transitioning from touch Rugby
to league. I think there is a real challenge especially here to try and keep girls, ladies and women
involved in sport.

[Timelord2067]

It hardly seems worth doing, but I have a triple parlay on the last four games of round 24 of the 2021 NRL season:



I've also put a couple of bets on the Sharks and Roosters to take out the finals:



(I've already placed small bets early in the season on the Panthers, Eels and Rabbitohs at good odds - might as well have a couple of other punts.  The Roosters could just about cause an upset and get into the semis, or even the grand-final as their game is coming together.


The only boil-over in round 23 was a late win by the Broncos.  Not enough to resurrect the hopes for this year (especially after the Captain has already jumped from their sinking ship...)

[aoluain]

I have pretty much the same but as singles, never thought to do a parlay Storm, Panthers
and Sea Eagles. The game between the Rabbitohs and Roosters should be a right cracker.
The odds on Sportsbet are Roosters 3.90 v 1.26 Rabbitohs, I cant call this one.

As regards outright winners I have Storm, Panthers and Eels from a few weeks ago but
I'm leaving it at that. If any of the 3 above win I will be in profit.