NRL 2024

Melbourne are as well placed to win as they can be.

Their form is excellent. Since they beat Penrith, they've beaten the Dolphins 48-6, lost to the cowboys with a B side, but only just, beat the Broncos 50-12, the Sharks 37-10, and the Roosters 48-18. That's exceptional. And most importantly their big 4 were huge last week.

The Panthers haven't been at their best. They lost to the Storm, lost to the Raiders, beat the Bunnies 34-12, the Titans 18-12, the Roosters 30-10 and the Sharks 26-6. Still good, but not to their usual standards. As you say though, 5 GFs in a row means this is nothing new to them, and i think we all expect them to fall straight back in to that familiar and so successful pattern.

What Melbourne will also be wary of is that Brisbane turned up last year with a similar form line and played 65 minutes of amazing footy and still came 2nd. Bellamy is not Kevin Walters though.

I hope it's another great GF.

While Bellamy has followed a similar formula with this team compared to his last by building the million dollar spine and building the side around that . He’s playing a very different game plan to the last team .

This spine is very different, smith and Cronk were very measured and calculated playing to a formula . This spine loves to play a bit more ad lib footy so the game plan to suit that, is very fast and hectic , more fun to watch .

Some hands on hips already in the Grand Final and only 15 minutes in

Storm deserving of their lead IMO.

@antipodean said in NRL 2024:

Storm deserving of their lead IMO.

All went downhill for them after I wrote that.

Storm can't keep up. Penrith are running downhill and Melbourne will be thanking their lucky stars that halftime has come.

Call me out if I'm wrong but I think Penrith run away with this in the 2nd half. They've been keeping the powder dry this whole time.

It looks like a fast game, with defence so far winning on both sides.

Panthers turning the ball back inside but not yet generating enough speed out of the ruck to score more.

Both sides look a little hesitant after the second pass. Melbourne scrambling.

Five final appearances and four titles in a row is an impressive feat in the modern era.

@antipodean said in NRL 2024:

Five final appearances and four titles in a row is an impressive feat in the modern any era and any sporting comp.

FIFY

Best rugby team I have ever seen.

In the cap era, to lose the elite players they have, and still win 4 in a row? In a comp that proved 2 in a row was a unicorn? Unbelievable.

And tonight all they did was defend like demons and wait for someone to make a play. And today that was Liam Martin. What a performance.

Seriously how are they still so good? How is their linespeed and hard shoulders still so good? How are they so accurate? What a team

For Melbourne they got swamped. They couldn't break the shackles that Penrith put them in

Grant and Munster were enormous but no one else could do anything against that swarming defence.

Brilliant performance from Panthers. Just massive.

@booboo said in NRL 2024:

@antipodean said in NRL 2024:

Five final appearances and four titles in a row is an impressive feat in the modern any era and any sporting comp.

FIFY

St George won 11 in a row mid 50s to 60s , you would think that will never get beaten

My old man played against that team, Sydney premiers played the Auckland premiers ( ellerslie) in 59, st George won 11-10

@mariner4life said in NRL 2024:

For Melbourne they got swamped. They couldn't break the shackles that Penrith put them in

Grant and Munster were enormous but no one else could do anything against that swarming defence.

I actually thought storms defense was enormous given penriths possession and field position , but yeah couldn’t get their usual attack going ,

also made a few but not too many crucial eras at times when it felt like they were getting back into it . And then handed back momentum .

5 in a row for a reason , just so bloody good .

That was a bit of a weird scoreline for such a one sided game.

Hangover just easing, fun night watching grand final. Don’t really need to add much that hasn’t been said, just well done Penrith what a beast of a team.
I wasn’t sure they could maintain dominance last time they lost key squad members but are still delivering. They do get shaken next year with a few more outs, can they keep this up?
Think Melbourne still beats everyone else in the league with that performance, these two teams just at a different level
Anyway on to the internationals

@bayimports said in NRL 2024:

They do get shaken next year with a few more outs, can they keep this up

As long as they still have the best fullback in the league, the best winger in the league, the best lock in the league and most importantly the best halfback in the league, then they are pretty much nailed on for the top 4. Throw in high quality rep players like Martin and Leota, and that is an unbelievable core.

JFH is a pretty big loss i think, he suits their structure down to the ground. And even though Luai isn't quite as good as he's made out to be, he is exactly what they want in their 6, and i reckon is a huge culture guy. To lose another two rep players should kill them, but i feel like i have said that every year (incidentally, can you imagine this team with Crichton, Burton, Kikau, Leniu and Korisau in it?).

They have signed Blaize Talagi who could play that running 6 role.

Really interesting to read that Ivan gave them a bit of serve a couple of weeks ago. They had cruised the regular season, and then were a bit too complacent in their first finals game. That's actually a terrifying thought for the rest of the comp that they really only turned up in the last couple of weeks, and dominated the GF.

Also interesting they took a Bulldogs reject in Alamoti and did what Melbourne have done to average players and made him a star in the GF.
Casey Maclean will only get better (as will his younger brother), so more youngsters coming through.
They should be top 4, but doing 5? wow, not sure

Luai is a huge loss, an extremely underrated player who people just hate because of his antics. If Cleary's gonna have his usual 10 weeks off next year, then Penrith won't be winning as many games during the season without Luai guiding them round.

