Buzz Rothfield's mid-season report card of all 16 NRL teams

PHIL Rothfield delivers his verdict on the first half of the season and predicts how the year will pan out for all 16 NRL teams.

Robbie Farah

SOUTH Sydney to win their first premiership in 42 years and Parramatta to collect their second wooden spoon in two years.

These are the key forecasts to emerge from half-yearly reports on the 16 NRL clubs.

Despite a terrible record against Melbourne Storm (three wins from 21 games), the Rabbitohs are on track to win their first premiership since 1971.

Led by superstars Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess and skilfully steered by Adam Reynolds and John Sutton, the Rabbitohs will be hardened for finals football with a tough draw in the final five weeks of the competition.

But it’s all bad news for Dragons, Knights and Broncos fans with their clubs looking unlikely to make the finals. 

Here is what I think the ladder will look like at the end of the regular season.

1st (predicted finish): Rabbitohs - 22 points (1 bye remaining)
Draw: Only four home games because of matches in Perth, Cairns and Gosford. No top four sides until Round 22. Tough run in against Storm, Manly, Bulldogs and Roosters in  last five weeks.
Positive: The Rabbitohs have their attack on song in 2013, scoring the most points (25.2 per game), busting the most tackles (32.3 per game) and making the third most linebreaks (5 per game).  Their defence has also improved from last season – they have conceded 12 points or less on seven occasions, already more times than the six last year. 
Negative: Weight of expectations – the “this is the Rabbitohs' year” call will only grow louder the deeper into the season we go.  Also have a terrible record against Melbourne, winning just three from 21 matches, but will have to beat them at some stage.
The star: Greg Inglis – 11 tries, 9 linebreaks, 74 tackle busts and averaging 168 metres.

2nd: Storm - 21 points (1 bye)
Draw: Six home games left and have tough matches against Bulldogs, Souths and Manly. Play the Knights and Titans twice.
Positive: The most consistent team for the better part of the past decade, they are once again performing at a high level in attack and defence scoring the equal most tries (4.3 per game).
Negative: Melbourne’s edge defence could prove an issue come finals time; they have conceded 22 tries in total down the far left and far right defensive channels, easily the highest percentage of any of the contenders.
The star:  Cooper Cronk – 17 try assists, 10 linebreak assists, 8 forced drop outs and two 40/20s.

3rd: Roosters - 21 points (1 bye)
Draw: Only five home games left. The positive is they don’t play Melbourne Storm again. Tough matches against Manly, Bulldogs and Souths.
Positive: After finishing 2012 as one of the worst defensive teams the Roosters have turned it all round this season, conceding the least points (12 per game), the least linebreaks (1.9 per game) and missing the least tackles (20.2 per game).
Negative: Discipline is still a problem for the Roosters. They are conceding 7.9 penalties per game, the equal most of any team, Martin Kennedy the worst offender with 10.
The star: James Maloney – 4 tries, 9 try assists, 6 linebreaks, 48/55 goals (87.3%).

4th: Sea Eagles - 17 points (1 bye)
Draw: Seven games at home but tough draw with games against the Bulldogs, Roosters, Souths and Storm. The bonus is playing Parramatta twice and the Tigers once.  
Positive:  Have struggled in attack at times but still have their defence in order; conceding the least tries (1.9 per game), and the second least linebreaks (2.8 per game).
Negative: Yet to defeat to any of the top four this season, losing to the Roosters and Rabbitohs and holding on for a draw against Melbourne. Their goal kicking could also be an issue with Jamie Lyon kicking just 28 of 45 goals (62.2%). Discipline also a problem, conceding the equal most penalties (7.9 per game).
The star:  Jorge Taufua – 8 tries, 14 linebreaks and averaging 143 metres per game.

5th: Bulldogs - 14 points (2 byes)
Draw: Have got Manly away but then at home all the way through to Round 21. Play all the top four sides – Storm, Roosters, Souths and Manly in the run home.
Positive: Essentially the same squad that stormed to the Minor Premiership and Grand Final last season and are back in winning form, winning six of their past seven games after starting the season 1 and 5. Trent Hodkinson’s goal kicking has also been a revelation, nailing 28/30 (93.3%).
Negative:  Have won just one from five against teams currently in the top eight and have had trouble breaking the line this season, averaging the equal third least linebreaks (3.3 per game).
The star: Ben Barba – 5 linebreaks, 4 linebreak assists and 35 tackle busts.

Blake Ferguson

6th: Raiders - 14 points (1 bye)
Draw: Eight home games and a soft draw against Panthers, Tigers and Eels in the next four weeks. No top four side until Round 21 when they meet Storm. Three of last four at home.
Positive: Have been unbeatable at home this season, winning five from five by an average score-line of 30-17. Discipline has been good, conceding the second least penalties (5.7 per game).
Negative: Perfect at home, terrible away! The Raiders have won just one from seven on the road this season, conceding 27 points per game on average and scoring over 12 points just twice.
The star: Blake Ferguson – 7 tries, 6 linebreaks, 37 tackles busts and 3 try assists.

7th: Sharks - 14 points (1 bye)
Draw: Six home games in the run home and no games left against Storm, Souths, Manly or Bulldogs. The bad news is they play the Roosters twice.
Positive:  Have won four from five at Shark Park this season, conceding an average of just 14 points per game there. Also the least penalised team, conceding just 5.2 per match.
Negative: Make more errors than any other team (12.8 per game) and have completed 80% of their sets just once this season; Todd Carney the prime culprit with 14 errors, although Jonathan Wright has 13 with almost 400 fewer possessions.
The star: Andrew Fifita – Averaging 17.2 runs, 154 metres and 32.7 tackles per game, mostly from the bench.

