Phil Rothfield blog on the Daily Telegraph

[Rambo1987]

Phil Rothfield
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 12:35am 


I can’t see the Cowboys, Tigers, Panthers or Broncos making the top eight.

They’ll be on the edge and in contention for much of the winter but at 1pm I’ll tell you why I expect them to miss out.

I look forward to your questions and comments.

Also see yesterday’s blog, where I detail why the Warriors, Knights, Roosters and Raiders will vie for the wooden spoon. 

So the bottom eight clubs are:

9th: Cowboys

10th Tigers

11th Panthers

12th Broncos

13th Raiders

14th Roosters

15th Knights

16th Warriors


http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/buzzwords/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/who_will_just_miss_the_top_eight/

 

[Chip and Chase]

So he thinks the Sharks will make the 8 ? LOL

 

[Rambo1987]

He supports the Sharks - they will finish in the bottom 4 - he cops a blast from some fans

 

[Canteen Worker]

I tend to think the Cowboys will be well in the mix - even top 4 possibilities,

 

[Matabele]

I hope he's right about the Bongos.

 

[Canteen Worker]

Bongos have made the semis 18 seasons in a row!

 

[Matabele]

They weren;t supposed to make it in 2009 which is what worried me.  They have such an unfair advantage with their huge nursery that they always seem to unearth 2-3 good players a year. 

 

[DSM5]

Penrith look OK in my opinion.  The Sharks will fight it out for the spoon.  St George hasn't got finals in them.  They've lost a couple of very good forwards and will struggle with depth.  I still think Souths are over-hyped. 

 

[Rambo1987]

Part 2 today - Manly 5th

 

[Matabele]

Alpha Magazine has Manly 9th, based on Orford's departure.  Clearly they have a higher opinion of him than most fans.

 

[Canteen Worker]

To be fair that is the big unknown. Halves go okay and we are right up there. If they struggle, so do we.

Mind you, the health of a fast fullback is much more important to Manly and will be a big determinant to where we end up.

 

[willstyles]

Alpha Magazine has Manly 9th, based on Orford's departure.  Clearly they have a higher opinion of him than most fans.

Whatever you think of Orford you have to accept that not only was he our most experienced player, but our game has revolved around his style since he arrived. Flat, with the halfback running along close to the defence and waiting for straight runners. It's a reasonably unique style in the NRL (Noddy does it too), and I really doubt Kieran or Trent or whoever is going to play the same style.

That's a big change for the team. Even if we think having Kieran at 7 is an upgrade on Orford(which it probably will be from 2011 onwards at the latest, given Kieran's improvement and Orford's decline), then it still doesn't take into account how the rest of the team has learned to play with a specific style over the past four years.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

When I met some players at a do before xmas I asked Brett Stewart if he thought it would take some time for the team to adjust to a new halfback's style, and he said not really it was more that the new half would have to adjust to the team's style. I said Oh yeah, I didn't think of that...

 

[Matabele]

[quote author=Matabele link=topic=182487.msg252529#msg252529 date=1267002649]
Alpha Magazine has Manly 9th, based on Orford's departure.  Clearly they have a higher opinion of him than most fans.

Whatever you think of Orford you have to accept that not only was he our most experienced player, but our game has revolved around his style since he arrived. Flat, with the halfback running along close to the defence and waiting for straight runners.
[/quote]  Really?  Maybe in 2008 but to be honest I'd have killed to see that style replicated last year.  We spent the entirety of 2009 crabbing sideways and passing the ball or running the winger over the sideline.  We couldn;t get repeat sets and build pressure, our kicking game was diabolical and the captain does have to take some responsibility for the off-field nonsense (because let's face it, 2009 was the first year of genuine captaincy responsibility for Orford in Beaver's absence.)  Throw in his age and mounting injuries and I don't think a green rookie is much of a net loss. 

 

[swoop]

To be fair that is the big unknown. Halves go okay and we are right up there. If they struggle, so do we.

Mind you, the health of a fast fullback is much more important to Manly and will be a big determinant to where we end up.

Totally agree.

 

[DSM5]

Will, running across field waiting for a straight runner might have worked if the little prick had of passed the ball.

 

[lsz]

I might be wrong but are we not welcoming back the top try scorer from 2008

Agree that half back is a concern however not having Stewart was a massive blow for us

 

[Matabele]

Our best performances from a half/5/8th last year were from Foran, not Orford.