Luai is a big pick up by the Tigers. Starting to find his way this year on his own, but as mariner says culturally he is massive.
From what I have heard about JFH, he was similar and could help motivate the on and off warriors hopefully

Luia is good, but because of the way Penrtih use him, i think he is replaceable. With the ball playing of Yeo, and then Cleary, Luia gets to play like 3rd receiver and just run the ball.

Do agree on the part about Nathan taking half the season off, he probably can't do that next year.

I reckon Luia will be big at the Tigers if he and Benji gel. He'll set a standard, and that's what they desperately need.

Luai has a great kicking game. He never gives away set restarts and always jams teams into corners, forcing teams to work their way out of their own end, allowing Penrith's famous defence to take over and tire sides out. Does Luai ever give away set restarts? He showed that he can also play 7 very well and what's their winning percentage with out Cleary? Well into the 80s percentage wise I think I heard?

It's a great signing. Like Crichton at the Dogs, he'll lift standards and will take a lot of pressure off Galvin, whilst putting the Tigers in the right end of the field, and the young kids they have there will benefit having a world class half in his prime there.

Montoya released. Absolutely no loss.

Just hope this doesn’t mean we just put Kosi in that spot, for what ever reason we have had a recent history of rocks and diamonds type of players.

Surely Tuapiki (have I got his name right?) can play wing?

He looks to have the goods.

The biggest trade news of the week was Clint Gutherson being given permission to speak to other players. Officially it's for the 2026 season, but that is just code for "if someone wants you next year you have our blessing".

Now i find him infuriating as a player, constantly whinging at refs., and carrying on like a dickhead. And his body is absolutely cooked, certainly too far gone to be a fullback in the modern game. And he's on massive money. But, he's the heart and soul of that Parramatta side, he fucking loves the joint, and the fans love him. It's one of those horrible decisions that clubs that are serious have to make.

I can't see him playing at the Eels next year. Someone will pick him up on the "experience is invaluable" excuse. I guess Parra will have to eat some of his salary though

@Gunner said in NRL 2024:

Surely Tuapiki (have I got his name right?) can play wing?

He looks to have the goods.

he's pretty small. Especially for this modern "wingers need to be metre eaters" NRL.

@mariner4life said in NRL 2024:

The biggest trade news of the week was Clint Gutherson being given permission to speak to other players. Officially it's for the 2026 season, but that is just code for "if someone wants you next year you have our blessing".

Now i find him infuriating as a player, constantly whinging at refs., and carrying on like a dickhead. And his body is absolutely cooked, certainly too far gone to be a fullback in the modern game. And he's on massive money. But, he's the heart and soul of that Parramatta side, he fucking loves the joint, and the fans love him. It's one of those horrible decisions that clubs that are serious have to make.

I can't see him playing at the Eels next year. Someone will pick him up on the "experience is invaluable" excuse. I guess Parra will have to eat some of his salary though

900k and won't be playing fullback next year, they want to keep him, but not at that money. pretty good pick up for someone though as a utility at reduced price, even busted. Parra surely have to contribute money somewhere

@Gunner said in NRL 2024:

Surely Tuapiki (have I got his name right?) can play wing?

He looks to have the goods.

Im guessing RTS probably most likely

Mulitalo to test the market, most likely a Sydney club as beneficiary (Souths probably), but Warriors could do a lot worse if they want a strike wing especially since offloading Montoya

Aussie very clunky in attack but too good for Tonga.

Tonga in the game the whole way but no real direction in attack and too many kicking errors.

Aus defended well but they look they are a bit small through the middle.

Olakauatu is a fucking beast. Tonga need to get him one on one 5m out like manly are so good at.

@mariner4life said in NRL 2024:

Olakauatu is a fucking beast. Tonga need to get him one on one 5m out like manly are so good at.

Get him and AFB doing it alternatively and they'll run up the tries.

@mikedogz said in NRL 2024:

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Well FUCK ME

Penrith got their GOAT, and we got an assembly line of Bluey, Nathan Brown, Payten, Elliot et al. This is why we fail

@canefan said in NRL 2024:

@mikedogz said in NRL 2024:

View embedded content

Well FUCK ME

View image

Penrith got their GOAT, and we got an assembly line of Bluey, Nathan Brown, Payten, Elliot et al. This is why we fail

Bluey was like leagues version of Razor at the time due to what he had done with the kiwis and at Leeds, and they always seemed desperate for him to take over the Warriors despite Cleary doing a good job especially after the mess Mick Watson had left on and off the field.

Fair to say Bluey was well out of his depth at NRL level and ruined Cleary's good work.

Tannah Boyd?

Yuck

Also Ben Hunt and Clint Gutherson officially don't have clubs

@mariner4life said in NRL 2024:

Tannah Boyd?

Yuck

When I first saw him play, I told my mate that he'd be the starting QLD 7 one day.

Hasn't quite worked out.......yet haha.

@African-Monkey said in NRL 2024:

@mariner4life said in NRL 2024:

Tannah Boyd?

Yuck

When I first saw him play, I told my mate that he'd be the starting QLD 7 one day.

Hasn't quite worked out.......yet haha.

Maybe the Warriors can work their magic on him like we did turning Barnett into an Origin player.

We're as likely to do a Townsend on him where he's mud for us and then goes on to win premierships with other clubs.