8th: Titans - 16 points (1 bye)
Draw: Only five home games left and four of the last five are away. Have the toughest draw playing Storm twice plus Souths, Manly, Roosters and the Bulldogs
Positive: The emergence of Albert Kelly and Aiden Sezer. Written off at the start of the season, they have combined nicely to have the Titans sitting in fifth position at the half way point of the season. Attack – The Titans are making the most linebreaks (5.5 per game), the most offloads (13.9 per game) and busting the second most tackles (29.9 per game). Goal Kicking – Sezer is kicking at over 90% (36/39)
Negative:  Have won just two of five away matches this season, and have a very tough draw to finish the season.  Also conceding the fourth most penalties per game (7.6)
The star: William Zillman – 15 linebreaks, 55 tackle busts and 4 try assists

9th:  Dragons - 10 points (2 byes)
Draw: Seven home games and don’t have to play Storm or Manly. Great run in with Tigers, Warriors and Parramatta in the last three games.
Positive:  The acquisition of Josh Dugan should make the Dragons a much more dangerous team, so far in four matches for the Dragons, he has scored four tries, made five linebreaks and is averaging 198 metres per game.
Negative:  Their point scoring ability has come into question the past two seasons with the Dragons scoring less than 20 points in 27 of 37 matches, more than any other team in this period. This season they have broken the least tackles of any team (21.5 per game) and made the equal least linebreaks (3.2 per game).
The star: Trent Merrin – Has made 30 offloads and is averaging 16.3 runs, 140 metres and 32.5 tackles per game

10th: Knights - 12 points (2 byes)
Draw: Only five home games left and have to play Melbourne Storm twice. No Souths or Manly is the only positive.
Positive:  Have made the second least errors of any team this season (9.5 per game), completing at over 75% in seven of their matches this season.
Negative: With the signing of Craig Gower they have 9 players in the squad over 30, including the two oldest players in the competition, Danny Buderus and Gower.
The Star:  Jarrod Mullen – 10 try assists, 7 linebreak assists, 14 forced drop outs and three 40/20s

11th: Broncos - 10 points (2 byes)
Draw: Eight home games and don’t have to play Manly or the Roosters. The two byes help plus three of the last four games at home
Positive: The Broncos ball control has been very good this season, they are averaging just nine errors per game, the fewest of any team and have completed 75% or more of their sets in nine matches.
Negative:  Have missed more tackles than any other team (30.8 per game), Matt Gillett and Alex Glenn the main culprits missing 42 and 39 tackles respectively.  In the past three weeks they have conceded 110 points.  Their form at home is also proving a worry, winning just two from six this season.
The star: Josh Hoffman – 10 tries, 10 linebreaks and 46 tackle busts.

12th: Cowboys - 8 points (2 byes)
Draw: Eight home games in the run home and the two byes will help. Only travel twice in the next nine weeks. No Storm or Roosters in the run home.
Positive: Although they are struggling at the moment they still have the roster to turn things around,  boasting Australian Test players Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott and James Tamou
Negative:  The Cowboys struggle to win away from Townsville and especially in NSW, since the beginning of the 2009 they have won just nine of 34 matches in NSW, the worst record of any team in this period.
The star: Matt Scott – Averaging 16.2 runs, 148 metres and 23.1 tackles per game

13th: Warriors - 10 points (2 byes)
Draw: Face lots of travel with only five home games and have to play the entire top four - Roosters, Souths, Manly and Storm.
Positive:  Have shown what they are capable of in the past three weeks and while they have struggled to win away from Mt Smart Stadium this season (1 and 7), their form at Mt Smart has been good winning four of five matches, with their only loss coming to South Sydney by just two points.
Negative: The Warriors have had trouble winning close matches in the previous two seasons, winning just four of 15 matches decided by eight points or less and in this same period losing nine of 18 matches when leading at half-time, the most losses of any team when leading in this period. 
The star: Shaun Johnson – 9 try assists, 6 linebreak assists, and four 40/20s

14th: Panthers - 12 points 1 bye
Draw: Only five home games left and have to play Roosters, Bulldogs and Manly in the last six weeks.
Positive: Have already overachieved this season, bouncing back from a terrible 1 and 5 start to win four of past six matches. Showed in big wins over Parramatta and Warriors that their attack can fire.
Negative: Have won just three of past 15 matches away from Centrebet Stadium, seven of those losses by 18 points or more.
The star: David Simmons – 9 tries, 12 linebreaks, 27 tackle busts and 6 try assists.

Robbie Farah

15th: Tigers - 10 points 1 bye
Draw: Six home games and also have to play the entire top four - Roosters, Souths, Manly and Storm in the run home.
Positive:  With a long list of injuries the Tigers have been forced to blood some youngsters, such as Curtis Sironen, James Tedesco, David Nofoaluma, Sauaso Sue and Ava Seumanufagai which should hold them in good stead for the future
Negative:  The Tigers usual dangerous attack seems to be lacking this season, they are scoring the fewest points (13.8 per game), tries (2.5 per game) and are making the fewest run metres (1211 p/g).
The star: Robbie Farah – 12 try assists, 9 linebreak assists, 4 linebreaks and 13 forced drop outs.

16th: Parramatta - 8 points 1 bye
Draw: Have only three home games left because two have been switched to ANZ Stadium. Play Manly twice plus big guns Souths, Bulldogs and Storm once.
Positive:  Their performance at Parramatta Stadium, they have won three of five matches this season and over the past two seasons seven of their nine wins have come at Parramatta Stadium.
Negative: Their defence has been horrible at times, they have conceded the most points (27.8 per game) and tries (4.9 per game) this season as well as the second most linebreaks (5.5 per game).
The star: Jarryd Hayne - 8 tries, 8 linebreaks, and 57 tackle busts.